“We are not alone.” Cress gestured to some oily spots on the floor near the exit. “Banwyn excrement.”
I looked. Sure enough, there were dark tarry-like substances there. “Connor is here?”
“He has been here.” Donovan’s eyes blazed in an almost preternatural way, as if his fury couldn’t be contained. “His minions have been here. Their spoor is not too old. Like us, it appears they have traveled here, to this city, to follow the berserkers.”
“They got here before us?” Oh, no. This meant Audrina was only a step away from Connor. Did he have her now? Was he hurting her?
Donovan moved closer towards me and nodded. “Connor will be traveling with his assassin.”
The memory of the huge fae warrior in pitch-black armor loomed up in my mind like a specter. “Agarthon?”
“I hope so.” Cress cracked her knuckles.
“Wait.” I shook my head. “He has other assassins?”
Donovan nodded, moving a little closer again as a group of new arrivals streamed into the luggage claim. “I will tell you of them later. We must find rest now. The others are magically depleted and will be prone to making grave errors of judgment.” His eyes drifted over the moving conveyor. Our luggage had finally appeared. Nate held baby Cecil in a headlock while Eryk loaded our bags onto a cart. “Did you find us any lodgings for the night?”
“I did.” It had taken me longer than usual. All the online booking sites were showing no vacancies anywhere in the city. I had to resort to calling a long list of local businesses with ‘hotel’ in the title to find somewhere that could squeeze us in. And even then, I had to lay on the charm in spades to talk the bar’s proprietor into letting us have the rooms. Apparently, he always kept a few free in case his favorite customers got too drunk, and he needed somewhere to throw them to sober up. “It’s not the Ritz, but it will do for the night.”
Donovan’s eyes glowed again. “I was not looking forward to sheltering under a bridge in this place. We need privacy to recharge.” His gaze turned to a smolder. “You are most resourceful in finding us shelter.”
“It was nothing,” I stammered.
“It is not. I understand there is no lodging anywhere in the city. Yet you found us something.”
“Yes.” Cress stepped into the tiny space in between us, shoving Donovan back with her hip. “You are most resourceful, Chosen.” She stared down at me, thrusting out her chest so it almost touched mine.
I cringed back. “Uh. Thanks.” I could almost feel the combatant rage emanating from her. This bitch was going to murder me in my sleep.
I hustled the whole company out into the frosty night and tried to get an Uber, but there were none around. After a long wait, I managed to hail a minivan taxi to take us to the pub. As the taxi pulled over to the curb beside us, Donovan gently moved me out of the way. “I will handle the carriage driver today, Chosen.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary—”
He stuck his head in the open window and glared at the driver. “Are you an honorable man?”
The driver—a large middle-aged man with a bald spot and black bristly stubble all over his chin—glared right back at him. “What kinda question is that? I get you from A to B, buddy, that’s my whole job. Now, you hailed me. You wanna ride somewhere or not?”
Donovan scowled. “You will answer the question.”
“I don’t get paid to answer questions. I get paid to drive, pal. I don’t need to be honorable. You getting in or not?”
“We are not,” Donovan growled.
“We are!” I tugged on Donovan’s hoodie, pulling him back. “We’re not going to get another taxi big enough at this hour.”
“There are no other carriages?”
“It’s late, and it’s Saturday night, Donovan. We were lucky we got this one.”
“Yeah, y’all are lucky,” the driver said. “Lucky I’m not driving off right now.” He hit a button on the console, and a timer began to click over at an alarming rate. “You better decide quickly, buddy, or it’s gonna cost ya.”
“It’s this, or we have to split up,” I hissed.
Donovan leaned closer, meeting my eyes. “You will not sit next to him, Chosen.”
“I don’t have to. This is a, uh, a private carriage, Donovan. There’s no one else in it. We can all sit in the back.” I slid the back door open and showed him. “See? Go on.”
He inspected the back seat, noting the plastic security partition between the front and back. “There are not enough seats. One of us will have to sit next to the driver.”
“You gotta ask first, pal,” the driver snapped. “There’s a reason there’s a security screen. This is a tough job, and I take my safety seriously.”
I butted Donovan out of the way with my hip and stuck my head in the driver’s side window. The ID on the dash said his name was Greg. I noted the bags under his eyes, the stubble on his cheeks, and the veteran sticker on the window. “Would you mind, sir? We’re all really tired. I just want to get us to our accommodation so we can rest.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Since you asked so politely, sure, honey. One of you girls, though. And no talking. I don’t wanna hear no bitching in my ear while I’m driving.”
Donovan opened the passenger door. “Cress, you will do the honors.”
She screwed up her nose. “I will not speak, but I cannot promise he will have all his limbs when the ride is finished.”
Donovan eyeballed her sternly. “And you will remain on your best behavior, or there will be consequences.” Lowering his voice until it was just a soft rumble, he added, “No matter what, you will not touch him, and you will not talk to him. Do not forget, Princess, we are here to serve the Chosen. She has willed that we take this carriage to our lodgings, so it will be so.”
Cress swore viciously but climbed into the front in the seat next to Greg, the driver. Damnit, Donovan was going to make Cress hate me even more, now.
Greg frowned at Cress as she settled into the passenger seat next to him, his lips pulling down like thin sad sausages. “Watchya language, there. It’s not good for a lady to swear like that.”
Cress’s eyes sparked. Uh, oh.
“Women these days,” Greg tutted. “Y’all pretty ladies swear like sailors, and it’s so unattractive.” He pulled out into traffic, muttering under his breath.
