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Authors: Tina Connolly
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yet. There was something still to come.
Dorie let her skin go soft and blue under her shirt, pulled the egg free as if she was pulling it from a hidden pouch. “Pretty thing,” she said softly to it.
Tam’s face brightened. “You did get it! I’m impressed. Look, if it’s just money you want, they’ll pay you for it. We’re making great strides studying what can be done with the eggs when they hatch.”
Her spirits rose. Maybe this would be a good way out of her dilemma. “How much?” she said. Tam named a figure that was Malcolm’s old going rate—i.e., half what he was now paying—and she pondered that. Perhaps their landlady would take that in good faith … or if Tam left, she could phase into fey state, climb the tree and take a second egg, though she hated to do that to the wyvern pair.
“It’s a fair rate,” Tam added. “I’d make sure they didn’t try to talk you down.”
Dorie ran her fingers over the raised, glittery surface, thinking. She needed the money. She didn’t want to sell to Malcolm. But what if she could parlay this one egg into a better future? “It’s not money I want,” she said slowly.
Tam looked puzzled, then lit up. “Oh. You want a job at the Queen’s Lab.” He leaned in. “Look, Killingsworth just left. Well, not left…”
Dorie’s eyebrows rose.
“Tangled up with a giant tortua while overseas,” he admitted. “Came back with several bits missing. He’ll be learning how to walk for a year. It’s perfect timing.” He pointed at the silver egg. “Let me see how close it is to hatching. It looks like it’s started to darken a bit. A day, don’t you think?”
“Less,” said Dorie, relying on her fey intuition. She couldn’t have said how she knew, only that she could tell from the way it thrummed in her hand.
“You bring that in this afternoon and I can nearly guarantee you Killingsworth’s old job. At least for temporary—but you’d have a year to prove yourself and I don’t see why you couldn’t. I mean, heck, I didn’t even see you up in that tree when I arrived, that’s how good you were.”
Breath caught. The Queen’s Lab. Her, Dorie— Dorian, but small matter, she could proudly reveal herself to Dr. Pearce well after she had brought everyone around to her way of doing things. She briefly entertained a fantasy of leading a team of recruits into the northern mountains a year from now, on the trail of the mythical cave-dwelling ice monster.…
“Bother, social niceties,” Tam said. He rubbed his hands on his trousers and stuck out his hand. She took it, feeling rather odd about the whole thing. “Here I am trying to offer you a job and I haven’t even introduced myself. Thomas Grimsby. But everyone calls me Tam.”
“Dorian,” said Dorie. She had told Malcolm that her last name was Eliot—her stepmother’s maiden name—but she thought she might as well avoid mentioning that for now, as it was Tam’s mother’s name, too. She changed the subject by saying, “What are you finding that can be done with the eggs? I mean, I know they’re poison to fey.”
“Well, you know the silvermen, I suppose? The silver eye in their palm—that compound came from us. The albumen left in the wyvern egg is part of the secret compound.”
“That comes from you,” Dorie stated, that heartbreak rising again. No wonder the lab had suddenly become so wealthy in the past year. What a fool she was to think they would hire her to do anything that might help the fey.
“From the lab, yes. The silvermen use it to drive the fey out of others, but regular folks are using it to keep themselves from being taken over. Defense, not offense. The fey aren’t all evil—but the ones that are…” His face twisted with hatred, and her heart twisted in response. But it only made sense. Even without her mistakes, he had more reason to hate the fey than the average person—one had destroyed his father.
“They leave scars,” she said softly. She was
Dorie let her skin go soft and blue under her shirt, pulled the egg free as if she was pulling it from a hidden pouch. “Pretty thing,” she said softly to it.
Tam’s face brightened. “You did get it! I’m impressed. Look, if it’s just money you want, they’ll pay you for it. We’re making great strides studying what can be done with the eggs when they hatch.”
Her spirits rose. Maybe this would be a good way out of her dilemma. “How much?” she said. Tam named a figure that was Malcolm’s old going rate—i.e., half what he was now paying—and she pondered that. Perhaps their landlady would take that in good faith … or if Tam left, she could phase into fey state, climb the tree and take a second egg, though she hated to do that to the wyvern pair.
“It’s a fair rate,” Tam added. “I’d make sure they didn’t try to talk you down.”
Dorie ran her fingers over the raised, glittery surface, thinking. She needed the money. She didn’t want to sell to Malcolm. But what if she could parlay this one egg into a better future? “It’s not money I want,” she said slowly.
Tam looked puzzled, then lit up. “Oh. You want a job at the Queen’s Lab.” He leaned in. “Look, Killingsworth just left. Well, not left…”
Dorie’s eyebrows rose.
“Tangled up with a giant tortua while overseas,” he admitted. “Came back with several bits missing. He’ll be learning how to walk for a year. It’s perfect timing.” He pointed at the silver egg. “Let me see how close it is to hatching. It looks like it’s started to darken a bit. A day, don’t you think?”
“Less,” said Dorie, relying on her fey intuition. She couldn’t have said how she knew, only that she could tell from the way it thrummed in her hand.
“You bring that in this afternoon and I can nearly guarantee you Killingsworth’s old job. At least for temporary—but you’d have a year to prove yourself and I don’t see why you couldn’t. I mean, heck, I didn’t even see you up in that tree when I arrived, that’s how good you were.”
Breath caught. The Queen’s Lab. Her, Dorie— Dorian, but small matter, she could proudly reveal herself to Dr. Pearce well after she had brought everyone around to her way of doing things. She briefly entertained a fantasy of leading a team of recruits into the northern mountains a year from now, on the trail of the mythical cave-dwelling ice monster.…
“Bother, social niceties,” Tam said. He rubbed his hands on his trousers and stuck out his hand. She took it, feeling rather odd about the whole thing. “Here I am trying to offer you a job and I haven’t even introduced myself. Thomas Grimsby. But everyone calls me Tam.”
“Dorian,” said Dorie. She had told Malcolm that her last name was Eliot—her stepmother’s maiden name—but she thought she might as well avoid mentioning that for now, as it was Tam’s mother’s name, too. She changed the subject by saying, “What are you finding that can be done with the eggs? I mean, I know they’re poison to fey.”
“Well, you know the silvermen, I suppose? The silver eye in their palm—that compound came from us. The albumen left in the wyvern egg is part of the secret compound.”
“That comes from you,” Dorie stated, that heartbreak rising again. No wonder the lab had suddenly become so wealthy in the past year. What a fool she was to think they would hire her to do anything that might help the fey.
“From the lab, yes. The silvermen use it to drive the fey out of others, but regular folks are using it to keep themselves from being taken over. Defense, not offense. The fey aren’t all evil—but the ones that are…” His face twisted with hatred, and her heart twisted in response. But it only made sense. Even without her mistakes, he had more reason to hate the fey than the average person—one had destroyed his father.
“They leave scars,” she said softly. She was
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