Confessions of a Dangerous Fae (The Supernatural Spy Files Book 1) Page 5

  It was one of the most boring days of my life. A surprise, since I was a secret spy in a court of wraiths. You’d think I’d have a tad more action than this.

  Shortly after nightfall, Saoirse collected me from my room. While I’d been bored out of my mind, I’d found a gown in the black box. A sleek black number that did little to hide my toned curves. My makeup, I’d kept natural, and my hair no longer hung loose around my shoulders. I’d pulled it back into a high ponytail instead.

  I topped off the whole look with my signature black boots.

  Saoirse, clad in a flowing green dress and pointy high heels, slowed and let out a low whistle. “That outfit is a choice.”

  “I learned a long time ago to always be ready for a fight. And I can’t be prepared in heels.”

  She laughed. “This is your party. You won’t be expected to fight.”

  “That’s a shame.” I grinned.

  Saoirse didn’t seem to know what to make of that, so she breezed me out of the room. “On our way, I’ll point out some of the highlights of the castle. For example, down at the end of that hallway, you’ll find a flight of stairs that leads up to the roof. We aren’t allowed to go up there.”

  “Of course you aren’t,” I said with a roll of my eyes. But, that was potentially important information, and I made sure to make a mental note of it.

  Saoirse led me out of the residential quarters and into a tiny, squat building. There were fewer windows in this section of the castle, and gloominess swirled through the narrow hallways, along with clouds of dust. With a smile, Saoirse bustled forward and pointed out the highlights. In this building, three fae healers had set up a room for the injured. Further on, I’d find the storage room for blankets, pillows, toilet rolls, and towels.

  After the short tour, we continued on to a courtyard I’d seen last night. Here, there were four adjoining buildings that made up a square. Saoirse took me into the one that sat on the right of the Great Hall and pointed out an expansive, gleaming kitchen. It had stainless steel work surfaces, more like a restaurant than a home.

  She slowed to a stop to point out a smaller room to the left of the kitchen where round tables dotted a carpeted floor. “This is the kitchen and a smaller dining room. Most evening meals we have all together in the Great Hall, but you can come here and grab breakfast and lunch on your own.”

  “Except I can’t,” I said dryly. “Not without a chaperone.”

  “In time,” she whispered fiercely, and then continued on. She pointed to the right as we passed another door. “Big laundry room in there. You can do it yourself, or you can ask one of the cleaning staff to do it for you.”

  Right. So I could ask myself to do it then.

  At the very end of the hallway, we came to a stop outside of two double doors, but Saoirse didn’t make a move to open them. “This is the training room. Our warriors spend a lot of time in here.”

  I gave a nod and yearned to push inside. I already missed the training room back home. My muscles ached with the need to move. To swing my sword. To practice my breathing. To hold my body as still as a tree while I focused my power on the enemy before me.

  “You’ve clearly trained,” Saoirse said, knocking me out of my reverie.

  I turned away from the door, breath held. Had I been that obvious? “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You’re super fit, even for a fae, and your skill is the sword.” She started moving further down the hallway, and I fell into step beside her. “Obviously, you’ve practiced, even if you’ve had to do it on your own.”

  “Oh.” I relaxed. “It’s honestly one of my favourite things to do. It’s why I’m gutted to be assigned cleaning duty.”

  Saoirse gave me a conspiratorial smile. “King Lugh would love to have another warrior on the team. He won’t be planning to keep you on cleaning duty forever. You just have to prove yourself first.”

  I stopped short in the hallway, frowning. “But how? I thought that was the entire part of the trial.”

  “The trial was meant to test how badly you want to join us here, which you did brilliantly.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me along the hallway. “Come on. Everyone is waiting.”

  When Saoirse said everyone, she hadn’t been joking. We stepped into the Great Hall, transformed overnight. The twenty wooden tables were gone. In their place were throngs of fae dressed for a night out at the clubs. Coloured balls of light hung from the timber roof-beams, swaying back and forth on an invisible breeze. Musicians crowded on the dais around the throne, closing their eyes as they played their instruments.

  I braced myself as we stepped into the middle of the crowd. The Court had thrown this party to welcome me, and I wasn’t exactly the most extraverted fae in the world. I liked to swing my sword, but I wasn’t a big fan of small talk.

  But as Saoirse led me through the crowded party, Celtic music swirling through the air, not a single pair of eyes turned my way. No one said hello. I didn’t even get a scowl.

  Huh. Well, in that case, it was time to take advantage of the little freedom I finally had. Back in my room, I’d found some paper in a drawer, and I’d written a note for Clark. I just needed to find a way to get outside, only for a brief moment.

  “I’m going to take a look around,” I half-shouted to Saoirse over the din of laughter, chatter, and music.

  She gave me a nod and a thumbs up, and then drifted toward a group of fae wearing nothing more than silk nighties.

  I decided to head in the opposite direction. A long wooden table pushed up against the wall had caught my eye. Food was piled on top of it. Pastries and pies, cakes and blocks of cheese. Wine bottles sat waiting for me to pour. My stomach grumbled.

  Not now. I needed to get this note to Clark, and then I could return to the party to binge on carbs. I glanced around, my eyes landing on a door in the far corner. Bingo. That was it.

  I hurried through the crowd, casting one last glance over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being watched.

  No one was looking at me at all. I might be the guest of honour, but I clearly wasn’t welcome here. Not yet anyway. With a deep breath, I pushed open the door and stepped outside.

  Much to my disappointment, there wasn’t much out here. Instead of escaping into the courtyard, I’d stepped onto a balcony overlooking the plunging cliffs. The city below glowed with light, but a thick mist obscured the sparkle.

  I let out a low whistle, one I’d practiced many times.

  A moment later, a pair of dark wings rushed by my head. The raven settled on the wrought-iron railing, its beady little eyes staring deep into my soul. Clark had a connection with these birds. They would do her every bidding. And it had been waiting for my call.

  I slipped the tiny scroll into the raven’s outstretched claw. It simply read, I’m in.

  Due to the blood contract, I couldn’t say any more than that for now.

  The raven blinked, and then soared into the sky.

  As I dropped back my head to watch it disappear into the mist, the door behind me swung open wide. “What are you doing out here?”

  My heart skipped a beat. It was Lugh.

  Steadying my breathing, I turned to face him. “I was trying to find the toilet.”

  He pursed his lips and stepped closer. “Do you often find yourself lost on your way to the loo?”

  As if time itself had slowed, I barely breathed. Surely he didn’t recognise me from that night at the Pack headquarters. Right? He had seen me only for a fleeting moment, and I’d looked completely different then. Dark hair. Pink eyes. Not a golden strand in sight.

  If he knew I’d been there, he never would have let me inside of his Court.

  He’d know I wasn’t who I said I was.

  He’d know I was lying, either then or now.

  Probably both.

  “Fortunately, no,” I finally said. “Your castle is very large. It’s easy to get lost.”

  He wrapped his strong hand around mine and indicated to the door. “The
dancing has begun, and you’re missing it.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I’m not really much of a—oh!”

  Lugh kicked open the door and yanked me back inside the Great Hall with a kind of intensity that snapped all the words out of my mouth. He had a vice-like grip on my hand, and he propelled me straight past the tables full of food and drink.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped, trying—and failing—to yank my wrist away.

  “It is customary for new members of this Court to dance during their welcome party.”

  With that, he yanked me onto the dance floor and wound his arm up my back. Hot lava poured through my veins as I tipped back my head to glare up at him. Celtic music swirled through the air, and the fae surrounding us took a step back. Lugh spun me across the floor, his feet moving in time with an ancient fae dance.

  “You look delicious,” he growled.

  A thrill went through me. I couldn’t help it, even as angry as I was. My new plan was starting to work. Seduce the king. Learn his secrets. And then somehow get the information back to his rival.

  He spun me across the floor, our bodies moving in sync. His lips brushed against my ear. “Where did you learn to dance like this?”

  My mouth went dry. I’d been so caught up in the moment that I hadn’t stopped to think. A solitary fae wouldn’t know these dances. She would have never stepped foot in a fae ball before.

  I pulled back and gave him a demure smile. “How many times do I have to tell you that I like to do my research?”

  “And yet, your research turned up nothing about me.” He spun me around in a circle, and then pulled me tight against his chest. I lost my breath, just for a second. But only because he’d been tossing me around like a ship at sea, not because of anything else.

  “Should it have?” I squeaked out as he began to dip me low to the ground. I clung on tight, my fingernails digging into the skin behind his neck. “You said you’ve kept your existence a secret. You’re a wraith.”

  “If you look hard enough, you can find me.” He yanked me up against his chest again, and then ran his hand down the length of my back. My entire body went tight. Heat flooded my veins.

  And then the music stopped.

  As suddenly as he’d swept me into his arms, Lugh stepped away. He gave a slight inclination of his head. “Enjoy your party.”

  Mouth open, I watched him leave. What the hell had that been? My hands clenched, and I stalked after him. He couldn’t just walk away. Not after that. We’d been in the middle of a conversation. Granted, he’d practically been speaking in riddles but still. It had felt like I was growing closer to some sort of realisation about the King, and then he’d vanished into the throngs of partygoers.

  I stopped and cast my gaze around the room. Ah, there he was. Pushing out of the Great Hall’s doors toward the courtyard. I hurried after him, determined to finish our conversation. As far as I knew, I’d be locked in my room all day again tomorrow, only to come out when a floor needed to be swept. This might be the last time I could speak to him for awhile.

  When I pushed out into the courtyard, I sucked in a deep lungful of fresh, misty air. The room had been clogged with fae. Heat had seeped into my skin. The cool Edinburgh night was soothing after that.

  I cast a glance around. The courtyard was quiet and empty. Cobblestone ran underfoot, and tall stone walls loomed all around. In the center stood a bronze statue of a male atop of a horse. The features had long since been worn over the centuries, but the sharply-pointed ears and javelin in his hand made it clear this male had been a warrior fae like me.

  And Lugh was nowhere to be seen.

  With a frustrated sigh, I zoomed across the courtyard. There was a high level arch overhead connecting The Royal Palace to the building next door, and I headed straight for it. When I reached the arch, I continued on, and rounded the next corner.

  There he was. Hidden in the darkness with two other shadowy forms. Adrenaline tripped in my veins as I pressed my back against the stone wall before they could spot me. What, pray tell, was the King doing lurking around in the shadowy alley?

  I slowed my breathing and flicked my hearing toward their conversation.

  “Anderson’s been in touch. He has a lead on the cauldron,” the voice said, female, soft, and scared.

  “Good,” Lugh murmured. “Did he mention where he thinks it is?”

  “He didn’t want to give that information over the phone,” the other shadow said. This one was male, nasally, and high-pitched. “Said his line has been tapped before.”

  “Good,” Lugh said. “We do not want anyone to find this cauldron before we do.”

  My heart thumped. It was that damn cauldron again.

  What cauldron? Just say what bloody cauldron it is!

  “What are you going to do when he finds it?” the female hissed. “You can’t just keep it here at Castle Wraith, not when—”

  “You leave that part to me,” Lugh interjected. “Eoin, I need you to keep searching the books. Find anything you can that will help expedite this.”

  Lugh stepped back and turned my way.

  My heart leapt. Cursing silently, I scrambled back out into the courtyard and high-tailed it across the cobblestones. I reached the door heading back into the Great Hall at the precise moment that Lugh stepped out from beneath the arch that spanned the two buildings. His eyes settled on me, and I paused. His stride remained steady; his expression never wavered. I wanted to wrench open the door and storm inside, but that would look far more suspicious than if I stood here with a shit-eating grin on my face.

  Maybe.

  When he reached me, he wrapped his hand around where mine grasped the brass handle. “Enjoy your midnight stroll in the courtyard, Moira?”

  His voice was full of ice. Nervously, I wet my lips.

  “It’s hot in there,” I said in a garbled voice. “I wanted some fresh air.”

  “Some fresh air now. A loo before. But really it’s an earful, I imagine.” He cut a sharp glance my way. “I’ve been patient with your prickly personality, but I don’t appreciate being spied on.”

  A shiver went down my spine, but I forced myself to remain still. “I said I wanted fresh air, and I did. It’s not my fault you were lurking in the shadows having secret meetings.”

  “I’m the King of this Court. I can have secret meetings wherever I damn well please,” he growled. “The fact that you don’t seem to understand or respect that makes me question your reasons for being here.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I wrenched my hand out from under his. “Maybe you’d understand my reasons better if you didn’t lock me in my room all day!”

  His lips curled into a wicked smile. “Oh, you didn’t like that? Good. You can stay in there twice as long tomorrow.”

  6

  Lugh hadn’t been lying. The next day, he woke me up at six again by pounding on the door. It didn’t matter that the entire Court had been up until four partying. I had to be up and at ‘em, according to him. If I tried to go back to sleep, he threatened to keep hammering on the wall.

  Despite waking at the crack of dawn, I was locked in my room until noon, at which point I was chaperoned over to the kitchen to clean up after lunch by a bushy-haired fae named Selma. Once I’d swept up every last crumb, I was hastily returned to my room. That continued for the rest of the day. And then the next. I’d get bustled out of my room to clean, have zero chance to speak to anyone, and then I had to go straight back.

  The only fae who seemed to have any interest in getting to know me was Saoirse. She popped in to see me a few times a day and to smuggle in contraband like chocolate and pizza.

  “You doing okay?” She quietly shut the door behind her.

  “No,” I said glumly. “I am really tired of watching Tipping Point reruns. I now know every answer to every pub quiz question that ever was.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll admit this sucks. I’m loyal to King Lugh, but...if I’m honest, I think he’s
taking your trial period a tad too far.”

  I gave her a look. “My trial period should have been surviving a load of Sluagh.”

  “I’m sure he’ll come around soon,” she insisted. “He’s just had a lot on his mind lately.”

  I sat up a little straighter. “Like what?”

  Sighing, Saoirse popped a pizza box on the desk. The tempting aroma of pepperoni and cheese swirled into my nose, and my stomach grumbled. “You know I can’t tell you that. Anyway, I’ll try to talk to him. I might be able to convince him to give you more freedom in the castle.”

  Any freedom would be more freedom than this.

  “Thanks, Saoirse.”

  “Don’t thank me too much.” She pointed at the pizza. “You better hurry up and eat that now. I’m here to collect you for your favourite thing in the entire world.”

  “Cleaning duty,” I muttered. And then I dug into the pizza like it would vanish without a trace.

  Saoirse dropped me off in what I’d started referring to as the “servant” quarters. It was a tiny room at the far end of the residential building where the crew gathered before the daily cleaning duties. Inside, it held all of our supplies as well as a whiteboard where everyone’s names and tasks were listed. So far, I’d only seen it in passing. I’d merely been told what to do and moved on.

  The bushy-haired fae who had been dispensing the tasks now stood before the whiteboard with her hair tied up in a frizzy bun. She tapped the whiteboard with a red marker. “We’ve got a busy day ahead. There’s only twenty of us and three hundred of them.”

  I glanced around the room, wondering how these fae had ended up here. They couldn’t all be newbies.

  “First order of business. The King’s out on his weekly visit to town,” Selma continued as she scribbled on the board. “Time for his room clean. Any volunteers?”

  A few murmurs spread through the room, but there weren’t any takers.