Page 197 of Lana Pecherczyk

He wondered how different she’d look in the full light of day.

He wondered if she was too big to fit in his satchel.

She pouted and pointed at him. “You should come down; otherwise, you might fall and hurt yourself.”

“I … um…”

If he went down, she’d know he was fae. But leaving now meant going home empty-handed. No fucking way.

The human girl was small. Weak. If Manfri were here, they’d each take her down with their eyes closed.

But Cielo couldn’t move.

Those colors in her hair arrested every cell in his body long enough for fear to trickle in. What if she screamed, alerting guards? He’d heard stories of humans using weapons with flying bullets that moved too fast to dodge. Hadn’t timed the guard’s shifts. Hadn’t expected this girl to be in here. He hadn’t mapped out the room yet.

Maybe he should just cut his losses now, return to Elphyne, and teach Manfri how to cross the wasteland with him. He’d know how to deal with unexpected things like this. Cielo stretched his wings, ready to fly home. His feathers caught the icy wind and ruffled. The girl’s gaze darted behind him, and she gasped.

“You’re … wow.”

Wow?

Cielo blinked. He expected her to scream, to call the guards, but … wow?

“I’m fae,” he confirmed.

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you here to steal me away?”

He scoffed. “Why would I do that?”

“My dad says that’s what fae do. But my moms say…” Her gaze turned distant. She shrugged. Frowned. “I forget. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Hunting treasure to rub in my dad’s face.” He glowered. “And my brother’s.”

“Oh.” She went quiet. “We don’t have much treasure in here.”

“Everything is a treasure!”

“Like what?”

“Like that thing in your hand.”

“This?” She held up a shiny, rectangular brick. “It’s a music player. From the olden days.” A sigh. “I’m not supposed to play with it because it might break.”

“Music player. Was that where the song came from?”

“That was me.” Pink bloomed across her cheeks.

“Oh.” He paused. “You have a nice voice.”

She went all floppy and looked at her feet. Her hair tried to hide her smile, but he’d seen it.

“What about that?” He pointed to the pip-pip machine.

“That’s for the plants. Makes the air wet.”

Dumb.

“And that?” He pointed to the desk.