My skin started to glow, pushing back the shadows.
“Your friend is clever,” Ceff said.
Jinx turned to me and shrugged.
“Not all of us have superhuman see-in-the-dark powers,” she said. “I had to improvise.”
I shook my head. Jinx was something all right.
I looked around the room, though room may not have been the correct word. We stood in an alley with what looked like night sky overhead, smog blocking out the stars. The narrow space was filled with crates, barrels, and boxes that hundreds of cats of every shape and size lounged atop, leaving no surface clear of watchful eyes.
In the far corner a familiar cat sidhe with scar-lined fur sat on a large, overturned wood spool. The spool was the industrial type used for transporting wire. Someone had flipped it on its side like a makeshift, ghetto-style table. The cat sidhe perched atop the spool and lazily licked his paw, unbothered by our sudden appearance.
I stepped toward the scarred cat sidhe, but several cats jumped down and hissed, blocking my path. The cat sidhe stopped licking his paw and sighed. He stood and arched his back, letting out a low keening cry. The fur along his back began to ripple, replaced by skin, shadow, and black leather.
Darkness enveloped the cat and when the shadows dissipated, a handsome man sat with one leg dangling over the edge of the table. One arm leaned on a leather-clad knee and a half smile quirked his lips. We had found Sir Torn, lord of the cat sidhe.
Like many fae, the cat sidhe lord was easy on the eyes, but he lacked the perfection which so many high bloods prized. In his human guise, Torn was as damaged as he was beautiful.
Torn retained the multitude of scars I’d first noticed when he was in cat form. The faerie’s face was dominated by a large, ragged scar that ran through his left brow, eyelid, and across the bridge of his nose. Additional scars crisscrossed both arms, but these were nothing compared to the damage sustained by his ears. Even in human form, the cat sidhe’s left ear was filled with holes and his right ear was nothing more than a lump of scar tissue.
Instead of hiding these battle scars, Torn had embraced his imperfections. He’d adorned the many holes in his ears with bone and feather piercings, perhaps trophies from his kills. Fur, bone, and feathers also decorated the leather vest, pants, and boots that he wore. The look suited him in a wild, roguish, Beyond Thunderdome kind of way.
Torn flicked his remaining ear in a move that was completely inhuman, a signal for the cats to stand down. With a swish of tails the cats spun away and returned to the shadows. Torn gestured to the makeshift table and smiled.
“Come, sit with me,” he said.
The faerie lord continued to perch atop the table. I stood my ground, not wanting to place myself below Torn by sitting on one of the low crates. When we didn’t move, he shifted his attention to our weakest link.
Torn turned yellow eyes to Jinx and winked. Her lips parted and she took a step forward. Torn ran a hand down the length of his body to pat the wood beside him. He was like a cat playing with a mouse.
I cleared my throat, snapping Jinx from Torn’s spell. She took a step back and pulled something from the bag she wore slung over her shoulder. Every cat in the alley hissed, hackles raised, and I risked a glance at my friend. Jinx held a crossbow trained at the faerie lord’s head. I turned back to Torn, a wry grin on my lips.
“No more games,” I said. “I have questions.”
“Nice to see you too, princess,” he said.
“Sorry, Torn,” I said. “This isn’t a social call. I don’t have time for social niceties.”
He tilted his head to the side and raised a scarred brow. When we’d met before, the cat sidhe claimed that he was bored. I was hoping that our mission was intriguing enough to hold his interest.
“Go on,” he said.
“Two things,” I said. I held up two fingers. “First, how did you know I was a princess? That didn’t become common knowledge until a few minutes ago.”
I scowled, remembering the phoenix perched on the stair rail announcing my royal title to the entire club below. That single moment was going to complicate my life, as if it wasn’t difficult enough already.
I wasn’t looking forward to marching back through that crowd when it came time to leave. Every faerie in the club was probably talking about my lackluster entrance into fae society. My mouth went dry and I focused on one of the feathers in Torn’s tattered ear.
“We cat sidhe are masters of concealment,” he said. To demonstrate, Torn began to fade away, obscured by shadow. Within seconds he was completely invisible. “No secret is safe from our eyes and ears.”
A moment later, the shadows shifted and Torn reappeared, beginning with his amber eyes and scarred ears. He was wearing a satisfied smirk that pulled at the scar on his cheek.
“Impressive,” I said.
The cat sidhe waved his hand in dismissal, as if it were nothing. But being able to walk the streets unnoticed, both in cat form and concealed by shadow, was a major talent.
Sir Torn and his subjects could have been listening any time I discussed my parentage outside the protection of The Emporium or my house wards. I’d have to learn to be more careful. I tilted my head at Torn, studying him more closely. If all cat sidhe had the ability for such stealth, they would make a powerful ally, or an invincible foe. For the first time, I wondered which side the cat fae belonged to. Were cat sidhe members of the Seelie or Unseelie court?
“Cat sidhe are independent,” he said. “We belong to no one.”
It was as if Torn plucked the question from my mind. Oh yeah, I’d have to learn to be a lot more careful in future dealings with the cat sidhe.
“If you are such masters of secrets, then maybe you know something about my real father,” I said.
I held my breath and waited. Before today, my only interest in my father was finding a cure for my life threatening wisp abilities. But after memories of my childhood had seeped past the unraveling spell on my mind, I now wanted to get to know my father. I felt a duty to help him find a way to break the curse he was under and bring him home. But I’d have to find him first.
“More than you,” Torn said. I wanted to wipe the smug smile off his face with one of my blades, but instead I waited. I rolled my shoulders and tried to look bored. I was learning a thing or two about faerie negotiations. “What will you give me for this knowledge?”
I shrugged.
“That depends on what you know,” I said.
“I know that Will-o’-the-Wisp, king of the wisps, left this city twenty years ago after he made a foolish bargain with a demon,” he said.
“Whatever,” I said. “I knew that already. Maybe you’re not as good at gathering secrets as you like to think.”
“I know more, but that information comes at a price,” he said.
Crap. I was hoping to keep the faerie cat boasting long enough to give something useful away for free. No such luck.
I was tired of faerie bargains and the heavy price they carried, but there was one tactic I hadn’t tried yet. Since the cat sidhe were unaligned, it just might work.
“How much information would you be willing to share with an official ally?” I asked.
Torn’s eyes widened for just a second, but I’d seen the reaction. I had caught the faerie lord unawares. I smiled. I was pretty sure that Torn didn’t surprise easily. He returned my smile, displaying pointy white teeth.
“You are willing to ally the wisps with the cat sidhe?” he asked.
“Yes, but only in exchange for useful information about my father,” I said.
“Your offer is…unprecedented,” he said. Torn made a strange purring sound low in his throat and licked his lips. “I accept.”
I felt the pavement shift beneath my feet as the bargain settled on my soul, but for once, there was no pain or nausea. I took that as a positive sign.
“What do you know of my father’s whereabouts?” I asked.
