The Blood Forest (Tree of Ages #3)(21)

His shoulders slumped in defeat, but he did not speak.

“Go on,” she pressed. “You’re already brimming with truths tonight, so you may as well continue.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “She seems to think I’m in love with you,” he stated bluntly, “and I imagine this is all part of some grand scheme of hers to force us to spend time together. Time without any of the . . . others.”

Suddenly she wished he was a liar. She opened her mouth to speak, to in some way make light of what he’d said, then a stack of crates crashed down in the far corner of the cellar. She met Kai’s gaze for a split second, then he snatched the lantern and rushed toward the sound with Finn hot on his heels.

The cellar was like a maze, filled with rows of stacked storage receptacles. Finn tried to keep her breathing steady as she raced after Kai, telling herself that the crates had fallen on their own, and that no one had been in the cellar listening to them. Listening to what he’d just said to her.

Reaching the source of the crash, Kai came to an abrupt halt. In front of him stood a small girl with sallow skin and stringy black hair, trembling in fear. The tattered tan cloth of her shapeless clothing showed patches of her frail flesh through numerous tears. She looked up at Kai and Finn with small, muddy colored eyes.

Kai held his free arm out to herd Finn back away from the girl. “I don’t think she’s human,” he muttered. He aimed the lantern at the girl, illuminating her gaunt face.

Finn pushed his arm aside. “She’s also terrified.” She lowered to one knee, bringing herself down to the girl’s eye level. She couldn’t have been more than seven. “What are you doing down here?” she asked softly.

The girl took a deep breath, and Finn noticed gills, like those of a fish, flexing along the underside of her jaw. Not human indeed.

“I’m hiding,” the girl croaked, her voice barely audible. She lowered her eyes to the ground.

Kai moved to kneel beside Finn, bringing the lantern along with him. The girl’s skin shimmered in the light. It took Finn a moment to realize it wasn’t skin at all, but scales.

“Is she a Merrow?” Kai whispered, gazing at the girl in awe.

Finn nodded. “I think so. They live in rivers and ponds, don’t they?”

“Yes,” Kai replied, “and don’t they also entrance humans, much like the Sirens?”

Finn took a moment to scowl at him, then turned back to the girl. She was only a child, not some dangerous Siren. “Where are your parents?” she asked softly.

The girl shrugged. “We came in from the river to hide from the Dair, but I think my parents were taken. I’ve been down here a while. There’s lots of salty fish in that barrel over there.” She pointed to a nearby receptacle that seemed mostly empty.

“The Dair?” Finn questioned, forcing her voice to remain even. She knew others of her kind had returned to the land along with her, but what could they possibly want with the Merrows?

The girl nodded. As if reading Finn’s thoughts, she answered, “The Dair control the earth. The Faie are the earth. We cannot resist them.”

“What do the Dair want?” Finn pleaded. She didn’t want to scare the child into going quiet, but she could sense she was close to the answers she desperately wanted.

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know. No one knows where the Dair came from, why they left, or why they have returned. We know only that we must fear them.”

The girl tensed at the sound of someone walking across the wooden flooring above. The footfalls stopped somewhere near the cellar stairs, then began to descend.

Finn and Kai both looked over their shoulders to see who approached, and when they looked back, the girl was gone.





Chapter Five





“We need to leave,” Iseult stated, ignoring the slightly stunned expressions on Kai and Finn’s faces. His heart was threatening to leave his throat. If he had not overheard that man . . .

Finn continued to glance at the empty space behind them for some reason, but there was no time for explanations.

“An Fiach is here,” he explained, hoping to get them moving. “They are looking for someone fitting your description,” he looked at Finn, “and yours,” he turned to Kai.

“Me?” Kai asked, slack-jawed. “I haven’t even swindled anyone recently.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he growled. “They outnumber us three to one. We cannot risk remaining in Ainfean tonight. Maarav and the others have already gone to purchase horses. They will meet us on the road.”

Kai sighed. “Let’s go.” He put his hand at the small of Finn’s back to guide her onward.

Iseult resisted the urge to part Kai’s hand from his body. For now, they needed to focus on escaping unseen.

He followed the pair back toward the stairs, then grabbed Kai’s arm before he could follow Finn up. “The bar mistress suggested you would guide us out the back entrance.”

“Yes,” he replied simply, “but we need to fetch Naoki first.”

Iseult took a steadying breath, then followed Kai up the stairs. He’d forgotten about the dragon. An unfortunate complication when their objective was stealth.

He reached the landing to find Finn already in a room across the hall, trying to calm the frantic dragon down enough to bundle her in a cloak. It wasn’t going well. Kai moved to help her, and got a talon across his palm.