Page 73 of Broken Veil
Laura reached down, grabbed the bouquet she’d gathered earlier, and stuck out her hand. “And flowers.”
Angus walked over, bent down to sniff the bouquet. “Not a bad offering, but hardly enough to tempt me to be your guide.”
“What?” Carys’s head was still spinning from the revelations underneath the water.Cadell?She called her dragon in her mind.I need you.
She didn’t hear anything audible, but a rush in her chest told Carys that the flying beast had immediately turned and was heading toward her.
The panicked fluttering in her chest died down. “You told me the gods had chosen me to be the hero on this quest, and Wada’s daughter prophesied that you would be the one to guide me, but you want me to pay you?”
“Yes. I cannot work for free.”
Cannot. Not would not.
Interesting.
Okay, Carys, think.
What would a not-ùruisg—because it was very clear to Carys at this point that the mythological fae identity was only a guise—want from her?
“I don’t have anything to offer you,” Carys said. “I have a house in California.” It was her sole possession though, and not very portable. “I have tools. My father had a whole barn full of woodworking tools. Do you want?—”
“I have no use for the belongings of a dead human from across the ocean.” Angus waved a gnarled hand.
Carys felt her cheeks warm again.
“Hey,” Laura snapped. “You may be a superpowerful creature who can speak any language, but maybe you shouldlearn some manners.” She put her hands on her hips. “What do you want? She’s not a queen. She doesn’t have a treasury.”
“Then perhaps she should find another guide.”
“I have…” Carys almost said a dragon, but Cadell wasn’t a possession to be bargained with. “Do you want… passage to the Brightlands?”
“Really?” Laura’s shoulders slumped. “Carys, after the last time?—”
“What? He’s supposed to go with us anyway!”
“Okay, fair point.” Laura turned toward Angus. “So?”
Angus crossed his arms over his chest. “I have no need for passage through my own handiwork, Carys Morgan. Try something else.”
“The forge,” Duncan said quietly.
Carys turned. “No.”
Duncan slowly stood up, brushed off his hands, and walked toward Angus. “Guide Carys on her journey, show her what she needs to do, and you may have the forge we’ve built as your own.”
Angus’s eyes gleamed. “So the forge and everything built there would be mine?”
“Everything built in the future,” Duncan said. “That which is already made remains mine.”
Angus was silent for a long time, then finally nodded. “This is an acceptable payment. I will guide you.”
“Duncan, you can’t pay for my guide,” Carys said. “Isn’t there some rule about that?”
“No.” Angus was already loping away from the pool and back into the woods. “We have a deal, Carys Morgan. The forge is mine, and I will guide you to the druids.”
“The druids?” Laura asked. “Wait, I thought we had to do this quest in the Brightlands because that’s where the Morrígan is.”
Angus turned. “Yes, of course. Do you think druids only reside on this side of the shadow?” He shook his head and kept walking. “I would expect a shadow-walker to be more educated than this.”
