Page 10 of A Sword of Ice
Unless there’d been enough iron to dull everyone’s senses… Unless Rey had been too high to fight back…
But Belinda didn’t need to hear that, either. There was enough fear wafting out from her that Iona couldn’t bear to add more on, because she knew the Fae wouldn’t be able to handle it.
So she smiled her warmest smile, even while her nails dug patterns into her pants. “I’m sure he’s fine, Belinda. He probably went for more hallucinogens or something, but don’t worry.”
Belinda gave her a tight nod, and Iona wondered if the Unseelie Fae could hear the lies in her voice. She tried to disguise her own worry as much as she could with a happy smile and dancing fingertips, but when Belinda moved, Iona’s eyes couldn’t help but stray towards the spot where she would usually find Rey.
Empty.
With nothing but ash and a rolled up, half-smoked joint as evidence that he’d ever really been there at all.
7
Iron Bracelets
The wanted posters went on for miles, glued to every available space of every building and every house of the city. There was nowhere Iona could walk where she wasn’t assaulted by the image of glaring, monstrous faces.
She was glad when she finally emerged from the shadows and into the zoo. Each poster she passed had felt like a bright sign pointing towards her own culpability for merely existing. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like something she could escape because when she made it to the zoo, it was to find the exact thing she’d been running from, staring her in the face.
Taking deep breaths, she made an effort to ignore them as she went into her familiar’s cage. She needed to clean it out and drop the temperature of his water before she got on with her other labors.
Her familiar burst out of the water as she approached, spraying her with prickles of cold in greeting. His black muzzle opened, lips pulling back and tongue lolling out in a happy declaration.
“Hey, big guy.” She bent down, holding her palm out so he could nuzzle her hand with his snout.
She didn’t name him. Not in the way humans named their pets, simply because a familiar wasn’t a pet but a gift from Mana. A companion. They didn’t deserve to be treated so commonly. It was an integral rule of the Fae. Familiars and mates were treated with reverence and respect, and if familiars wanted a name, they would let their Fae know.
“Let me get everything cleaned up for you.”
He replied with a ginger lick to her skin that made her giggle before she stood up and went with the motions of cleaning his glass tank. She scooped up manure, hauled out buckets of fish to toss into his water, and spread fresh hay against the ground.
In the midst of cleaning everything up, Iona heard a door open, followed by the stocky footsteps and a presence that reeked of piss and ale.
She didn’t turn around. “Hello, Petey.”
“Just the Fae I’ve been looking for.”
His slimy voice rolled down her back, making her grip the handle of the shovel tighter before she straightened and turned to meet his leering gaze.
“What’s up, Petey?”
Today he was wearing a thick, brown fur coat that made him look even bigger. Dark leather boots decorated his feet, and his legs were pressed tightly against thin pants that were ready to burst at the seams.
“You’ve seen the posters all over the city, I’m sure.” He smirked. There was a lot of evil to be conveyed within a single smile, in the look of someone’s eyes. Iona knew true evil and malice. She was familiar with it, if only because she’d stared down into souls on a battlefield back when she’d been in the Resistance.
Petey portrayed a fraction of that, so Iona wasn’t afraid of him. Why would she be when she’d battled on the fields of the Seelie Court and had watched her race fall? When she’d held the weight of a sword and shield in her arms. When she’d stared down iron swords, suffered through unimaginable wounds, and heard the screams of her sister as she was dragged through bleeding sands.
He was a bug on the entire scale of things she feared.
“I have.” She leaned her elbow against the shovel, folding her body to ease the tension in her back. “Lots of wanted Fae out there…”
His smile widened even further, his lips tilting up comically. “I got a visit from a couple of soldiers last night.”
“Yeah?” She straightened and leaned the shovel against a wall and turned back, slipping her hand into the pocket of her jumpsuit. If only because she didn’t want him to see the nervous rhythm her fingers beat against her leg.
“By order of the Emperor of Illyk, all business are now required to distribute iron bracelets to their employees.” He reached a meaty hand into his coat pocket, pulling out a band of thick iron. He waved it around, and Iona’s eyes followed the movement of their own volition. “Do you know what this means, Iona?” He lowered his hand.
Iona shrugged her shoulders, a delicate move that hid the coldness she felt inside like a spreading river through her veins. “Care to enlighten me?” She wondered if her hatred and sarcasm imbued through the words she spoke. Judging by the harsh flare of his eyes, she would say yes.
