“Yes,” both men said simultaneously, and I stumbled back a step.
“Okay.” I looked from one to the other. “Explain. No, actual y, wait. You were on the street yesterday,” I said, focusing on Malik. “I saw you. Did you have anything to do with that creature. Anything at al ?”
Malik hesitated long enough that I thought he might not answer. Then he blew air out between his teeth and said, “I was fol owing you because I wanted to talk with you. When I saw the cu sith I actual y thought it was after me. Until it saw you and howled.”
I wasn’t convinced, and I didn’t see how the beast howling at me changed anything, but I nodded for him to continue.
“Cu sith are a type of faerie dog—” he said, and I scoffed under my breath.
“That was no dog. The giant faerie cousin of a dire wolf maybe, but not a dog.”
Malik cleared his throat, ignoring my commentary. “As I was saying, cu sith are a type of faerie dog that disappeared centuries before the Awakening. You said it tried to kil you, but the cu sith were never trained to kil .
Inside Faerie they guarded against intruders, but when they were sent out of Faerie to hunt, their role was that of retriever. They howled only once they spotted their prey, and if their target heard the third howl before reaching safety, Faerie claimed that mortal—forever.”
safety, Faerie claimed that mortal—forever.”
I shivered, remembering the beast’s red eyes locking on me, its giant head tilting back, the howl that made me want to fal to my knees and cower. Twice. It had howled twice.
I’d been afraid of its teeth, of its claws. I would never have realized I needed to be afraid of its howl.
“So it was there to steal me away to Faerie?”
Malik shrugged. “Like you said, it was a construct. But it is my belief that it intended to steal you away to somewhere.”
I stared at the gangly fae, not real y seeing him anymore.
My knees felt weak, rubbery, and I wanted to be alone to think about this information. That didn’t seem to be an option.
After the silence stretched several moments, Malik cleared his throat again. “Wil you hear me out, Miss Craft?”
I nodded absently and Malik fidgeted, rubbing his fingers and shuffling his feet so that the points of his knees pressed through the threadbare material of his pants.
“As I’m sure you’l recal ,” he said in his hauntingly musical voice, “two days ago you trekked through my territory in the floodplain and found a pile of feet. Afterward, we had a rather unfortunate encounter.”
“Al of that was rather memorable.”
“Yes, wel . . .” He paused and glanced back at Caleb, who nodded, and Malik let his hands fal to his sides. Then he rol ed his shoulders and straightened to his ful height again. “My life and livelihood are in danger. I need to hire you, Miss Craft.”
Chapter 5
I poured coffee into three mismatched mugs and carried them to my “guests.” Caleb sipped his politely, but Malik clasped his mug between both hands without seeming to be aware of it. His gaze flickered around my smal apartment, never staying in one place too long. Clearly I wasn’t the only uncomfortable one.
I owned only one chair, and I wasn’t about to invite Malik to plop down on my bed, so after handing off the mugs, I leaned against the wal . Then I stal ed, blowing on my coffee to gain an extra couple of seconds as I tried to decide how to handle the situation.
“I’m going to guess that you’re not interested in having a shade raised,” I said, watching Malik over the rim of my mug.
He shook his head.
Figured.
“What is it you think I can do for you, Mr. Malik?”
“Actual y, it is what we can do for each other. Your actions two days ago brought Faerie’s attention down on the fae in the floodplain,” he said, and then paused, as if waiting for some response from me.
“I’m not going to justify helping the police in their search for a serial kil er.”
“I hid those feet for a reason!”
A reason? I glanced at Caleb, letting my uncertainty bleed into my expression. The good guys didn’t hide disembodied appendages.
He met my gaze, but there were no answers in his eyes.
They were the same blue he usual y wore while glamoured, They were the same blue he usual y wore while glamoured, but I’d never been more aware that the person behind that glamour was so other.
I swal owed a gulp of coffee without tasting it and let my hand fal casual y to my pocket. I could reach my phone, but my recent upgrade to a touch screen meant there would be no dialing numbers by feel. “Are you admitting to the murder of those people?” I asked Malik, my voice just above a whisper.
“Of course not. I hid the feet, but they were already severed when I found them. And before you ask, no, I don’t know how they came to be that way.”
“Then why hide them in the first place?”