Ember

Tyra's plan kind of involved hugs and kisses.

"You want us to offer Light a female sacrifice in exchange for leaving us alone?" Darius asked, squinting bloodshot eyes up at Tyra. He'd been caught minutes ago on his way to pick up an 'assignment' from a friend's house and was promptly handed off to Kane. We were on our way to the meeting room when Darius came trudging along and although I thought Kane would pass him on to someone else to babysit, he brought him along without an ounce of hesitation.

(I assumed it was because Kane- blindly- trusted Darius not to crack if he was captured like Tyra had been.)

"This idea of yours is quite sexist, Tyra," Darius continued on. "I'm disappointed in you."

(Or more likely because Kane knew if Darius was kidnapped he'd piss Light off and get himself killed way before anyone had the chance of carrying out a proper interrogation.)

Tyra stared down at him, dark eyes suddenly too blank. Too other. I realized it was easy to forget what she was- at least until these brief instances when her fae side came peeking out and I was reminded sharply of the fact that Tyra wasn't entirely human after all. What followed was a twinge of déjà vu: when she was more fae than human, she reminded me painfully of Aster.

Was that one of the reasons why I felt so protective of her? Because I'd failed to protect Aster?

"The mermaid will be the one receiving a sacrifice, not Light," Tyra said, planting a hand on her hip with an eye roll, the mundane action bringing her back to the land of humans. "If he's removed any weaknesses on his fae side then we'll simply have to target his werewolf weaknesses. A mermaid can kill a werewolf."

Silence fell over the room as we digested this declaration, with Darius scratching at his head, Kane resting his chin on folded fingers, Jett leaning back in his chair, his tattooed arms folded and lips frowning. There were only five of us here and the less the better. There was no telling who Light might snatch up next time and force our secrets out of- which is why Kane had excluded Helen. I'm sure she's had enough kidnappings to last her a lifetime, no need to try her luck with a crazy halfling fae king.

A crazy fae king Tyra claimed a mermaid could kill.

"How exactly can this mermaid kill a fae king?" I asked, unable to keep my doubts bottled up any longer.

"She'll lure him into the sea and drown him," Tyra replied, as if it was the easiest task on earth.

"She'll drown him?" Darius echoed, his question heavy with the skepticism I was feeling.

"The courts are buzzing with gossip of the new Autumn Lord, while I was there I found out that he originally lived in the mountains. He isn't immune to drowning."

"Light is going to let himself be led to death by water?" Jett unwrapped a lollipop, pierced brow raised. "Willingly?"

Tyra puffed her bouncy hair, exhaling. "You guys don't know? Mermaids are skilled in convincing people that they're the love of their lives, some of their victims don't even know they're following them into the sea until the water starts flooding their lungs." She held up a finger when Darius started to ask something. "He can't swim away, once you go with them the waters recognize you as their property. There's no escape."

Unable to bear it a second more, I pushed away from the table and began to pace the room. "And Light will let her lead him straight to his death without so much as a protest? What if he kills her instead? And comes after Kane?"

"Are you this bothered by me being in danger?" Kane asked. He wasn't smiling but his blue eyes were filled with an inappropriate amount of amusement.

I shot him a glare. "If you're not bothered by your own potential demise, I'd be happy to put you in a situation that'll teach you to treasure your life more."

He rested his chin on his palm, the brightness in his gaze turning molten, searing the skin beneath my clothes where they roamed over. "Are you threatening me? You haven't done that in a long time, I've missed it."

Darius groaned. "Gross, go flirt in another room that's far from my poor eyes and ears, please."

"See?" Tyra thrust out a hand. "If the cold-hearted, aloof Kane can get weak in the knees because of his mate then Light is no exception to the needs of the heart." Tyra swiped Jett's candy out of his hand and popped it into her mouth, ignoring the shocked/offended look he gave her. "Light is already unhappy with his new throne, aside from the food and randomly killing people nothing seems to please him. He refuses the advances of the court ladies and is equally regarded with contempt from the fae he rules over. They don't take kindly to halflings- human or werewolf, they mean the same thing to them. He has no home in Fae, had probably knew there never would be one for him way before he stole the crown and I think that's why he's so hell bent on taking Kane's pack from him. He wants to fit in, wants to be accepted. He'll be easy prey for the mermaid."

Darius coughed. "Savage plan. Brilliant."

Tyra smiled. "I know."

"Where will you find this mermaid?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Isn't your best friend already out at sea? Give him a call."

I sighed. There was only one way to reach Ian and it wasn't a method I was looking forward to. Yet I suppose there were times when unpleasant things had to be done to deal with unpleasant people. Hopefully this mermaid could get rid of our unpleasant nightmare.

"If your Ian can get the mermaid in time we'll station her at one of the entrances to Fae for their fated meeting." Tyra winked at us. "Light won't know what hit him."

***

Kane and I stayed behind after everyone departed to make the call to our underwater acquaintance. Surprisingly he'd picked up the phone (he thought I had a sudden change of mind of all things) and agreed to pass along our message to Ian. Kane had made the request, dropping in the details of the gurgling dude's home address which was accurate considering the slight trembling in his affirmative gurgle right after.

"That was useful," I said when he hung up.

"I have a use for you." He handed me back my phone. "My favor from our game, I'm calling it in now."

I resisted the urge to gulp. "What is it?"

He reached behind him, pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it in front of me. It was a flyer.

A dark green with a circle a paler shade in the middle of it, it read Toxic male behavior and how to identify, avoid and fix it. Lectures are held every Monday night at 8pm.

Below that was May Wilder's name, written with a flourish.

I blinked at it, trying to make sense of how it was connected to the favor he wanted from me. "You want me to attend the lectures with you?"

He tapped the flyer. "I need your help to get admitted. My mother won't let me join unless you speak to her on my behalf. It's her requirement. Would you talk to her, please?"

I toyed with the paper, thinking not about whether or not I should help- it wouldn't be any trouble- but about the distance between Kane and his mother recently. It was almost as bad as me and my own parents. Was that very distance why he spent as much time as he could in the greenhouse surrounded by the plants May had worked hard to raise?

"How are you two getting along?" I asked, knowing the answer but hoping he'd open up about it with me.

As expected, he hesitated. Then sighed at the stubborn set of my chin and shook his head. "Not very well."

Short but to the point, good enough for me. I held out my hand for him to shake. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll talk to May for you."

He shook my hand. "Thank you." He raised a brow. "Don't let her kidnap you again."

I grinned. "I won't."

"So, what's your request for me?"

I was glad he'd brought up the subject first, I'd been contemplating the best way to ask him what I wanted but had been too nervous.

Keeping my warg thoughts hidden, I eyed him boldly. "Who says I need a favor to order you around?"

He stood up and walked around to my side, fingers trailing along the tabletop as his eyes zeroed in on my lips. "You don't?"

I took his hand: the better to keep him in my clutches with. He misunderstood my intentions, smiling at the contact I'd instigated.

I held my breath for a few seconds before diving headfirst. "Put the ring on and show me the progress you've made."

He'd been calm during both meetings while we talked about a lunatic out for his blood, but now panic was forming on his face like a fast forwarding cycle of the moon. He let go of my hands and strode towards the door. I clambered out of my seat, worried he was storming out of the room.

But he wasn't. He pressed his back against the door, hand clenching the doorknob, expression tight with unease. "You won't like my answer."

Oh. He was standing there to keep me from storming out. Which meant one thing: Kane Wilder had lied to me again.

Shocker.

I gritted my teeth. "Can you kill Light with the ring if the situation called for it?"

"Yes, but..." He inhaled. "I probably wouldn't make it out alive by the end of it."

I growled at him.

He held up a hand. "We just stopped fighting."

I pressed my lips together. "Looks like we've started fighting all over again."

I shoved him out of the way and stormed out.