Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,48

high.

After a few moments, a small man opened the door. His dark hair was curly and his skin a warm brown. Dark eyes sparked with intelligence, and despite his small stature, an aura of danger circled around him.

“I am Tarron. Are you Devrim, the shepherd acquaintance of the four guardians who protect the Flames of Truth.”

The man gave us a suspicious look. “Which goddesses would those be?”

“Hestia, Vesta, Brigid, and Arinitti,” I said.

“Harrumph. Yes. That is me.” His gaze moved to Aeri and me.

“I’m Mordaca.” I tried to smile in a friendly way, but I was sure it didn’t reach my eyes. Until this was settled, no smile would.

“I am Aerdeca.”

He grunted, then gestured us inside. “Come in.”

We followed him into a small but impeccably neat house. He led us to a kitchen, where he began to prepare tea or coffee—I couldn’t quite tell which.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” I said. “But we are in an incredible hurry due to some truly dire circumstances.”

“The type of circumstances that could cost the lives of thousands,” Tarron said.

The man turned to us. “That is often the case with the Eternal Fire. I presume you would like transportation across the fields?”

“We would, please.” I nodded to Tarron.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew the small box, which he presented to the man.

Devrim opened it, his eyes going bright. “The goddesses must truly favor you.”

“Or they favor our goal,” I said. “Will you help us?”

He nodded. “I will. For this.”

“Could we go now?” Tarron asked.

The man looked longingly at the boiling water, then nodded and turned it off. “Yes. If the goddesses gave you this, then I can see that we must leave posthaste.”

“Thank you.” My shoulders relaxed the smallest amount.

Maybe, with any luck at all, we would stop her.

13

Devrim led us out to the back corral. Dozens of goats shifted in their enclosure, their flaming red eyes turning toward us.

“Those are some interesting goats you have,” I said.

“Indeed.” He smiled at me. “Rare, Chimaeran goats. Fireproof wool.”

One of the goat baahed, and a blast of fire shot from its mouth. The flame flew all the way toward us, and I darted backward, narrowly avoiding the blast.

“Ah, yes. You may want to keep a wary eye out.”

I shared a look with Tarron and Aeri. Both eyed the goat speculatively.

“You could probably weaponize them,” Aeri murmured.

One of the goats narrowed its beady eyes at her. She raised her hands in a gesture of apology. “Of course not. Sorry, ladies.”

The creature baahed and shot its fireball at her. She shifted, then met my gaze. “We need to get the hell out of here. Quickly.”

I looked at Devrim, who was leading us toward a dark green open-top jeep parked at the side of the enclosure. “We’re going to go through fields of these goats?”

“We are.”

“So the only way through, if one doesn’t go with you, is by flying?”

He turned and shook his head. “Not really. You’ll see.”

I raised my brows and nodded, hoping he could tell that I was interested in hearing more. But nope. That was all he had to say, apparently. He turned his attention to readying the jeep.

“He’s as enigmatic as the damned goddesses,” I muttered.

We climbed into the vehicle, with me and Aeri taking the back. I preferred to be able to stand on the flat bench seat if I needed to do any fighting. Not that the goats would necessarily leap into the jeep, but how was I to know? I’d never seen one that could breathe fire, so they could be capable of anything.

“Seat belts!” Devrim shouted.

I grumbled but put mine on. Aeri did the same.

“Normally I’m all for seat belts,” I muttered. “But not when I’m at risk of getting barbecued by a goat.”

“How the tables have turned.” Devrim chuckled, and I had to assume he was making some kind of mutton cooking joke.

If I hadn’t been a complete and total basket case, I might have laughed.

Devrim took off with a hard press of gas. The jeep leapt forward and took off down the street. The crazy shepherd was going a good sixty miles an hour through his little town, and he cranked up the speed when he reached the open road.

Approximately a mile from town, he turned a hard right and headed toward the huge mountain in the distance. The jeep’s big tires ate up the ground as he increased the speed, bouncing over lumps in the grass and dipping into potholes. I tightened my grip on the