Spin the Shadows (Dark and Wicked Fae #1) - Cate Corvin Page 0,70

We’d taken so many odd curves I’d never find my way out on my own.

It took another ten minutes of twists and turns before the stones in the ceiling started looking a little uneven, leaking rivulets of water that created muddy puddles between the stones.

I guessed we were somewhere near Acionna Harbor, if not directly under it. Oil lamps hung from the ceiling overhead, casting deep shadows.

Brightkin had stopped several times to snort more of the evanesce, growing jumpier with each hit.

He paused to tilt the last of the vial on the back of his hand, snorting it into purple-rimmed nostrils and apparently unaware he was ankle-deep in mud.

A noise traveled through the tunnel, echoing to us like a distant train. Brightkin’s glazed eyes showed their whites all the way around when he jumped in place like a frightened rabbit. “Fuck! It’s the fucking Garda! We gotta go!”

Before Silke could react or move to stop him, the prince tore down the tunnel, shattering the vial on the stones behind him.

I froze, my eyes on Robin, sure that the huldra was going after the prince.

Instead, I heard a soft click behind me and a sigh of relief. Robin was looking over my shoulder.

I turned slowly.

Silke held a long black pistol, held casually at her side. Her kohl-rimmed eyes flashed. “Now that we’re alone without the idiot, why don’t you show me your real face, Goodfellow?”

23

“The fuck are you on about?” Robin asked, throwing his hands out and screwing up Calder’s face in confusion and anger, but Silke raised the pistol and pointed it at his chest.

“Please don’t mistake me for being as stupid as my charge.” Her voice was as cold and calm as an Arctic sea. “This gun is loaded with Faebane bullets. Not even you are immune to those.”

The faceless guards flanked her, hands resting on sheathed daggers. I let out a forced whimper of fear and tried to put several feet between us, but Silke’s cold eyes flashed to me.

“Don’t move another inch.” She looked down at my cut, muddy feet and gave me a thin smile. “You tried, I suppose, but Calder never takes the front entrance, and nereids don’t bleed red. I have no idea who you are under that face, but I assure you, I won’t hesitate to kill you either.”

I froze in place with both hands pressed against the walls. If the bullets were really Faebane… well, it wouldn’t be a pleasant death for me.

“Not a nereid? This is bullshit,” Robin spluttered, waving Calder’s stumpy arms around as he stomped towards her. He was the perfect picture of outrage. “Get Bright’s ass back here before the real Goodfellow shows up. And I want my money back, princess. I don’t pay for glamoured ass.”

Silke just looked at him and aimed the pistol at me.

Robin stopped dead in his tracks.

“I thought so.” Silke looked satisfied, but there was pain under the expression. “This one means something to you.”

Instead of blustering, a look of collected calm came over Robin’s face, the expression out of place on the satyr’s crude features. It looked like the game was up.

“Excellent work, Silke.” It was Robin’s voice now. He crossed his arms over his chest. “If only you’d been open to the Garda about the prince’s movements, I might have offered you the chance to come back to my service.”

Back to his service? I couldn’t ignore the strike to my heart.

It was yet another thing Robin hadn’t told me.

Silke was no longer looking at me, but her arm seemed to be made of iron, holding the pistol aimed perfectly at my heart. “A shame the offer isn’t tempting at all. I’d only be trading my position under one thumb for another.”

Robin cocked his head to the side. “Was your debt really so steep that you needed to resort to guarding this secret?”

The huldra bared her teeth at him. “I owed a lifetime, Goodfellow. A lifetime of faithful service to the death. Better to squeeze Brightkin for every penny he had and leave Avilion with him.”

“And if you’d brought me this information, I would’ve had your debt forgiven for old times’ sake,” he said quietly. “You bargained on the wrong man to save you.”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from flicking between the two of them, all while waiting for a Faebane bullet to shred right through me.

Oddly, I had no regrets despite imminent death. I was right where I wanted to be. Robin would get out, and he would save those human