To Kill a Fae - A Fantasy Romance

Chapter 16

The sound of voices and Esmelle's laughter could be heard as Sabine and Bane approached the kitchen. It immediately put a smile on her face, and she entered the room to find Esmelle sitting at the table with Dax and Javyn. Blossom was perched on the table in front of one of the largest honey cakes Sabine had ever seen. The look of complete rapture on the pixie's face was comical.

"You're going to get her sick," Sabine warned, trying to suppress a laugh.

"I won't get sick," Blossom said with her cheeks bulging. Although, it sounded more like, "Ah wah geh 'ick."

Esmelle laughed again. "Sabine's right. You really should consider taking either smaller bites or slowing down. Martha said that cake was meant to feed your whole family."

Blossom swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Nope. They don't get cake. They were too scared of the demons to tell Sabine the truth. It's my cake now."

Sabine shook her head and walked over to the counter. Picking up a small saucer, she filled it with water and brought it over to the table for the pixie. "Pace yourself, Blossom. You can eat your fill and still have enough to take some to your family and the new pixie clan."

"Tried to pick flowers. Wrong moon. They don't get cake either," Blossom said and broke off another chunk of the honey cake. She dunked it into the water and shoved it into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged at the oversized bite again, and she started chewing.

Sabine sighed. It looked like she was going to have to deal with a sick pixie.

Dax grinned. "If the pixie's too sick to fly, I'm keeping her. I have an ale that will go quite nicely with the tart taste of pixies."

Blossom's eyes widened. She squeaked, causing cake crumbs to fly out of her mouth and over the table. She dove into Sabine's hair and up against her neck, trembling in fear.

"You're not eating Blossom," Sabine said as Blossom hugged her neck. "And you, Blossom, had better not be getting crumbs in my hair."

"Ahm nah," Blossom said, which Sabine guessed meant, "I'm not."

She rolled her eyes, not believing that for a minute.

Esmelle laughed again and leaned forward, tearing off a piece of the honey cake for herself. "Dax and I were taking bets over whether you and Bane would come out here together. Looks like I lost."

Dax leaned back in his chair, his expression smug. "Want to know what I won, Sabine?"

"Nope. I've had enough experience with your bets that I don't want to know the answer." She pointed at Esmelle. "You should know better too. Dax doesn't bet on anything unless he knows he's going to win."

Javyn chuckled. "She knows you well."

Dax grinned and took another sip of his ale. Bane walked around the table and toward the window, staring out into the waning sunlight. Sabine frowned and approached him, curious about what had caught his attention. He tensed, grabbed her arm, and hauled her backward.

"City guards," he said quietly, jerking his head toward the window. "A lot of them. A few mercenaries too, based on their clothing. They're surrounding the tavern."

Without a word, Dax leapt across the table and peered out the window. "They're not any of mine. It's that damned councilman. I don't like the timing of this. They're hitting us right before the tavern is about to open for regular business."

Javyn's hand flew to the sword strapped to his waist. "Orders?"

Without turning, Dax said, "Bane, escort Sabine and Esmelle to the tunnels. I want them out of here. Javyn, clear the upper floors of the tavern. Tell Martha and Henry we've got company. They know what to do."