24

Dranian Evelry: Master of Secrets and Lies and Other Treacherous Things

Two fairies smelling of smoke collapsed onto an apartment floor. A dog with a flappy, loose tongue came racing to them, licking faces and barking. Dranian patted Dog-Shayne on the head, but Luc made a repulsed noise beside him.

"Why must everything be so wet?" he asked, wiping off his drool-covered cheek with his sleeve.

"Let's get cleaned up." Dranian winced as he inched his way up to stand. He was far more sore than he cared to admit. The pains in his shoulder and arm had become nearly unbearable. By the time he got to his feet, he realized Luc was already standing, waiting .

Luc blinked. Then he poked Dranian's shoulder, and it was so dreadful, Dranian nearly buckled and fell to the floor again.

Luc sighed. "I'd ask what you were thinking going up against Shadows in your condition, but I suppose I don't really care what you were thinking since the result is me being alive," he said.

Dranian rubbed his shoulder. "It's because of you I have these bruises," he reminded him.

Luc shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe you should have been more careful. What were you doing when the Army snuck up on you in the first place? How did they manage to get close enough to kidnap you without you sniffing them?"

Dranian thought about his dream—the one he'd been deeply lost in when the Shadows came. "Never mind that," he mumbled. "Get cleaned up so we can be off to Fae Café before sundown." He headed toward his room to find fresh clothes, all the while thinking about the moment Lily had come marching into the smoky turmoil, gun raised, and had abolished a pack of Shadow Fairies with her own army.

And how he'd completely stolen her fire-breathing thing.

He was in for an arse-whooping from just about everyone now.

Something blocked the light of his doorway after he came in. He turned to find Luc standing there with his arms folded.

"What in the name of the sky deities would make you think I would go to Fae Café, of all places? Hmm?" A large scowl took up most of his face.

"Because Mor wants to know if you're alive," Dranian said, and Luc's face changed. "And because the next part of my plan involves you."

Dranian's room filled the with the sound of Luc's snort-laugh. "You made plans for me ? I think I'm finished with letting others make plans and expecting me to fulfil them. I might as well have stayed in the Army if I wanted to do that."

"I saved you," Dranian said, "so come to Fae Café this one time. For Mor."

He turned to face Luc, waiting for his decision.

Luc glared a little. The fox slid his jaw back and forth. He looked off.

Dranian tuned Luc out after several minutes. Luc grumbled the whole way through the apartment, the whole way down the hall and descending the stairs, the whole way down the sidewalk, and for the whole bus ride. He never offered to airslip them to the café so they'd get there faster. He even made Dranian pay his bus fee.

Finally, halfway through the bus ride, Dranian said, "Closure is important when it comes to things that are broken."

Luc's grumbling went quiet. The fox's glare drilled into the side of Dranian's head. "Are you trying to therapist me?" he asked in disbelief. "I cannot be therapist-ed. I study others and therapist them when necessary. Or sometimes I kill them if it becomes too annoying, but either way, everyone I cross ends up resting in peace one way or another."

"Except Mor," Dranian mumbled. Then, a little brighter, he said, "It doesn't matter anyway. Letting Mor know you're alive is only half the reason we're going. I'm sure by now Lily has called the others and told them of my mischief—"

Luc raised a brow. "Mischief? That's not the word I would use."

"—and so, I'm to deal with that first, and my plan second."

Luc rolled his eyes and rested his face against his fist. "These seats are far too close together. I can hardly breathe."

The bus slowed to a stop and the two fairies exited. Dranian led the way down the block, tugging his jacket tighter as the chilly wind swept down the street, picking up dry leaves and tossing them about. He followed the scent of fresh baking and lattes to Fae Café's front door.

"You might like the coffee here." Even though Dranian spoke with little enthusiasm, he meant it. "It's—"

"Oh, stop. I'm going to hate it." Luc yanked his own coat tighter and folded his arms as Dranian opened the door.

When he came in, Dranian took inventory of the dozen or so human customers milling about or seated at tables and engaged in quiet chatter. Cress came out of the kitchen in a burgundy apron and stopped just outside the kitchen's new swinging doors.

Dranian loosened his collar and swallowed, sure he could taste phantom rocks on his tongue. But he cleared his throat and went to meet his former Prince. While keeping eye contact, Cress drew his phone out of his pocket and hit a button with his thumb. He lifted it to his ear slowly as Dranian approached, and he mumbled something into it.

Mor suddenly appeared behind the counter with a pop , and a few humans shrieked from their tables. Mor looked past Dranian. He kept his gaze on Luc for a moment, not revealing anything, and then brought his attention back to Dranian again. There wasn't necessarily relief on his face, but his shoulders relaxed a little.

Suddenly, Mor smiled. Not in a kind, "It's alright, we forgive you," way, but in a way like he felt the need to laugh and was doing everything in his faeborn power to not laugh. "Did you really fight my old Shadow Army division with one arm?" he asked, and Cress growled.

"Don't make this funny, Mor!" he shouted. "I said no more secrets! And I said we weren't going to get involved in the fox fight! And I said… all kinds of other important things that I can't remember at the moment!"

Mor smothered away his grin. "I'm sorry," he mumbled to Cress. "I just can't stop picturing it."

"You could have been slaughtered, you faeborn-cursed fool!" Cress roared at Dranian. He marched across the last of the open space and put his finger in Dranian's face. "You are lucky there are no amethyst salt mines in the human realm!" His cold glare cut over to Luc. "And what is that wretched fox doing here? He's filling my café with the horrid stench of Shadow Fairies!"

Mor's face fell. "Careful," he said, "I'm a Shadow, too."

Cress had sniffed with ample drama. "Nope. It's not you, Mor." He glared at Luc again.

"I don't smell like Shadow Fairies." Luc finally entered the conversation. Dranian glanced back to find him leaning against a table where two young, female humans blinked up at him. "My fragrance is sweet and alluring, in case you haven't noticed." He glanced down at one of the females. "Isn't that right?" he asked her, pulling his heart-shaped lips into a handsome smile.

One female blushed; the other giggled.

Cress made a face that looked as though he might barf on the café floor.

"You're right Mor, I've had a busy day," Dranian said, turning back. "And that's why I've decided to go on a vacation. I'll be leaving soon, and I'll… send you a human post card." He looked over at the cookie painting on the wall so that Mor would not see that he was lying through his teeth.

"You still haven't explained why there's a fox in my café," Cress said, "or why you charged into a fox fight in the first place and started burning everything alive."

Dranian let out a long breath. It was time to come clean—about one thing, at least. "Well, Luc Zelsor and I have become dog-owning allies. F…F…" Why could he not spit out the word? " FRIENDS , even…" It was a strange shout, and he wondered if he was making the situation worse. But Luc lifted from the table and sauntered to his side.

"The best of friends, actually," he said, reaching for a basket of cookies on the counter. Dranian looked over at the fox in surprise. Luc's dark gaze flickered up to Mor as he took a cookie. The two locked their brown and silver eyes. "Does that bother you, Mor?" Luc asked. He took a bite of cookie and waited.

Dranian dragged a hand down the side of his face and butted in. "Anyway, now that you know I'm going on a vacation ," he articulated, "you don't have to worry about me or wonder if I've gone missing."

Luc dragged his gaze over, casting Dranian a doubtful look that made it clear he wasn't fooling anyone with his stuttering lie.

Dranian cleared his throat. "I'll be going to pack now," he stated. He turned and exhaled the breath he was holding as soon as his back was to everyone. Then he headed out, relieved that apart from Shayne's one secret, he no longer had to keep any more secrets, whatsoever.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he drew it out as he headed to the door. It was a word message from Lily:

Dranian, don't tell anyone about my team showing up to face off with those fairies. The others don't know about my fairy-hunting taskforce. Please, keep this a secret. I only told the others that I happened to witness the fight, not that I was a part of it.

Please, please, please, PLEASE.

The message ended with a teensy-tiny yellow smiley face containing large, innocent eyes. Dranian pursed his lips, his grip tightening on his phone and a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Not. Again.

He realized Luc was beside him when the fox sighed. "You café fools are all the same," he said with his snoopy eyes on the message. "I've lost track of all the things you don't tell each other." But he couldn't seem to stop the broad smile from taking over his face. "It's hilarious."

Dranian shoved his phone away. "I paid for your bus ride last time. So, you can pay for mine this time," he grumbled.

"If I must." Luc grabbed his arm, and Dranian was lurched forward.

His surroundings disappeared and reappeared as a quaint apartment, his feet hitting the floor with a thud. He put a hand on his stomach so he wouldn't be sick at the unexpectedness of it. Dog-Shayne padded over and sat at his feet, panting.

"Why did you have to push Mor's buttons?" Dranian muttered at Luc.

Luc headed to the door and kicked off his shoes. "This might come as a surprise, but I've been pushing Mor's buttons since the day I met him. He would think something was suspicious if I suddenly stopped." He stretched and yawned like he was ready for a nap.

Dranian folded his arms and tapped a finger in thought. "What happens if the Shadow Army division doesn't return to the Dark Corner? Will the Dark Queene send hunters to find them? Will the human realm be flooded with spies?"

Luc lifted his arm into a shrug. "I'm not sure what my diabolical grandmother will do," he said, "but it doesn't matter to me. I won't be here."

Dranian unfolded his arms, dropping them. "You're leaving?" He hadn't even told Luc his plan yet.

"I have something to do in the Ever Corners. It's…" Luc's lips twisted in annoyance. "…a long story."

"Wait… I'm going to the Ever Corners," Dranian stated. "I was hoping to drag you along as payment for saving your life."

Luc grunted. "We're even now, North Fairy. I saved your life, you saved mine. I owe you nothing." He bristled. "And I don't have time to help you on whatever little scheme you're plotting. My problem is bigger, I guarantee it. If I don't hurry, someone will starve to death." His gaze dropped and he nudged the edge of the living space rug with his toe. "In fact, she probably already has. I'm likely walking into a trap."

Dranian considered that and sighed. "I suppose you can't come with me to save Shayne, then."

Luc blinked. Then he burst out laughing. "That fool who shot me through the heart? I'd rather die."

There was a loud knock on the door. Luc hopped over to open it, but he didn't open it wide enough for Dranian to see who was on the other side. Luc smiled, seeming to debate whether he was going to let the person past him.

The door was kicked open when he didn't offer an invitation, and Lily walked in. She still wore her uniform, she still smelled of smoke. Her light hair was tousled and falling out at all sides, her blue eyes blazing like an angry crossbeast.

"You want to know how I found you, Dranian?" she asked before he had a chance to greet her. "My flame shooter went missing." Her tone gave off a different feeling than the cute smiley face in her word message had. "Did you seriously think I was dumb enough to make weapons like that without putting trackers in them?" she asked.

Dranian realized she wanted him to answer that question. But the problem was that he didn't know what a tracker was, or what she was even talking about really. "No?" he guessed.

"Unreal! I can't believe you stole my weapon, went to face off with a bunch of thug fairies, and just burned the life out of a historic building!" she stressed. "I don't have a way to explain all that to the press! I finally got my department to take this fairy stuff seriously and partner with Desmount Tech, and now the whole project might get shut down because of what you did."

From the corner of his eye, Dranian saw Luc lean against the wall to watch them, as though Lily and Dranian were in an episode of one of the late-night thriller shows he'd become obsessed with.

"I did it for Shayne," Dranian said.

Lily opened her mouth to accuse him of more, but her tone seemed to change. "What?" she said instead.

"Human," he said, then corrected himself with, " Lily ." Dranian spoke more sternly now. "You asked me to keep a secret for you, which I've now discovered I loathe doing. So, you will keep one for me as well." He swallowed, his mind returning him back to that dream, back to that girl—no, a fully grown female now—and what she had told him. "I know where Shayne is," he said.

Lily's brows tilted in, her height seeming to deflate. "Where?" she asked. "Where's Shayne?" Her voice cracked on his name.

Dranian felt an unexpected flit of panic that had no business showing up. His hands found a tremor, but he wasn't shaken enough to lose control. Not now. Not standing before Lily. Not with what he had to do.

"Shayne is in the Ever Corners," he stated. "He went back to his birth home." From the wall, Luc watched curiously, studying Lily the most. "You see, his brother must kill him to gain the highest chair of the Lyro family," he finished.

Lily looked back and forth between Dranian's eyes, a shield of caution sliding over her expression. She masked her stance, her tone, even her voice when she asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means he'll die there." Dranian despised the words on his own tongue. He despised the thought in his heart, the worry that he may not get there in time. That it may already be too late.

A beat of silence filled the room until Luc lifted from the wall and murmured, "Hmm." Both Dranian and Lily frowned at him, and Luc lifted his hands in feign apology. "Her rhythms just went wild, didn't you notice?" he said to Dranian. And then, when Dranian didn't reply, Luc shrugged and walked off to the kitchen so he didn't have to be involved. On his way, he mumbled, "It's telling."

"I don't understand. Why would he go to that place if it means he'll die?" Lily's question came out coarse. "Why wouldn't he even let me know, or… Why wouldn't he even say goodbye?"

Dranian didn't know how to answer that. But Lily wouldn't take silence as a reply; she grabbed a fistful of his sleeve. Her eyes glossed over.

"Shayne can't just go die!" she said.

Dranian carefully peeled her fingers off his shirt to free himself. "On that, we agree," he said. He glanced toward the kitchen. Luc had disappeared into his room. "Which is why I'm leaving at dawn. But I didn't go through all that suffering on my own today just to drag Mor and Cress into this. So, if I get worried you're going to tell them, Lily Baker, I will enslave you and make you mute."

He wasn't sure he had ever threatened a female. Part of him liked the feeling of it, the other part was worried Lily would draw her fairy-slaying weapon and end him. He cringed as her mind seemed to work, as she stared at him long and hard without blinking.

Forever seemed to pass before she spoke again. "What exactly are the odds of me dying if I set foot in the Ever Corners?" she asked.

Dranian felt a mix of feelings sink into his faeborn heart. The greatest of them was worry for this human, that she didn't realize the gravity of what she was asking.

Then, from his bedroom, Luc yelled through the door, "You won't die, dear Lily. You'll be captured and sold to nobles. Then you'll be fed all sorts of enchanted foods, forced to dance until your feet bleed, and dressed up in gaudy gowns… possibly pitted into a fight against a creature twice your size at a banquet arena." Luc swung the door open so Dranian and Lily could hear him clearly. "You won't die. But you'll wish you were dead."

Lily went a shade paler. Her slender throat constricted, but she stood tall. "I don't care what happens to me. It would be good to go for research. I'll wear a bodycam, and I'll… take notes," she said in what felt like an attempt to convince herself. Dranian meant to protest, to try and make her realize just how dreadful it could be for a human among so many manipulative fairies, but Lily lifted her chin, looked him dead in the eyes, and said, "I have to go pack. Don't you dare leave without me, Dranian."

Dranian's chest filled with dread. He looked past Lily to Luc for help, but Luc was smiling, widely. Wickedly. "Oh dear. I had a plan, you know. But I think I've just been overcome with desire to see you in that terrible situation," he said to Lily.

Lily bit her lips together. She cast the fox a daggered look as she turned and headed for the door, her hand idly finding its way to the weapon at her hip. "Maniac," she muttered.

Luc chuckled, his mouth twisting into a satisfied smile.

The apartment door slammed when Lily left. At the same time, Luc closed his bedroom door again.

Dranian was left alone, standing in the middle of the living space, wide-eyed and stunned.

A second later, Luc poked his head back out of his bedroom and said, "Should we go get groceries for our trip?"

The Faeborn End of One Thing

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The Faeborn Beginning of Another