Page 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

“Where’s the guy with the owl wings?” Harek asks, once we’re seated in the woman’s dining room.

I kick him under the table. If he keeps up with his rudeness, we won’t be able to eat the mouthwatering food waiting for us to devour. He also doesn’t seem to notice what a nice home this is. I’ve personally never seen anything like it. It seems more like a castle than an apartment.

After I insisted we follow her, she led us through a housing district filled with gorgeous structures of all sizes. Vivvi—she finally told us her name on the way—lives in the tallest one, near the top. I snagged a glance out a window, and the view is incredible.

She also has servants. One took our coats and asked if we wanted them washed. He also showed us to separate bathrooms to clean up, though we didn’t have time for showers. Vivvi insisted there would be plenty of time for that later.

It doesn’t bother me. Eat then shower, or shower then eat. We weren’t even sure we’d get a single bite tonight, and we’d already run out of the food in Harek’s pack.

Another servant led us to the dining room once we’d washed our hands and faces. Harek didn’t look sure then, and he definitely doesn’t now as he waits for Vivvi to tell us about the guy with owl wings she’d been with when we first saw her.

“He’s not my husband, if that’s what you’re asking. My Albert died several years ago, and I’ve been on my own since then.”

On her own, if you don’t count the servants bustling around. Maybe she doesn’t.

A thought strikes me—what if she thinks we’re prospects for her employment? Or worse, working for free? Maybe Harek was right, and we should’ve asked more questions before coming here. Too late, and we can always leave after filling our bellies.

“So, who was he?” Harek asks. “He looked important.”

I throw him a questioning glance. How can one person around here look more important than another? Everyone looks so different. Vivvi, even with her now-black hair, seems the most human of anyone I’ve seen since arriving.

She smiles at Harek. “You’re very observant. He’s a member of the high council. But let’s not worry about him. Eat.” She waves her hands in front of the food.

I don’t have to be told twice and quickly reach for the nearest dish. After scooping something like purple scallops onto my plate, I go for some meat I don’t recognize. Hopefully the weird magic will let me eat and be. This is the first time I’ve had anything inside the gates, and it’s like the magic wants out or something. It’s hard to explain. But it won’t keep me from filling up.

Harek continues interrogating our host, and she doesn’t seem bothered. In fact, she almost appears amused by the line of questioning. I’m not sure if she just enjoys our company or if she actually finds us humorous. As long as we can stay here, I don’t care.

“What about you, Eira?”

I glance up with a mouthful of food. Swallow. “Huh?”

Vivvi looks like she’s trying to stifle a smile. “I asked where you grew up.”

“Oh.” I wipe my mouth with a delicate napkin that’s probably worth more than anything I’ve ever owned. “In Skoro, not far from Harek. His family hunts, and mine farms.”

“Interesting.”

“Why’s that?”

“It just is.” She pours herself a bubbly drink. “Do you want some?”

“Yes.”

Harek nudges me with his foot.

“Please,” I add, not that I understand why he’s concerned with pleasantries when he doesn’t even want to be here with this generous woman in the first place.

An annoyed look crosses his face. Perhaps manners isn’t the reason he nudged me.

Vivvi motions for one of the servants to give me some of the bubbly drink.

It smells sweet, like overripe fruit in the summertime, but it has a bit of a bitter taste going down and makes me feel a little funny inside. Oh, it’s alcohol. I’ve only had it one time, and that was at a banquet. Gunnar never buys anything like this, or at least he never lets me near any. It’s probably expensive, given that it’s here.

“What’s farm life like? That sounds interesting.”

I shrug. “Maybe for others. My stepfather gave me duties that wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about during a meal.”

She bristles. “Oh, my. That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“Nope.” I sip more of the drink, earning another glare from Harek, then dig into some of the untouched food on my plate.

“What was that like?” Vivvi looks at me with genuine interest in her eyes.

“Boring. Maddening, if I’m honest. My brothers got the best jobs—they got to ride horses and round up the cattle.”

She nods knowingly. “Men always get the best jobs.”

“Not always,” Harek mutters.

“You don’t think so?” Vivvi lifts an eyebrow, and even such a simple gesture seems elegant and expensive on her. Like she’d spent an absurd amount of money on her face.

“My father and I butcher meat. There’s nothing glorious in that.”

“But it must be fun to hunt.”

“During the chase.” He plays with some food on his plate. “But the rest of the time is dull and tedious.”

“What about during the full moon?”

He grits his teeth. “What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing. I rarely talk with werewolves, and I’ve always been curious. It must be so freeing to run like that.”

Harek’s shoulders relax. “Actually, it is.”

Vivvi’s eyes light up. “Tell me more.”

“On any of the three days surrounding the full moon, we shift into our wolf-selves and run free. My father and I typically hunt because we catch better prizes then. It keeps us going all month, selling the meat and hides.”

“Fascinating.” She rests her chin on her palm. “So, you don’t turn against your will?”

“Not unless we fail to shift before the end of the third day.”

“Do all werewolves have the choice?”

Harek shakes his head. “There’s something about my line. Legend has it a witch cast a spell on a group of ancestors and it’s been passed down through the generations.”

“If I’m understanding correctly, your line is elevated above normal werewolves?”

“I’ve never heard it put that way. Each pack is its own entity, so there really aren’t ranks from one to another.”

“Only within a pack itself?”

“Right.”

I set my fork down. “But you’re not part of a pack. How does that work?”

“We are part of one, but we live away from them.” He shoots me an annoyed glance, but I don’t know what he’s complaining about. If he’d have told me about him being fae at any point over our entire lives, I’d have had the chance to ask questions before this.

Vivvi glances between us, landing on me. “You don’t know about his pack history? I was under the impression you two were tight.”

“We are ,” he says.

“Except I never knew about him being a werewolf until a few days ago.”

“It was a week.”

She runs her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t mean to start anything.”

“You didn’t,” I assure her. “Harek and I go all the way back to infancy, but his family convinced him to keep his true nature a secret from me.”

Vivvi turns to him and gives him a look I can’t read. “But you knew about her?”

I answer. “He knew I was a halfling.

She jolts. “Halfling?”

“That isn’t a problem, is it?”

“Not at all.” She gives Harek another weird glance.

“His family has been watching over me in case anything happened to my mother. Now that she’s…” I can’t say the word ‘dead’ so I clear my throat. “Now he’s helping me find my father.”

“It was recent?” she asks.

I nod, not fully trusting my voice. “My stepfather tried to marry me off to a horrible man as soon as Mother passed, so I fled.”

“That’s awful. He was human and didn’t fear your powers?”

“Nobody in Skoro knew about my being a halfling.”

Her eyes narrow slightly, and only for a moment. “Not even your stepfather?”

Harek scowls. “ Especially not him. I don’t know why her mother stayed married to him. She could’ve done much better.”

“He’s wealthy.” My tone comes out harsher than I intended, but I feel the need to defend my mother. “If she thought she had a better option, she’d have taken it.”

“She did,” Harek mutters.

“If she divorced Gunnar, she’d lose my siblings. No way he’d give them up. He couldn’t do anything about me, but he’d for sure keep his other workhorses.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I freeze. “What other option would she have had? To run away? My brothers never would’ve gone with her, and she wouldn’t leave any of her kids behind.”

“Never mind.” Now he chooses to focus on his meal.

“What else could she have done?” I demand. “Enlighten me.”

“I said forget it.”

“No.”

We stare each other down.

“Drop it, Eira. It isn’t worth discussing. She’s gone, and we can’t fix the past.”

“If you know something about my mother that I don’t, you better tell me now.”

He sighs dramatically. “I was going to wait.”

“For what?”

“Until we find your father.”

“What does he have to do with anything?” I press my palms on the table and lean forward.

Harek glances at Vivvi. “Later.”

“Now.”

He leans back in the chair, shaking his head in frustration. “Fine. You want to know with a stranger listening? I can tell you everything. Is that what you want?”

“If you’re hiding anything more from me, I want to know.”

Harek turns to Vivvi. “You seem to know more than you should. Do you want to tell us what you think?”

“I’m far more interested in what you have to say.”

Irritation runs through me. “Would one of you say what you know?” I turn to Vivvi. “It’s obvious you were surprised when I said I’m a halfling. Either you didn’t realize that, which I find unlikely, or you’ve figured out something about my powers that I haven’t. What is it?”

She glances at Harek. “Why don’t you tell her?”

He crosses his arms. “You’re not a halfling, Eira.”

The words are like a slap across my face. “But… but that’s not possible. You’ve seen what I can do. I have powers. I’m definitely fae.”

“You aren’t half fae.”

I try to speak but the air feels charged as the realization of his words hits me. “You’re saying…” I struggle to get the words out. “…that I’m full fae?”

He glances down and plays with a nail before looking me in the eyes. “Your mother comes from the same line of werewolves as my family. That’s why she moved to Skoro, why she entrusted my parents with her secret about you being a mixed fae.”

Vivvi pours more bubbly. “And that’s even more scandalous than being a halfling, my dear.”

“But… but…” Nothing makes sense. None of it. “My mother never shifted. She can’t be—have been—a werewolf. It’s not possible.”

“She never triggered the curse, so you’re right that she never shifted. It was dormant in her, but she passed the genes onto you.”

“And my siblings.” I bury my face in my hands, the gravity of the situation pressing on me like a rushing river.

“It should be dormant in halflings,” he says. “Unless that’s only a rumor. In that case, then yes, they could trigger their curse.”

I look up at him. “So there’s a chance they won’t suddenly shift?”

“That was your mother’s hope in marrying a human. She was careful not to trigger the curse and alert Gunnar to her true nature.”

It takes me a moment to find my voice, and when I do, I turn to Vivvi. “Is it true? Do halflings only carry the genes?”

“I’m not sure, dear. Halflings are rare, so not much is known about them.”

A terrifying thought strikes me, and I turn to Harek. “How does a werewolf turn on their curse?”

He takes a deep breath.

Our host looks amused again. “Are you going to tell her?”

“You know so much,” he snaps. “Why don’t you?”

“If you want.”

He motions for her to continue.

She turns to me. “A werewolf triggers their ability to shift when they kill someone—either fae or human.”

Several thoughts hit me at once. I’ve killed a handful of fae over the last week, as their magic keeps reminding me of their presence. Harek shifts, so he’s killed either a human or fae when he was younger. My brothers have terrible tempers like their father, so the chances of them accidentally triggering the curse is high. And nobody knows for sure if being halflings will protect them. Now Harek’s parents aren’t there to watch over them after Harek killed Vog.

“Are you okay, love?” Vivvi’s eyes are full of concern.

“I… I don’t know.”

Harek gives me a pained and apologetic glance. “I was hoping that you being a halfling would keep you from triggering your curse. But your eyes have turned silver a few times, so I can’t deny it. Your inner werewolf is awake.”

“My eyes have turned silver? When?”

He looks away. “At the spring.”

When we kissed.

“That’s a sure sign?”

Harek nods. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner.”

My breathing turns shallow. I’m going to turn into a wolf in less than a month.