Page 18 of Beyond the Veil (Endangered Fae #4)

Before he went to Finn’s cell, he checked the others, wondering how many fae the prison held and how bad off they all were. At least he could give the information to Zack if he managed to find a way out. Maybe there would be a way for the Fae Collective to mount a rescue.

Many of the cells were empty, or were from what he could see.

It was late afternoon and the little bit of sun that made it into the locked cells cast strange shadows.

He couldn’t be certain with all of them, and some of the doors had metal plates over the barred windows. Those he couldn’t see in at all.

One held a scraggly gray wolf, the werewolf Finn had mentioned.

In another there was a phoenix, a beautiful woman with feathers for hair and more running along her arms. She stared at the wall, her eyes dull and listless, her lack of reaction to his presence quite worrisome.

The next contained what he presumed was a griffin, curled up and growling in its sleep.

The last was occupied by something canine that kept to the shadows, pacing the floor.

He thought he spied something in a fifth cell, but there was no movement. Just another bundle of cloth.

His inventory complete, Diego hurried over to Finn’s.

“ Mi vida , I’m here,” he called softly at the door. Ear pressed against the seam, he tried again. “Finn? Are you all right?”

Nothing. Only silence came from the cell. Diego panicked and banged on the door. “Finn! Please answer me!”

The hallway erupted in snarls and shrieks, all the captive fae disturbed from their iron-induced torpor.

The werewolf across the way howled and the cries bled into someone pleading in Arabic.

Desperate, Diego pulled himself up by the window bars to look inside.

He could only hold the position for a minute or two, but he had to see.

Finn was just uncurling from his place on the floor. He sat up, eyes dazed and wandering, until he caught sight of Diego in his window. “Hello, my handsome husband. Are you back so soon?”

“I haven’t seen you since this morning. Are you…” Are you all right? was about the stupidest thing Diego could have asked. “How are you managing?”

Finn leaned against the wall, his charade of nonchalance ruined by how badly his clawed hands shook. “Oh, well enough. I ate a bit today.”

“Good. That’s good.” Diego could see the open food packet from his vantage point. There might have been a tiny dent in the mound of mash, but he didn’t have the heart to call Finn on his exaggeration. “Head?”

“Oh, it aches a bit.”

“Finn…”

“Fine. It hurts as if my brains were about to leak out of my ears. I don’t think I can get up right now, love. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Don’t say that, carino . I don’t want you hurting yourself more.” He swallowed hard, trying to blink back the sting at the backs of his eyes. “I wish I could get in there to you. Somehow make it better.”

“Wsht. Nothing you can do right now.” Finn gave a lethargic wave. “It’s always good to see you, though. Might not help the headache, but it makes me feel better. Tell me what you’ve done today.”

Diego had to let himself down, but he still spoke to the window, telling Finn what had happened at the feeding. The other fae had grown quiet again, perhaps listening, perhaps lulled back to sleep by his not-terribly-exciting story. Even Finn had gone silent.

“Finn?”

“I’m here. That’s my Diego. The one that wants the best for everyone. I hope you won’t mind too much, but I think perhaps I’ll go back to sleep now.”

“It’s all right. You need to rest. I’ll…I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Farewell, my hero.” Finn’s words were muffled, as if he had already curled into a ball again. “Be careful.”

Diego moved away from the door, turned to rejoin his friends and jerked to a startled halt.

A man blocked the corridor, the same strange man he had glimpsed on the edge of the feeding area.

He stood with his arms crossed over his bare chest, his shirt wound around his head as an improvised keffiyeh.

“Hello,” Diego said, still blinking in surprise. Why hadn’t the boys told him someone was coming?

“Why do you care about the pooka?” The man’s voice was rich and deep, one made for singing. “What is he to you?”

The tone was belligerent and Diego struggled not to bristle. “He’s my husband.”

“Ha!” The man threw back his head on a bitter laugh. “You’ve bound him to you, sorcerer, is that it? A bond slave to do your bidding?”

The heated anger puzzled Diego, so he proceeded carefully. “No, I married him. We love each other and pledged our love in front of witnesses just like any married couple. We have a connection, but he’s as likely to demand things of me as I am of him.”

The man tilted his head, frowning at Diego as if he were a puzzle box he couldn’t open. “I’ve been watching you. You’re either the most manipulative man I have ever met or you truly do have a generous heart. It irritates me that I can’t tell which.”

“It’s probably a little of both. I do try to influence people when I think I’m right.

No reason to deny that. But I also think that treating people with respect and kindness is the best way to do that.

” Diego took a step back so he could take in the whole man.

Tall, maybe not as tall as Finn, broad-shouldered and gaunt, he had obviously been incarcerated for some time.

His eyes were golden and too reflective.

“Your English is excellent. And you’re not human, are you? ”

Finn’s voice drifted from his cell, sleep-slurred and faint, “He’s a djinn, love.”

“Oh.”

The djinn narrowed his eyes at the cell door, obviously annoyed at Finn for outing him. “Yes, djinn. I lived in California for many years, hence the English.”

Diego nodded, though several inconsistencies occurred to him simultaneously. “I don’t mean to be rude, but if you were happy in California, how did you end up here? And since you did, how are you not locked in a cell like Finn?”

“This is how you start a respectful conversation?”

All the stories said djinn were crafty, manipulative bastards. But then, who wouldn’t be if you were locked up in a bottle and made to grant stupid, greedy wishes? Maybe he couldn’t trust this fae yet, but maybe the feeling was mutual.

“Sorry. My apologies.” Diego gave him a little bow. “I’m Diego Sandoval, a consular officer for the Fae Collective.”

The djinn’s stance relaxed, his shoulders slumping. “I thought it might be you. Television isn’t always the same as in person. I’m called Nusair.”

The phrasing wasn’t lost on Diego. Not my name is but I’m called . Possession of a djinn’s true name was supposed to be one of the ways to enslave him, after all. “Nusair. So how did you end up here?”

“I could ask you the same. The most powerful human sorcerer in recent memory.”

“Diplomatic mission gone wrong. They tasered me before I could do anything. Threw an iron net over Finn before he could shift to fly us both away.”

“Ah. Bad run of luck, there.”

“And now the rules of conversation say that you tell me how you got here.”

“There are rules? How inconvenient.” Nusair’s lips twitched up into a half-smile as he took two steps away and slid down the wall to sit with a weary grunt.

“Are you all right?”

Nusair stared at him again, appraising, perhaps.

“The iron’s not as agonizing for me as it is your husband, but it’s still a nuisance.

Yes, I feel the need to return to my home sands sometimes.

Yes, it was a mistake and they caught me.

” He raised a hand to cut Diego off. “I know. If they knew I was one of their monsters, why am I out here? Yes, yes. They locked me up. That open door is mine. I got out.”

Diego chewed the edge of his thumb for a bit. Sometimes it was a matter of finding the right questions. He settled cross-legged in the middle of the corridor so they were on eye level again. “What did you have to do to get the door open?”

Again, there was the long, scrutinizing look, the hesitation.

“I know you don’t have any reason to trust me and you probably don’t like humans much in general. But if there’s any chance of getting Finn out of that room… I have to ask.”

Nusair heaved a dramatic sigh. “You are a foolish man, falling in love with a pooka.” He extended a foot and wiggled his toes at Diego.

His nails were more reminiscent of talons than toenails and the one on the big toe was missing.

“I have talents that have nothing to do with magic, just so you know. I pulled off my nail and used it as a lock pick.”

“As easy as that?”

“Easy? It was ridiculously painful and icky.”

It shouldn’t have been funny, but the emphasis on the icky surprised a laugh from Diego and the djinn flashed a beautiful, white-toothed smile. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. It’s the stress, probably.”

Nusair flicked his fingers in dismissal. “So ask me the question. The real question. That’s a bad habit you have there, dancing around the big issues.”

“And here I thought I was being polite. Can you get Finn out?”

“Probably. You do know the whole be careful what you wish for thing, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard that. Yes.”

“Look, I don’t usually do this. Humans ask me for things and I enjoy seeing them hang themselves on their own consequences.

But you’re not asking for you. You’re worried about him.

So think a bit. He’s protected in there, safe from angry, suspicious humans.

They’ll see him as weak. As competition for food.

Whatever odd thing occurs in the human brain.

In there, he’s safe. Out here, he’s not. ”

“But you’re—”

“Better equipped to deal with the situation and not half dead yet.”

Diego ducked his head, unable to stop his reaction to that statement. “How long have you been here?”

“Oh, about a year,” Nusair said airily.