By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(22)

“You didn’t know that at the time. For all you knew, I could have sucked.”

“I had faith in you.”

“Misplaced.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I don’t know why the cards rearrange themselves for me,” I said, my volume increasing with each word spoken. “All I can say is that they do. That second deck held some really powerful magic, and what if the cards hadn’t rearranged themselves?”

“But they did.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. He must drive Brandsome crazy. What kind of indentured servant talked back the way he did? Then again, I was pretty sure Brandsome was willing to use methods I wasn’t in order to guarantee compliance.

“You don’t have any magic, Quinn. I’ve never dealt with zombies before, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be extremely unpleasant.”

“Which is why you need someone to watch your back.” He rummaged around in his sack and pulled out a small bag filled with greenish powder. “Sir Blaive the Quick’s Grave Dust. Guaranteed to scorch the undead into little piles of ash.”

“I’m going to ignore the weirdness of you carrying around powder to randomly torch undead creatures.”

“It’s not that weird.”

“Uh yeah. It is. But anyway I can take it with me.” I held out my hand. He gripped it close to his chest.

“No. I want to go along.”

I sighed. “Look, what gives, Quinn? Why do you want to go? It’s going to be dangerous. This is the second time you’ve insisted on putting yourself in harm’s way. Seriously, do you have a death wish?”

“Of course not. I just, well, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Try me.”

“I . . . I can’t.”

“Then buh-bye.” I gave him a finger wave, snatched up my bag and headed for the door.

“Twig, please, wait!”

I paused at the door. Yeah, I knew I was being foolish. Rottingvale Quagmire was no place for a human. No place for a half-dragon-half-fairy either. Except I had a job to do.

“Brandsome wasn’t completely honest with you when he signed over my papers.”

I sighed. “What do you mean?”

“Being Brandsome’s pet,”—he said the word like it tasted bad, and I guess I couldn’t blame him for that—“I still have to do what he says. Mostly.”

“Uh huh. And now you belong to me. So you’re supposed to do what I say.”

“True . . . but it’s like having two masters.”

“Explain.” He had my attention now.

“You own me temporarily, but I still belong to Brandsome. While I’m supposed to follow your orders, I also have my orders from Brandsome. He tracks me through the collar. And he wants me to go with you to, um, keep an eye on you.”

“He’s afraid I’ll keep the horn once I get it?” I could hardly be more offended. He might as well have called me a thief.

“Well, you are a half-dragon. And dragons do like to add to their hoards, right?” Quinn winced when he said it, like it wasn’t his idea.

“If he’s so worried, why did he hire me?” I snapped. Brandsome could go get his own damn horn and shove it where the sun didn’t shine as far as I was concerned.

“Because . . . because he heard you’re the best. And Brandsome likes the best of everything.”

I grumbled, but his compliment mollified me somewhat. Until I thought through his words. “Wait. When did you speak with Brandsome?”

He froze in place, his mouth working but no sound coming out.

“Quinn, I asked you a question. And how exactly did you contact him?”

“I-I didn’t.”

“Then how do you know he wants you to go with me?”

“Um, you promise you won’t get mad?”

“No. But if you don’t answer my questions right now, I can promise you I will.”

He flinched, then took a deep breath. “He planned on trading me to you the whole time.”

“What? Why?”

“For the reason I just said. He wants me to keep an eye on you.”

“So he maneuvered it in such a way that I’d be inclined to keep you?”

“Your reputation as a, um, voracious, uh, connoisseur of Elder creatures is well known in certain circles. He assumed you’d jump at the chance to, ah, spend time with a human.”

“You can just say I enjoy sex.” I tried not to grin. Failed miserably.

He actually blushed. How was it possible that a bed slave blushed when talking about sex? Just one more oddity that made up Quinn Broomsparkle. And why wasn’t I more angry about being tricked? I should be furious. But I wasn’t. Not when Quinn was turning out to be such an entertaining human.

“Anyway, that’s why I need to go, too.”

My smile fell away. “I work alone. Brandsome will just have to trust that I won’t steal his precious horn.”

Quinn’s shoulders drooped. “Okay.”

“You’re giving up just like that?” Something smelled foul in Lighthelm tonight if he thought I’d believe that.

He grimaced. “Brandsome’s punished me before. I can take it.” His jaw firmed, like he was trying to convince himself.