Liora ignored her and turned to me. “What d’you want, Serena? I recommend the pie.”
She nodded toward the exposed middle pot on display. There were five in total. To my surprise, they were iron and had small, glowing stones set beneath them. I guessed this must be to keep the food heated, although we had no such innovations back in Tunnock. The pie brought back sickening memories from the cabin, so I mumbled, “I think I’d prefer the casserole.”
“Great. Patti, would you mind serving?” Liora was polite, but there was a touch of something else—irritation, maybe?
The freckled girl snorted and grabbed a bowl from the stack piled high on the table. She scooped out a ladleful of casserole, dumped it unceremoniously into the bowl, chucked in a fork, and slid it over to me.
“Oh, come on, don’t be stingy,” Liora needled and pushed the bowl back to the scowling blonde.
Patti shrugged. “Rules is rules.”
A strong desire to hit her over the head with her own ladle seized me.
“Oh? That’s not what you told Cai last weekend …”
My mouth tweaked up at the side. Liora had kept her voice light and airy but since Patti’s cheeks were now glowing pink, I wagered there was a threat hidden in there somewhere.
“Fine,” she grumbled and heaped two more ladlefuls in.
I made sure to thank her. I didn’t want enemies in this place, least of all ones who served me food. Patti grunted but looked less sour. Pleased, I took my bowl and walked with Liora over to one of the empty benches. As I dropped my bag to the floor and sat, she slipped in next to me and murmured, “Don’t mind Patti. She’s just sour because our mentor put her on kitchen duty.”
“It’s fine.” It really was because my thoughts happened to be elsewhere. Should I ask about the pots? “Liora,” I said, faking a casual attitude, “is it true that the fae hate iron and salt?”
Afraid to look at her, I stared down at my plate.
If she guessed at my motives, she didn’t show it. “Well, it’ll poison them if they ingest enough. Or if it enters their blood through salt-tipped or iron weapons, then their accelerated healing can’t kick in, and they’re easier to kill. Why d’you ask?”
My pulse fluttered. Accelerated healing? Another advantage they had over humans then. Still, at least they had some weaknesses. And I had a means of defense. “Just curious,” I said, brushing off her question.
Not able to wait any longer, I tucked into my beef casserole. It was achingly good. After my first few eager forkfuls, Liora groaned.
“What is it?” I asked, looking up from my plate.
Liora was staring toward the double doors. “Remember I told you about my brother? Well, he’s spotted us. I can only apologize.”
Twisting around, I saw a golden-haired human moving toward us. He came to rest on my left, sitting so that his back rested against the table. In a mellow voice, he said, “I’m Cai, Liora’s brother. You must be the new girl.”
I blinked but resisted the urge to do so again. His toothy smile stretched from ear to ear and plainly invited mischief. Up close, the similarities between the siblings were obvious: green eyes, sun-kissed skin, a cupid-bow mouth, and a hand tattoo, though Cai’s looked more tribal in nature. And where Liora had flaming hair, Cai’s was a lion’s mane of light blond. He was also tall and lanky, which became even more apparent as he stretched his long legs out from the bench.
His confidence was disarming in the extreme. I realized my mouth was hanging open, so I snapped it shut. “Nice to meet you.”
Liora clucked her tongue. “I forbid you to flirt with her, Cai. You have enough female problems as it is. Patti’s still waiting for you to take her to the lake again.”
Cai frowned. Although, it looked more like a playful pout in certain lights. “Last time I checked Li, you couldn’t forbid me to do anything.”
“Fine,” Liora said airily. “Don’t blame me when our food gets poisoned.”
Cai flashed his teeth. “Sure thing.”
My stomach cried out for more food, so I took another forkful.
“Ignore my sister,” Cai coaxed. “I’m not really a flirt.”
Liora snorted loudly.
Cai raised his voice and added, “But a recruit coming in to training this far in is hard to ignore.” He moved to straddle the bench and face me. As if to shift to a more serious tone. This impression was tempered by his relaxed manner; producing a bread roll from his jacket pocket, he took a huge bite, and his speech became muffled by his chewing. “I wouldn’t mind making an ally out of you.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me. It was so ridiculous, I almost choked on my mouthful of carrots and beef.
“That is, if you’ll tell us all about how you came to be with us mid-season.” Cai flashed me another toothy grin.
I stiffened, but Liora said, “Ignore him.” She leaned forward and glared past me. Thankfully, she directed her ire at her brother. “She doesn’t have to tell us anything.”
“No offense intended,” he drawled as he raised his hands in surrender. “You know me, sis. I love solving mysteries.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. You’re just like Patti, looking for any old bit of gossip to sink your teeth into.”
Cai mock-grimaced. “Tad harsh, Li. Besides, I’m sure Serena forgives my prying, don’t you?”
He shot me another dazzling smile. My eyes narrowed. “Does that usually work?”
Liora chuckled appreciatively. “Guess your charms won’t work this time, dear brother.” She stood and addressed me. “I’m going to get us some water. Don’t let him bully you in the meantime.”
Liora threw him a warning glance, but as soon as she was out of earshot, Cai tossed the half-eaten bread roll on the table and stooped down, leaning in. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I’m being a nosy ass, but I can tell my sister likes you.”
He peered over my shoulder. I followed his gaze to Liora. He seemed worried for her. Perhaps this interrogation had more to it than a search for idle gossip.
Cai continued. “We really could use an ally.”
I turned back to him.
“The fae recruits think it’s beneath them to be friendly with humans, and the humans don’t like us because we’re from the Crescent.”
That got me thinking. Did that mean they were witches?
“I thought since you’re from the Gauntlet and have come in so late, you wouldn’t mind as much.” Despite his words, he didn’t sound that convinced. “The question was a way to feel you out—see if we could trust you.”
“Are you asking to be allies, or for me to answer questions?”
Cai let out a gruff laugh. “Can’t it be both?”
“You should know that I’m useless. I barely passed Hilda’s test.”
Cai shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter. “It was the same with Li. I’d still rather have you on our side. What d’you say?”
I was about to reply when Liora showed up. She set two glasses and a water jug on the table and sat down. “Well, that took longer than I expected,” she mumbled, pouring. “Patti refused to get me any glasses from the back.”
“Seems you persuaded her.” Cai jerked his chin to the glass she was sipping from.
“I told her you’d be pissed if she was mean to your sister,” she said breezily.
Cai let out a low whistle. “Brutal. I didn’t know you had it in you, Li.”
Liora smirked and took a swig.
I finished my plate, poured myself a glass of water, and pondered Cai’s offer. I was taking sips as an idea formed. “I was thinking; to satisfy Cai’s nosiness and my own, maybe we could make a deal?”
“I’m intrigued,” Cai said, cocking an eyebrow and grinning broadly.
Liora shuffled and moved to straddle the bench. “Go on.”