“Nope.”
That was the truth. I didn’t have complete control over the storms, and if I did, I’d call up a lightning bolt to strike him. I glanced back at the boat, rocked by the squall.
Salem took off at a fast pace, his head down. I followed behind him, into a wood of rowan and hazel trees. Crows cawed in the boughs above us, their cries piercing the storm. They seemed agitated at our approach, swooping lower around us, grazing my head. I held up my arms to shield myself as they swept overhead. The birds seemed oddly large, their eyes silver.
It was a shame I hadn’t managed to call up a storm near an Isle of Charming Kittens.
“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t walk without having an idea where I was going. I’ve been here before.”
After a few minutes of walking, I caught sight of a house in the distance. Between the trees, warm light glowed through windowpanes.
We drew closer to the house—which I now saw was a gnarled tree of dark oak, with diamond-pane windows inset in the bark.
A silvery door had been carved into the trunk, and someone had painted the words Crow Witch on it in spindly letters.
A knocker hung from the door—a long-fingered silver hand. Salem picked it up to knock.
A few moments later, the door creaked open on its own, revealing a hall carved into the hollow of the tree. While the outside of the tree was only about ten feet wide, the interior somehow opened up into a fairly spacious hall.
From behind the door, a small woman stepped into view. Her long brown hair tumbled over a paisley dress, and a thorny crown rested on her head.
She smiled at Salem. “Welcome. I thought you might be coming, Salem.” She looked between us, an eyebrow rising. “I didn’t know you’d be bringing your lover. I’d heard all these rumors about how Salem doesn’t—”
He shot her a lethal look that had her closing her mouth fast. “Oh, we’re not lovers,” I said. “At all. He’s literally the devil, so…”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay. I see someone got cranky on the boat ride. And what do I call you?”
“Aenor is fine.” I added, “Aenor Dahut, House of Meriadoc, Protector of the Seas.”
Salem quirked an eyebrow. “So humble, isn’t she, my sweet lover?”
I debated whether to explain to her that I was basically Salem’s prisoner, but I decided against it.
Salem flashed me a wicked smile. “My darling lover called up this storm because she wanted to be alone with me. But I can pay you very well for a room in your home.”
She waved a hand. “Nonsense. You don’t need to pay me. Not like I get a lot of company here.”
“Two rooms if you have them,” I interjected with a smile. “We’re not actually lovers.”
Salem shrugged, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Whatever my sweetling wants. Reigning as Protector of the Seas can be a tiring pastime.”
He really loved messing with me.
She shook her head. “No. I follow the ancient practices of the Crow Witches, and crows mate for life. I can see the bond between the two of you. You belong together, sharing a room.”
Geez, that was a shame, because I was pretty sure we both planned to kill each other.
I sighed. It was all starting to become clear now. So she looked normal, but she was insane.
The woman shrugged. “Also, I only have one extra room, so even without the bond, you’re sharing. That’s literally the only option. I live in a tree, so… not a ton of rooms in a tree.”
Well, it wasn’t this woman’s fault that Salem was evil. I did my best to smile. “Thank you for letting us stay. I appreciate it.”
She motioned to her table. A row of Chinese takeout boxes stood on the oak table, and settings for three. “There’s extra food. I thought I might have visitors.”
Lanterns hung above the table, and a gust of wind blew into the house, making them swing. I closed the door behind us.
As soon as we stepped further into the small house, a wave of delicious smells greeted me—ginger and garlic.
My mouth watered. “You can get takeout here?”
“I’m a witch. I used a spell.”
I pulled out a carved oak chair and sat across from Salem. Angel filled our glasses with red wine. Then she scooped white rice and tofu onto our plates, covered in a thick maroon sauce flecked with chilis.
I felt a bit weird about sitting down at the table soaked in seawater, but these were the only clothes I had.
Turned out that calling up a storm near the Isle of Crows had been the best damn idea I’d had in ages. I’d fill my stomach, then I’d slip away from Salem to cast my spells.
“Now.” Angel took a bite of her tofu, then pointed her chopsticks at Salem. “I never believed all those rumors about you. All those sacrifices, all the people you tortured and burned for your amusement in those Jerusalem caves…”
Salem’s expression darkened. “It’s all true.” His voice seemed to come from a million miles away. “I’m skilled in the arts of cruelty beyond anything you could conceive of in your worst nightmares.” His glittering gaze slid to me, and I felt like I wanted to shrink away from him. “Aenor has been there, to my rocky hell itself. Perhaps it was the ghosts of wickedness that inspired her to kill her own mother there.”
My stomach flipped. “You burned and tortured people for amusement?”
Something pained flashed in his eyes, but then he smiled slowly. “I can give you the details, if you’d like.”
Angel shook her head. “Well, I don’t know. You seem nice. Not the slaughtering kind.”
Lady, your slaydar is way off.
Steam curled from the food, and I scooped a forkful into my mouth. It nearly tasted divine enough to distract me from the conversation we’d just had about burning people for fun.
“So what are you doing here?” Angel asked.
Salem sipped his wine. “My charming lover and I are looking for the Merrow. He has something I want.”
She smiled. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure you have a good reason for wanting to take it from him. You seem like a nice young man.”
Completely insane.
I was surprised he just came out with our mission like that, instead of concealing it. But a man as arrogant as Salem maybe didn’t worry about anything getting in the way of what he wanted.
She exhaled loudly. “But I must say, it seems a bit dangerous.”
“He’s already sent his lackeys for us. Any ideas where he has been?”
It struck me for the first time that Salem had an amazing tendency to just tell the truth, however horrible it was. He didn’t always tell the whole story—but nor did he conceal his worst faults. He was different from Lyr in that way—Lyr, who cloaked the truth in shadows.
I suspected the parts that Salem hid about himself were the good parts, if there were any.
“I heard his magic through the water,” I added. “But we don’t know an exact location.”
“Could be Mag Mell,” she said. “He hangs around there sometimes. But I can’t say for sure.”
Salem leaned back in his chair, and his easy smile faded. Something had unsettled him like the threat of global destruction had not. “Ah. A place I once knew very well.”