Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(43)

His light eyes widened. “Zoey, you can’t go down there.”

“Why?”

“Because,” was Neil’s intelligent reply.

Daniel caught the last of that conversation. He knew me well enough to easily discern my next move. “Absolutely not, Zoey Donovan. Put it out of your mind. You are not going down there.”

“Give me one good reason,” I challenged him and Dev, since he was now standing beside Daniel, looking outraged at the thought.

“I’ll give you three,” Dev said, pointing to the women.

I put a hand on my hip. It’s something I do when I’m feeling particularly stubborn, and it should have been a signal to the men in my life that I meant business. “What are they going to do? Sing me to death?”

“Yes,” Dev replied. “When they want to those banshees can shatter human bones with their voices.”

“Come on, Z,” Daniel said seriously. “You’ve read X-Men, baby. That’s some serious shit.”

It isn’t easy to argue with a true geek. He always has some pop culture reference. Danny was wary of the damn goblins because his World of Warcraft character always got killed by them. It was so much easier to deal with Neil, who wouldn’t know a goblin from a leprechaun because the Real Housewives didn’t cover those topics.

“Why shouldn’t I ask them a few questions?” I decided to try logic. If that didn’t work, I would wait until they turned around and run the other way. “They want to come here and wail then they should be ready to answer a few quick, politely asked questions.”

“That is not how it works,” Declan replied as though he was speaking to an unnaturally slow child.

“Zoey, we do not question the bean si,” Padric explained. Though I was sure he knew it would do no good, his hand was on the hilt of his sword. It was the unconscious habit of a warrior. “We do not bother the washer women. We merely pray that they do not touch our house.”

“As plans go, that one sucks.” Was I the only one who wanted answers? I sure as hell wasn’t going to just sit around with my thumb up my ass, hoping they weren’t singing about me. “Look, why would they stand around and wail if nothing anyone can do is going to change things? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“They do not have to make sense.” Declan was subdued now. He watched the women sing and crossed his arms protectively over his chest. He was nervous and had moved away from the Hunter now. He inched closer to his brother, though he did not attempt to speak to him.

“What happened to the last person who tried to talk to them?” I should probably at least know what I was walking into. I’ve discovered that when walking into dangerous situations, knowing how the last idiot to attempt it died helps me to avoid her fate. I might die a brand new horrible death, but at least it would be my own.

There was a telling silence as everyone looked around. I was greeted with a multitude of blank expressions. I shook my head at all of them. “Seriously? What is wrong with you people?” I threw a leg over the open window sill.

The Hunter smiled even as Dev and Danny started to protest. “She is completely insane. I like her. It’s a shame she’s probably about to die.”

“Not helpful,” I shot back at him. Daniel leapt over the sill and Dev was thinking about it. “Not on your life, mister. You heard what the guy with the horns said. No boys allowed. I’m all full on vamp blood so if they try to take my head off, Sarah will just run down and hold it on until it heals. I’ll be fine.”

Daniel and Dev gave each other a long look.

“If they are willing to talk, and I’m not saying they will be, but if they are, they won’t do it around a man,” Dev said. “I don’t think they’ll harm her if she’s careful. And polite. Try to remember the polite part, my goddess.”

“Fine,” Danny said, crossing his arms and planting his feet. “But I’m waiting right here, and if one of them even starts to make anything like a sonic boom, I’m coming. All right?”

I nodded shortly. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

There was a collective shudder as the queen appeared at the window and asked Daniel to help her down. He gracefully lifted Miria over the sill and onto the grass. She smoothed out her dress and joined me.

“Miria.” Padric said her name with all the masculine indignation he could muster. It was sad because even though she was the Queen of Faery, she still had to put up with some man trying to protect her. I knew the feeling well.

Her hand was already in mine as she turned back to her lover. “If my new daughter can be brave enough to face them, then I can find the strength to go with her. Wait here, Padric. She is right. This is not a place for men. I will return.”

We started down the hill and the lights from the palace waned. We were left with the moonlight shining brightly off the stream. The water flowed from the mountains past the palace and into the valley below. We followed the stream downhill, and in the moonlight, it looked like things were moving in the shining waters. I almost stopped when I saw what looked like a horse’s head staring out from the reeds in the water.

“Do not look for long,” Miria instructed. “There are kelpies in these waters, and they will try to lure you down.”

I shuddered as we passed the water horse and its shining eyes. It whispered to me, but Miria’s hand was firm and she led me away.