Page 35 of Shifting Winds
“Oh?” An amused smile. “Seems like much of your trouble started when you met my daughter.”
“Some trouble is worth it.”
“Let’s hope it is.”
“You’re here to call in the debt.” There was no need for it to come out as a question. Cernunnos didn’t make house calls. He wasn’t here because I was in love with his daughter.
He wanted something from me.
“You didn’t think I’d give you a freebie, I hope.” The king’s smile was full of teeth.
“A freebie from a fae? Perish the thought,” I said mildly.
“The favor is small and easily doable. Evie should not be aware or ever know.”
I stilled. “Keeping secrets from her isn’t part of the agreement.”
Cernunnos’s eyes swirled. “Consider the agreement changed. Evie cannot know.”
I tipped the rest of my whiskey back. “Why?”
“It matters not. There is no harm to Evie now or in the future.”
This creature might one day become my father-in-law, and I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. “What’s the favor?”
“I need shelter for someone in my kingdom. She will need a home or apartment or somewhere to stay and work that pays herenough to survive. Thalia is gifted and might be able to have a shop or contracted work she uses to make a living.”
“What is her gift?”
The first flash of discomfort appeared in his eyes. “She’s a seer. A powerful one. Thalia cannot drive or transport herself. Visions come upon her at any time, and they can become volatile.”
Upon the surface, the favor didn’t seem terrible, but fae were tricky. Cernunnos wasn’t telling me everything. “Is she dangerous?”
“I would not unleash someone dangerous upon your town or my daughter.”
“That isn’t an answer. Yes or no.”
His jaw tightened. “She can be dangerous to herself when she’s in the midst of a vision, only because her magic paralyzes her. Thalia’s visions are realistic to the point where she can no longer recognize herself when she’s having one. If the wrong people were to get a hold of her, she could not protect herself.”
“Then she needs a companion or guard.”
He inclined his head. “If you provide her one, I will look upon such an action favorably.”
Not admitting to a debt between us, but something I might be able to exploit later. “What else?”
Cernunnos hesitated, an odd reaction I’d never seen from him. “Thalia is simple,” he said after a moment. “Sweet and easygoing. She’s an innocent in an age that doesn’t always appreciate such traits. Whoever you assign to her may need to treat her with kid gloves until she gets her bearings.”
“If I do this, my debt is cleared.”
The king’s eyes narrowed. “You are a black and white kind of man.”
I shook my head. “No. I do not like fae deals and want this one concluded. No strings, no gotchas. If I take Thalia on andkeep her safe for a period of…” I thought about it, “six months, after one hundred and eighty days, our slate is clean. I will pay the rent for an extra six months to allow her time to save some money. After that, the girl is on her own.”
“Twenty-four months,” Cernunnos countered, just as I expected.
“Twelve.” The Fae King could damn well afford to clothe and house the girl himself. But for some reason he either wouldn’t or didn’t want to. Interesting.
“Eighteen is my final offer. If you don’t agree, I will walk away and finalize our debt in a much different way.”
