Page 23 of When the Wicked Sing
“Why? Tough siren can’t handle a little walking?” Dax teased, and she glared at the back of his head.
“No, you stink,” she snapped, hoping the blatant lie offended him. “I’m about to choke to death from your stench.”
“Wow, thanks for the brutal honesty. I appreciate it. Now, stop talking.”
Ignoring him, she said, “How about we talk aboutyou?Tell me all about yourself. I can barely speak without getting nauseated from all the smells—”
“Then you should shut your trap and keep walking,” he barked over his shoulder, tugging her hard by her leash. Her wrists ached in protest, but she yanked back, causing him to stop and turn around.
They held each other’s firm, disdainful stares.
Blazes, she wanted to fight him. But she knew she wouldn’t win if she did, and that fact deeply bothered her. “Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll shut my trap like a good little captive,” she taunted in an overly sweet tone and batted her eyelashes up at him.
She would follow the intolerable fae as long as she needed to, but that didn’t mean she had to make it easy on him.
Her feet stung with each step inside the torture devices they calledshoes; her natural healing unable to keep up with the blisters ripping her skin open over and over again. And quite frankly, she was pissed, hungry, and tired—there was no room in her heart to care how the fae felt about her constant annoyances. In fact, each time he growled at her or ordered her to stop talking, the pain eased just the slightest bit.
“Let’s get one thing straight, princess. You and I have to tolerate each other until we get to Aurelia. Save your energy for walking instead of intentionally trying to annoy me so we get there faster. Once we’re there, we can go our separate ways. Agreed?”
Mariana’s fists tightened, and the silk dug into her skin, threatening to slice her wrists apart. But her anger couldn’t overshadow the fact that he had called her princess.
“You know who I am,” she said in a deadly calm tone, noticing how his jaw clenched in response. He wasn’t just a mercenary for hire; the king had told him about her, and the only way the king would’ve known anything was if he had spoken to Astra.
“Is my sister still alive?” she blurted.
His face didn’t move a muscle as his emerald gaze stared her down.
Instead of responding, he turned around and continued walking, forcing her to follow.
She let out a low growl. “Just tell me if she’s alive, that’s all I ask.”
“I won’t tell you anything unless you stop talking and we enter the fae realm.”
Her nails dug into her skin as she gripped her fists tight, wanting to throw something at his head.
The water in the air coating her skin and misting the trees called to her again now that the drug had completely worn off. She let herself answer the call, pulling droplets into her hand. Glancing up, she contemplated throwing the ball of water at the fae’s head. Maybe drowning him just a little … Instead, she formed shapes of sea creatures in her palms as she walked. The light from the sun glinted off their little forms, casting small rainbows against her skin. She smiled, finally enjoying herself with youngling tricks. It killed the time, and before she knew it, Dax had stopped.
She slammed into his back, the tiny water octopus in her hand splashing to the ground. Moaning, she stumbled back and lifted her hands to her face.
“Good Goddess!You can’t just stop like tha—” Her words dropped away with her hands when she saw what he was looking at.
Through the dense trees at the edge of a cliff stood a pillared arch covered in overgrowth. Ivy spiraled up the columns, and moss covered the cobblestone ramp leading up to a glittering door.
“What is that?” she asked softly. She’d never seen anything like it.
“The Crossing,” Dax replied and began walking toward the archway.
“Thatis the Crossing? Everyone always talked about it like it was a land bridge.”
“It was,” he said to her, then turned to face the strange, colorful window. “Before the Infernal Wars.”
Before the fae all wanted to kill each other over power.
“Huh.” She stepped up next to him, staring at it in wonder. It didn’t show what was on the other side, just an array of glittering colors.
“Why would the fae build this and then never use it?”
“They did use it when mortals didn’t inhabit the islands, before the Southern Continent decided all fae were—”
