Page 30 of Reaper's Ruin
“The Dark Market,” Selyse said, but her voice sounded softer, deeper as she said the word like it was forbidden.
Rhyker nodded. “There’s a weapons trader there—Morden. He specializes in rare and unusual pieces. If anyone would recognize the weapon and the engravings, it would be him.”
“The Dark Market?” I repeated skeptically. “That sounds... sketchy.” I saw their confusion over my word, so I quickly added. “You know. Dangerous.”
Rhyker’s mouth quirked in what might have been the ghost of a smile. “It is. Very dangerous for the unprepared.”
“But also your best chance at answers,” Selyse added, then her lips pressed into a tight smile, and she looked at Rhyker. “But I think you’ll be plenty safe. Even in a place filled with thieves and criminals, no one is going to mess with a man who looks like that.”
I glanced at him, and even in this physical form, everything about him screamed danger. If anyone could keep me safe in a place called the “Dark Market,” it would be him.
“Okay,” I agreed. “The Dark Market it is.”
Selyse stood, her eyes landing on my bloodstained pajamas. “But first, we need to address... that.” She gestured at my clothes with a slight grimace. “You can’t walk around the Dark Market covered in blood. And what is that strange creature on the fabric, anyway?”
I looked down at my night dress—light pink cotton with a small cartoon sloth printed on the chest.
“Sloths. They’re my favorite animals,” I said, a laugh bubbling up unexpectedly. “You know, the cute, slow adorable little animals that you just want to pick up and squeeze? No? No sloths in Faelora?”
Selyse and Rhyker exchanged a blank look.
“What?” I asked defensively. “They’re cute. And it’s not like I was expecting anyone but my mom to see me in this. We were having a movie night—I wasn’t exactly dressed for interdimensional travel and magical adventures.”
Selyse’s lips twitched. “Come with me,” she said. “You need a bath to clean away that blood and some proper clothes to fit in.”
She went into her cottage, coming out with some clothing tucked beneath her arm. She started walking around the cottage, and I fell into step behind her. Almost immediately, I felt Rhyker move closer, his large leather-clad body towering over me like a protective shadow, as if he wouldn’t let me out of his sight.
Selyse paused and turned, her gold-green eyes flickering between us before settling on Rhyker with an arched eyebrow.
“We’re going to the stream so she can bathe,” she said pointedly. “I don’t think she’s going to want you watching her in the nude.” A hint of amusement crept into her voice. “Or is there more to this relationship than I know?”
His face bloomed into an unnatural shade of red, spreading from his neck to his cheeks, and it was beyond endearing to realize my terrifying, deadly Reaper was blushing.
“Oh. No. Of course. I’ll, uh, I’ll just wait here,” he muttered, suddenly intensely interested in a nearby tree.
Our eyes met briefly before he looked away, and I realized my own cheeks had flooded with heat at the thought of bathing naked with him anywhere in the vicinity. And I wasn’t entirely sureif it was because I worried he was now envisioning me naked... or because somewhere, deep down, I hoped he was. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered what he looked like beneath all that formfitting leather.
“Good plan,” Selyse said, her knowing smile suggesting she hadn’t missed our mutual embarrassment. “We’re in my forest and it’s surrounded with protection spells. Not to mention the forest itself will warn me of danger and protect me. She’s safe with me. We’ll be back soon.”
As we walked away, I could feel Rhyker’s eyes on my back, that strange tension lingering between us like an unspoken question.
I dropped my gaze to the ground, hurrying away from Rhyker behind Selyse as she took us onto a narrow path that wound through the lush vegetation. As we walked, the vegetation grew even more lush and unusual. I’d never visited a jungle, never really left Minnesota other than to go to my Grandpa’s funeral in Florida, but I was quite certain no place on Earth, even in the wildest corners of the planet, had anything resembling the exotic and unbelievable trees and plants surrounding me.
At one point, a small creature—somewhere between a squirrel and a fox, with an impossibly fluffy tail and large amber eyes—scampered across our path and paused to stare at us curiously. Instead of running when we approached, it chirped and darted straight to Selyse, climbing up her leg to perch on her shoulder.
“Hello, little one,” she murmured, stroking its head with her finger. The creature leaned into her touch, making a trilling sound of contentment.
“That’s amazing,” I breathed. “It’s not afraid of you at all.”
“I’m of the Sylvan Court,” she explained. “We have a natural affinity with the forest and its creatures. Some of us can communicate with them directly.” She smiled as the creaturenuzzled her cheek. “This is Pip. He lives in the hollow tree near my garden.”
I’d seen magic with my own two eyes, and yet it still stunned me to hear that these people, these fae, could do something as amazing as talking to animals. As an animal lover, it was dream I’d had all my life, and yet here, it turned out it was a reality. “Can all Sylvan fae talk to animals?”
“To varying degrees. Some can truly communicate, like me. Others can just feel and share feelings with animals. Some have stronger connections to plants instead, able to accelerate growth or shape living wood.” As if to demonstrate, she reached out to a nearby flowering bush. Under her touch, new buds unfurled into blossoms, the petals spreading open like time-lapse photography.
My jaw slackened. “Okay, wow. That’s amazing. And you can do both?”
“I’m a sorceress, which is different than the usual fae. My abilities are... unique.” She whispered something to Pip, who immediately leapt from her shoulder and bounded toward me. Before I could react, he had scrambled up my leg and perched atop my head.
