have magic. If you use it right, it blows things up,” she said.
Her dad’s smile beamed brighter. “I see.”
“Do you?” Anger overcame her again. Her dad took a step back. “What sort of people treat their guests like garbage? How does that look on you as a people? Sorry—on us as a people?”
A small crease formed between his brows.
“Did people ignore them?” she asked, thinking about the woman who hadn’t noticed Devon the night before. She was an asshole for not having picked up on this sooner. Her people were all assholes for thinking this behavior was right.
An embarrassed look crossed her father’s face, gone so fast that Charity thought she’d imagined it.
“And all this halvsie stuff?” she continued. “You can’t treat people like this, Dad. You can’t. Right now the shifters—and a lot of people, I think—regard the guardians reverently, as warriors. They even call you warrior fae! If they knew you treated people like this, hiding in your natural nook far away from trouble while the elves torture people for info and the—”
He touched her shoulder and his eyes took on a keen edge. “What was that?”
“What was…what?”
“The elves…”
She frowned at him. How could he not know?
She explained what Emery had told them about the elves’ recent history of torturing and sometimes killing for information. Her father’s brow lowered as she explained the elves had been randomly grabbing people to question.
“This is pretty common knowledge,” she finished. “Ask Emery—though I guess he left. But he knows exactly what the elves are capable of. He put himself at great risk to lead our party through the wilds. If you can get hold of Vlad, I’m sure he’d love to fill your ears on the state of things. I mean…you live here—you should know all this.”
Her dad’s gaze zipped behind her, and something new moved within his eyes. A smoldering light, of sorts, heating to flame. Halvor had stood to the side of the space and listened intently.
Her dad’s lips pinched together. It meant he was disappointed. “Thank you, Charity, for all you have said. Now, if you will leave me to speak with Halvor—”
“Yeah, sure. No problem. But, to be honest, I came here to give you a hug goodbye. I’m leaving—”
“No.” She nearly snapped to attention, such was the force of his bark. “You will not leave.”
Thankfully, she had a lot of experience rebuffing a powerful alpha.
“Sorry, Dad, but you can’t stop me. Neither can your manservant-assassin. Unless you try to kill me, that is, but if you do that, you should remember that I can rain down lightning. I’ll take your best fighters to the grave with me. We halvsies can be unpredictable fuckers.”
Her father’s eyebrow ticked upward again. That eyebrow could convey so many things. She hadn’t a clue about half of them.
More footsteps. Halvor quickly ducked out to allow Charity’s grandmama to fill the doorway.
“Oh, Charity,” her grandmother said, out of breath and pale-faced. “Yes. I wondered… I’ve heard word that the guest houses are on fire. Blown to bits.”
“Yes, Mother,” Romulus said, a twinkle in his eyes. “We’re planning some improvements.”
“We’re…” She looked back and forth between Charity and Romulus. “We didn’t discuss—”
“I also need to speak with you about some logistical issues.” He stepped closer and lowered his hand onto Charity’s shoulder. “Charity and I need to leave within the next few days. We’ll need supplies and to arrange adequate coverage for my governing duties. Charity was not able to finish her business with the Alpha Shifter before he moved on. I will, of course, need to chaperone her to the human lands.”
“You’re… You…”
“First,” someone said, also out of breath. “The Red Prophet! She’s gone!”
“No, dear. Check the trees,” Charity’s grandmother replied, annoyed. “Or that crawlspace in her house. She got stuck there last fall, remember?”
“She left a note, First. She’s gone with the Alpha Shifter. She has decided to spend her days in the Brink, where the sky is blue and the ocean is purple.”
Charity grimaced. The Red Prophet might be a little disappointed when she made it to the beach. Unless, of course, she got her hands on some acid.
“There.” Romulus nodded triumphantly. “Now it cannot be denied. I will escort Charity to the Brink, both to ascertain the whereabouts of the Red Prophet and so that Charity can complete her business.”
“We won’t have Vlad’s protection this time,” Charity said, thinking out loud. “It’ll be dangerous, and that’s if the elves or demons don’t find us.”