had been walking around with tools in his pockets the whole time. Was so distracted, he hadn’t thought to appraise their value or test their worth.
It wasn’t like him.
Those blindfolds had shut out the world when Morien had put them around his eyes. Rags drummed his fingers against his left ribs, thinking.
Wondering if the gamble was worth it. If he turned out to be wrong, made a bad play . . . Morien would know something was up. He could kill Rags for trying to be clever, right in front of Shining Talon.
The fae prince didn’t need that after losing his family. Losing everyone. Everything.
Shining Talon was still talking about Cab. “He has slipped the Lying One’s net. Someone has helped him. Assistance I have not been able to provide you. Forgive me—”
Rags held up a finger, prompting Shiny to shush.
If he was going to do this, he had to do it quick, like setting a bone or jumping between rooftops the first time.
“I’m going to sleep now,” Rags said, forcefully. “Because humans still do that, and with everything going on, I’m fucking tired.”
He shut his eyes, ignoring Shining Talon’s look of handsome bafflement, and pulled the blindfolds from his pocket. It was quick work to tie them around his chest, covering his heart.
Rags flexed his sharded right hand, covering it with his left. No reason to trust Morien when he said the shards in his hand were for causing pain and nothing more—like spying through his fingernails—except Shining Talon had seen mirrorcraft like this before being put to Sleep.
Rags trusted him not to get them both killed.
That was new. The whole trusting thing. Fortunately, no time to examine it.
When the final knot was tied, it felt like a boulder had settled on Rags’s ribs. Had he done it right, or did the cloths sense his subterfuge and want to kill him for defying their master?
“Well,” he wheezed. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Wonder gleamed on Shining Talon’s face, which meant Rags probably wasn’t about to die. And no sign of Morien appearing to tear his heart from his chest, which was always appreciated.
Shining Talon reached forward, a flicker of distaste darkening his features when he touched the cloths.
“To use a Lying One’s arts against him . . . you are cunning, Rags.”
“A hunch,” Rags protested. He felt light-headed, though whether that was from the blindfolds or the compliment, he wasn’t sure. “Now we can talk without that creep listening in. So if you’ve got any brilliant theories? It’s time to share them.”
What Shining Talon said next took the rest of Rags’s breath away. He hadn’t actually expected an answer.
“I believe that I am not the only surviving member of my kind. I told you about our Enchantrisks, yes? They performed feats of wonder for our people, and were our best defense against the sorcerers. My connection with One is weaker since she has bonded to her master, but I know this much: Cabhan of Kerry’s-End is still alive, and someone has taken the poisonous mirrorglass from his heart.”
Rags’s thoughts tripped over one another.
There was another fae. One with control of magic, if Rags was following along correctly.
What Lord Faolan had said about enemies of the Queen was true.
Only if those enemies had the power to fix Rags’s problem. . . .
Then he was pretty sure they weren’t his enemies.
Somewhere out there, while they were being attacked and before Morien had started his slaughter, another fae had passed Shining Talon by. He wasn’t the last of his kind. Wasn’t doomed to remain alone.
They had to find this other fae. Set Rags free in both hand and heart. Release Shining Talon to the custody of somebody a little more appropriate.
That meant throwing himself into this quest like he really believed there was something waiting for him at the end of it.
He wasn’t the guy for the Great Paragon. But he could see things through to help himself, and maybe a friend. No, an acquaintance. No: a fae he’d dug out of the ground once and was now bound to forever more, apparently.
Rags’s heartbeat was slowing, fading, but dizzy relief briefly overpowered any distress at the situation.
“We should remain in possession of these foul items to exchange information freely whenever we have opportunity.” Rags saw, rather than felt, Shining Talon soothe a thumb over his chest. Morien, Rags had to remind himself, fear gutting any hope of pleasure. They were talking about the blindfolds. “He will see nothing, hear