Chapter 13

Cricket

Afew more days of travel bring us to the bustling merchant town of Willowood, where I'm both delighted to be almost home and on edge because there may be guildsmen around in a town this big and seedy. I've yet to strategize a plan to stop Julian from his goal of becoming a murderer.

We arrive midday, eager to find refreshment. With Slinger safe at the town's stables, we take a lap of the main streets to get the lay of the land.

Willowood may not be as grand as Lemossin, but it's as close as we'll get to it this far south. The nice section isn't quite as nice, and the seedy section is far, far seedier than anything I saw in the royal city.

Julian is wearing his false face again. Julian-like but all smoothed over and feminine. His hair is lighter and a bit shorter, and I don't care for it at all.

I study him. "It's very odd to look at you and not see you."

He closes his eyes, sucks in a breath—rather dramatically, I might add— and puffs it out through his nose. When his lids flutter open, he's back to being my Julian. "Better?"

I'm surprised he did that for me. "Yes, but…you don't need the disguise?"

"It's still there. You're seeing through the mask."

Wow. No need to keep it inside. "Wow."

A pleased little chuckle escapes his lips, and I'm glad I said it out loud.

We pass an incubus brothel, and I wonder what the incubi are doing now that the queen has decried their freedom? The incubi who were being held as slaves and pets must be benefiting most from the new laws, whereas the ones in brothels were freer to begin with. But still, with no need to earn money, how has life changed?

As we stroll by, the air is perfumed with floral incense. Carvings of naked bodies contorting with one another line the deep entryway.

I've never been inside a brothel, and I've never met an incubus, though I saw one once. A beautiful purple creature, huge, with thick muscles, curling horns, and a long tail wound around the bars of his cage. He was paraded through town like an animal, staring from bright silver eyes at those who lined up to gawk at him.

Terrible business.

I wondered at his story then. I wonder where he is now. And while I'm wondering things, has Julian ever visited a brothel? He's quite a bit older than me. With as many stories as he makes up, he's bound to have lived some real ones.

But Julian is far more comfortable with stories than the truth. I can hardly blame him for that when the truth has taken so much from him.

Two streets past the brothel is a row of eateries, each with outdoor seating lining the cobbled road between them. The scents of roasted meat, savory sauces, and freshly baked herb bread wafting on the wind make my mouth water and my stomach growl.

"Hungry, are you?" Julian arches his brows.

"Always." When you have gone starving in the past, and a true feast is available at your fingertips, it's impossible not to crave it. "What shall we have?"

He scans the options. Little tables with yellow tablecloths host several couples eating dishes of noodles, bowls of steaming soups, and plates of the herb bread.

Julian points. "There."

I'm in full agreement. We catch the eye of a worker who smiles and gestures to open seats. "Sit anywhere you like. I'll be with you in a pinch."

We hunker down at a corner table with a good view of the street. I'm feeling our travels. I'm dirtier than I like, my clothes are rumpled, and my boots are covered in dried mud. Both my body and everything on it are in dire need of a good soak and wash.

Hopefully, our attendant doesn't notice. Or worse. Doesn't smell us.

"Wine?" she asks as she swoops past, hands full of glasses destined for another table. She sets them down, speaks with those folks, then returns to us. "We have honey grape, sour cherry, and our house special, lilac and lemon. Or ale if you're boring."

We both ask for the special because even worse than being dirty and smelly would be being boring.

While we wait, an incubus arrives, all alone, and the attendant stops in her tracks. Though she fails to hide the surprise in her voice, she recovers quickly enough and offers him the same invitation she gave to us. "Sit anywhere you like. Be with you in a pinch."

I stare because of course I do.

Incubi are said to be innately alluring, and this man makes a fine example. His lovely peaches-and-cream complexion sparkles like a fae's but is even bolder for the amount of it on display. He wears the sultry silks of his trade, silver pants slit up the side so more leg is revealed than not. His naked chest, waist, neck, ears, and horns are decorated with flashy gold jewelry and purple stones.

He sits between us and another dining couple, who promptly get up and move, not bothering to hide the distaste on their faces.

The incubi's shoulders roll inward. If he's as uncomfortable as he looks, why is he here at all?

Julian rises, clearing his throat, and approaches the lone man. He extends his wrist and introduces himself. "Pleasure to meet you."

"And you." The incubus clasps Julian's arm firmly. "I'm Percival."

"Come and sit with us. We'd love company." Though we're at a table meant for two, Julian grabs a third chair and adds it. "This is my friend Cricket."

The incubus offers a careful smile and a polite bow of his horned head. "Greetings, Cricket."

"And to you, Percival. Welcome." My senses are alight. Not only am I meeting my first-ever incubus, but we're going to share a meal, and Julian called me his friend.

Friend.

Knowing he doesn't have any makes the endearment even more special. I may or may not be grinning like a loon.

Okay, I definitely am.

"What's good to eat here?" asks Julian. "We're just passing through and don't know the city very well."

Percival frowns. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. Though I've lived in Willowood all my life, we've never been allowed to frequent the same establishments where the fae usually dine."

My grin melts like ice. Blasted fae. Blasted royalty and riches. But I won't let them stand in the way of a nice lunch. "Then we"ll discover what's good together, won't we?"

"I'd like that," says Percival, his voice as rich as honey from the comb.

Our attendant returns with our drinks, light purple liquid with slices of lemon on the rim. The sweet scent of lilac drifts to my nose and lingers. Delicious.

"And for you?" she asks.

"Whatever they're having, please."

"And to eat, gentlemen? Today we have orange duck, garlic string beans, butter noodles, herbed rice, fresh bread, and beef with vegetables stew."

My belly rumbles. Everything sounds amazing, and they even have choices for strange sorcerers who don't eat meat. We order a bit of all of it and decide to share. I can hardly wait to eat.

"What brings you through Willowood?" asks Percival.

We ignore the odd stares and glances from other diners. If they're too snobby to sit near an incubus, they're definitely not the sort of people worth knowing.

I find myself wondering which face Julian is showing to Percival. His true face, which I see, or the disguise he wears anytime we're somewhere crowded. I hope it's his true face, though if questioned, I'd have a hard time explaining why I care.

"Cricket here has been traveling, and he's headed home to Irondale," says Julian. "I'm only tagging along for lack of anything better to do."

I snort. He's somehow managed to tell the truth without giving away any of the more questionable details. Another of Julian's many skills: the art of obfuscation.

"I've been thinking of traveling myself now that it's permitted. Would you tell me of the places you've been?"

We chat casually about Lemossin, the village festival, the roads and trails, Ember Crest and tomato pies, the floating bridge, and Slinger dumping Jules into the river. The more we talk, me finishing Julian's sentences and him finishing mine, the more the truth of his earlier declaration sinks in.

We really have become friends.

Furthermore, I have the epiphany that it's not friendly behavior of me to hoard the coin all for myself when we could easily share it. Perhaps the coin itself could convince Julian its purpose isn't to help him kill an entire guild of people, nefarious or not.

"Is it safe yet in Luminia for a creature like me to travel alone?" Percival asks between mouthfuls of stew. The food is as excellent as it smells, and the three of us have no trouble cleaning our plates and ordering another round.

I defer to Julian, the more worldly of the two of us by a long shot. "Depends. I would love to say yes, but I'm afraid I'd be leading you astray. Not all of Luminia is as quick to accept change as her queen. But we can hope."

"That we can. The two of you are quite nice. If only I meet more couples like you, all will be well."

Couples?

Julian and I catch each other's gazes, but neither of us corrects him. Instead, Julian says, "Tell me of your magic. Can it be used to defend yourself if need be?"

This brings a full-bellied laugh from our new acquaintance. "If you count making an enemy desire to bed me, then I suppose so. I can coax a man to his knees without much effort."

Julian laughs along with him. "That's not what I was thinking, but I could definitely see how such powers could come in handy." He's looking at me when he says it.

Heat creeps along my cheeks. "We've been working on protection magic. Julian is teaching me how to shield."

"I could give you a lesson as well. Perhaps in trade for advice? We'd like to stay the night. Where should we lodge?"

"I can do better than advice." Percival's answering smile reveals a row of pearly white teeth. "You must stay with me."

"We don't wish to be any trouble."

"It's no trouble. I insist."

"Delightful," says Julian.

"My home is, of course, a brothel. Or it was. But our den is quite comfortable, as you might imagine a place set up for pleasure would be. We hosted rebel soldiers during the uprising. It was all very exciting business. Sneaking around, stealing maps, holding briefings. I met a gargoyle!"

I'm imagining it now. Soldiers in a den of incubi. Exciting is one word for it.

Percival continues, "We're still figuring out how we want to operate now that we've gained our freedom, and in the meantime, there are plenty of empty rooms. It would be my pleasure to put you up in one."

Two, I think but strategically do not say.

Julian's shark smile is back and looking as sexy as ever. "Why, how could we say no?"

I'm in so much trouble.