Lucky - by Erin Latimer

A Deal is a Deal

I looked up, startled, wondering if fairies could also read minds. I’d never been able to do that. But Rook must be a full blooded fairy. What exactly could he do? Why on earth had Kiran thought he’d had a chance against him?

“You know,” I stammered. “You know everything.”

Rook nodded, his expression sympathetic. “I do. Come, Cassie. Do sit down with me, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

I trailed after Rook, who led me to a wide red sofa with black silk pillows. I couldn’t remember Kiran ever saying that to me: I’ll tell you everything. I was starting to grow more irritated the more I thought about it. And here I’d been making a complete fool out of myself, thinking he trusted me. Day dreaming about running away with him.

I was such an idiot.

But still, my first question once we were seated was, “Where is he?”

Rook looked mildly surprised, as if he hadn’t expected me to ask him that. “What, the thief? I’ve locked him up, give him time to cool down. Silly idiot thought I wouldn’t recognize him if he dressed himself up like a servant and paraded you in front of me.” He blinked at me. “Not that it wasn’t a cunning plan. You are very distracting.”

I felt my cheeks turn red, and flustered, I changed the subject. “What’s next? What will you do with him now?”

"He’ll be back out on the streets doing my work again very shortly.” He grinned, the expression darkly mischievous. “Which is marvelous, because I have a wonderful trick I want to play on Lord Warrington, the stuffy old brute.”

“What do you have over Kiran?” I said sharply. Now maybe I could get some answers. Maybe Rook would actually tell me what Kiran had refused to. “Why does he work for you?”

            Rook blinked at me. “Don’t you like wine? Do try it, it’s really very good.” He sipped at his glass again and said thoughtfully, “Lightfoot and I made a deal. After I saved his sister, he was to work for me for ten years.” Rook’s expression turned dark. “He grew arrogant after I did the magic, claimed he wouldn’t work for me, said he’d take his sister and go. I merely took what I had to to reassure him that he would in fact be working for me for the full ten years.”

            “You killed his sister.”

            Rook’s brows shot up. “Now, who told you a silly thing like that? I had nothing to do with that, it was a horse and cart.”

            I regarded him suspiciously, and Rook sighed. “People always insist on blaming every bad run of luck on fairy magic.”

            “So, what did you take?”

            Rook looked down at his glass as he swirled the crimson liquid in clockwise circles, bringing the wine flute up to his nose briefly before he looked up at me and said, “I took his soul.”

            There was a sharp crack as the wine glass I’d been holding hit the floor, splattering crimson liquid over the bottom of my dress. I barely noticed the mess I’d just made though, I was still too shocked, still taking in what Rook had just said, turning it over in my mind, trying to figure out how it could possibly be true.

            “His…his what?”

            “Oh dear,” Rook’s voice was tinged with the faintest note of amusement. “I can see I shouldn’t have dropped that on you the way I did. Terribly sorry.” He gestured in the air at something, and a woman in a servant’s uniform seemed to melt out of the shadows at the corner of the room, gliding over silently, she began to clean up the shattered glass.