Page 16 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lai cocked his head, amused by the panic in her voice. “Works? It barely qualifies as working. What do you want to know?”

Lucy looked a little more sober at the question. Lai doubted she thought it would be as easy as asking.

“Well, let’s start with the basics. How do your transformations work?”

Lai had expected that to be one of the first things she’d ask.

“When a boy with Echidna’s blood hits puberty, he begins forming a connection with his ‘inner beast’.

The genetic lottery is purely random. You won’t know what you’ll be until it kicks in, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a way to manipulate it.

It starts with horrid nightmares and losing control at random, a bit like you and your magic.

Truly unpleasant. Within a few years, most of us get the hang of it; some of us can even control it pretty well.

Me personally? I struggled. I didn’t get the slow progression.

I was on puberty blockers for years, so when it did finally hit, it hit like a ton of bricks. ”

“Why were you on puberty blockers?”Lucy asked, drawing back a little as Lai’s gaze sharpened at the intrusive question.

Lai wanted to spare her the gruesome details. She had already seen enough when she took in his memories. The truth was a little heavy for the middle of the day, sober and in public.

“Because child assassins lose their value when they grow up.”It was the cleanest explanation.

“I thought child assassins just become adult assassins?”

“Old rich men that need to die are rarely interested in adults,”Lai whispered, glancing away.

Lucy’s eyebrows shot up, and she sat back in her seat, distancing herself from the painful subject.

“It was my own dumb fault. I ran away from home, thinking I’d have no trouble making it on my own. A nice man offered me a hot meal and a job one day...”Lai paused, letting her fill in the blanks. “I never forgave my father for not stopping me.”

“How’d you get back home?”

“Survivedpast my ‘use-by’date, and since I was very good at what I did, I was able to leave alive with a golden handshake and a freelance arrangement. I was there from nine until almost twenty, and I haven’t really been able to find a use for myself since then.

How do you just go back to normal life after taking so, so many? ”

“How old are you?”She whispered, then quickly pressed her lips together when Lai shot her an annoyed look. Lucy seemed to be a master at asking the wrong questions.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. That was rude.”

The waiter delivered a plate of meats together with other delicacies. It looked way too good to spoil with such unpleasant topics. “Now, your turn!”Lai didn’t bother with subtlety when changing the subject, it was wasted on Lucy. “You didn’t tell me you had someone on the outside.”

“I told you about Xim.”Lucy grabbed a skewer and tugged a juicy slab of lamb off it, the juices running over her fingers. Lai snorted.

“ Barely . You definitely didn’t mention you two being a thing.”

“She and I have been on and off since we were kids. My parents worked for hers. Her dads actually set my parents up on a blind date.”Lucy smiled. “It’s how they met.”

“That’s kind of cute. I can see why you two are close. I’m sorry if our family affairs got in between the two of you. Kidnapping can put a real strain on a relationship.”

“Don’t worry about it, Idon’t think there’s anything you could do that would keep her away from me for long.”Lucy shrugged.

“Is that a challenge?”Lai grinned at her, curiosity piqued by the casual way she made such a profound declaration of love.

“Call it hope. Please don’t kill it.”Lucy gave him a look, pointing at him with the plastic fork as a warning. “Your dad has already pushed my Xim buttons today. I don’t wanna murder anyone, but I’m not above stabbing to maim.”

“I’ll be quiet,”Lai chuckled, dipping his fingers into his bowl of hummus.

The conversation died down for a while as they devoured the food, but something was nagging at Lai, and he wasn’t sure if he should bring it up.

Maybe it would be better to keep it to himself, but Lucy was the head of the pack now, and despite his contempt for his own upbringing, a tiny part of him deep inside craved her approval.

“Speaking of hope, we will need to pay our debt to the sisterhood. I know we’re hoping they’ll be willing to provide reinforcements on the back of a promise, but it’s not going to be enough.”

“What can we give them?”Lucy frowned without a pause in her eating. Lai liked that about her. A woman after his own heart wouldn’t be caught dead picking meekly over a salad when there was steak on the menu.

“Somehow I don’t think chocolates will do,”Lai sighed dramatically. “It needs to be big. Something to truly tempt them.”

“I can tell you already have a plan, you wouldn’t bring it up otherwise.”Lai grinned. Lucy had finally managed to read him. He watched her frown in thought, waiting for her next question.

“Why does your dad hate them, anyway?”

It wasn’t quite the question he was expecting, but he was ready for it.

“Because they’re not us. I guess that’s why all the clans avoid each other for the most part, just the occasional spot of trading or marrying.

I don’t know what dealings the sisterhood had with my father in the past, only that he’s been sour on them ever since.

He paid them a shit-ton of gold and, as far as I know, has nothing to show for it.

He’s done nothing but rage about them ever since. ”

He sucked his fingers clean and looked up at Lucy, leaning in conspiratorially. “I have an idea. Back at the manor, we have something I bet those witches would really like to get their claws into.”

Lucy’s nose wrinkled. “Don’t tell me it’s the cheese.”

“What? No, why would they want that thing?”

Lucy shrugged. Lai had almost forgotten about the wheel of pecorino and was surprised she was still thinking about it, like a plot hole that hadn’t been satisfied.

“It’s not the cheese, it’s smaller than that. I can’t tell you what it is yet, but how would you feel about me sneaking back to the manor to grab it? I’d be there and back so quickly no one would ever even notice me.”

Lucy bit her lip, and Lai knew immediately that he had made a mistake in asking her. The plan was a textbook case of begging for forgiveness rather than hoping for permission, and he had been too quick to trust her with his idea.

“It’s suicide,”Lucy replied flatly, her eyes begging him to reconsider. “Eleanore’s had time to recover; she’ll be expecting us. She’s definitely posted guards and reinforcements, and if she’s really managed to bring Gaia back online, her security systems will be online as well.”

Lai countered her completely rational argument with a straight face despite the fact that he knew Lucy was right.

It was suicide if he was caught. But traveling to the other side of the world only being turned away at the gates wasn’t any better of an option, and they were running out of time.

If Gaia was back online, it wouldn’t be long before Eleanore began her murderous rampage across all of the universes that the dimension-hopping technology could reach.

“Of course there are risks, Luce. Itcould end badly, I totally agree. But if I can sneak in and out unnoticed, we gain a tithe for the witches and get to see what exactly is going on there. Or, we can hope the sisterhood will accept a check that we absolutely can’t afford to honor.”

“Don’t go alone,”Lucy pleaded. “You can ask for help, right? There are gods all over the manor, like Bird. Maybe he’d be willing to look after you.”

Lai couldn’t help but laugh. She was so adorably naive.

“If you’re expecting help from gods, you’re in for a very bad time.”He leaned on the table, closer to her. “They only help their own kind.”

“They helped me!”

He examined her face, trying to figure out if she truly believed that.

Pursed lips, lowered brows. She was convinced, and was determined to convince him as well.

It wouldn’t work on him; he’d grown up with those gods, and they’d never lifted a finger for anyone but themselves.

He let his face show exactly what he was thinking.

“They did! You said yourself that they only help their own. I’m one of them, Lai, I have powers of life and death. Lilly agrees with me–,”

“Whoa, okay.”Lai placed both hands on the table, stopping the conversation in its tracks.

He’d seen that exact shade of delusion before, ordinary people with a sniff of magic going on a divine ego trip.

It never ended well. “Maybe we should get you some of Lilly’s meds, then.

Now, back to the topic at hand. I’m going back. No gods, no one else. Just me.”

“Lai...”

“It’s better if I go alone. Lucy, I’m a professional.

I know my home like the back of my blood-stained hand.

I’ll sneak out once everyone’s asleep tonight and be back by morning.

I have to say, I’m surprised you aren’t offering to come with.

”He laughed, deflecting her protests and turning them into shame, manipulating her away from forbidding him from going.

“I can’t even sneak from the bedroom to the bathroom at night without hitting every single piece of furniture on the way. If Iwentwe’d be caught for sure,”she admitted with a heavy sigh. “Promise me you’ll come back alive?”

“I’ll come back alive.”