Page 106 of A Soul’s Awakening

“I’ve never seen you use one,” Helena mused, “and right now, I don’t have any better ideas. So, let’s see if anyone comes in and out, like you said,” she agreed.

For the following three frustratingly long days, they visited Tithe Manor. They looked for a weakness in the ward while waiting for someone to enter or exit, but no one did, and Lance could not sense a fault in the ward as he studied it.

Finally, on the fourth evening, the Merman could feel Helena’s frustration spill over.

“Tomorrow, ward or not, I am climbing over. Fae knows what they are doing to El in there! That’s if she is even still in there. We have taken too long,” she growled.

“You can’t even get close enough to the ward to do that, Len. It will just throw you off. You would get hurt, and we can’t get El out if you’re injured,” Lance countered on their walk back to Bright Sun Inn. His throat bobbed as guilt pricked at him. He knew it was time to talk about what he had been keeping from her. After all, it was possible it could help. “I have another idea. I need to tell you, I—”

He stopped mid-sentence, a prickling sensation crawled up the back of his neck. Lance glanced over his shoulder and saw a thin, cloaked figure dogging their steps. The Merman lowered his mouth to Helena’s ear.

“Turn down this lane,” he said quietly.

“Why?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“Someone is following us.” Lance placed his hand to the small of her back, steering her down the next laneway.

The Merman, shepherding Helena, sensed the cloaked figure rush up to them from behind. Lance stopped abruptly and spun on his heel. Before the follower could attack or flee, he slammed the figure against the closest brick wall.

The Merman ripped the hood down that covered the face of the stranger. A thin, bony face, set with a pair of hazel eyes, stared back at him. He can’t be far into his twenties. Lance tightened his grip on the young man, his scowl threatening in the quickly fading light.

“Why are you following us?”

“Aunt Bethy. Beth from the inn. She said you might need my help,” he gasped.

“What’s your name?” Lance growled.

“Declan,” he replied, squirming beneath Lance’s grip. “Your daughter is still in there, I checked… none of the Tithe girls have left yet.” He nodded in the direction of Tithe Manor. “I want to help – anything to take the Seelies down a peg or two.”

Helena took a step towards them. Lance watched as her eyes narrowed at the young man in his grasp, studying his face.

“Declan… are you part Fae?” she asked.

Lance turned his head back to look at him. He had fluffy blonde hair, slightly pointed ears, and highly angled cheekbones. His youthful face looked so familiar, but Lance could not place it.

“That was fast.” Declan grinned, meeting Helena’s eyes. “It usually takes a while for people to guess.”

“I have some… friends, close to me, who are part Fae as well,” Helena explained. She placed a hand on the Merman’s bicep and gently squeezed. “Lance, come on, put him down.”

The Merman slowly released Declan’s collar from his grip, lowering his dangling feet to the ground. Lance wore a scowl, lines furrowed into his brow and the edges of his eyes. He did not trust anyone who would follow them in such a manner, and something about the young man’s demeanour needled at him. His arrogance, his swagger, that smirk that screamed trouble.

“Thanks,” Declan said, brushing the front of his grey cloak, smoothing out the wrinkles from Lance’s grip. “Aunt Bethy asked me to talk to you. I can help,” he repeated. He raised his eyes to meet the Merman’s, but quickly turned them down to his boots again.

“Then why not just talk to us?” Lance scowled.

“I wanted to see how… committed you were,” the young man explained. He looked left and right down the lane. “I have seen you come back again and again. You’re trying to get in so you can get you daughter out, right?” he whispered.

“This isn’t a game.” Lance replied, feeling a spike of irritation at his theatrics. “If you could have helped us before, you should have let us know. We have no idea what is happening to El in there. We need to get her out.”

Helena, hand still on the Merman’s bicep, gently squeezed him again.

“Yes,” she responded to Declan’s question. “How can you help us with that?”

“Some of the servants…well, most of the servants, actually… they hate how they are treated by the Fae of Tithe Manor. Lesser faeries are treated like dirt. Most of them are sick of it, but they’re stuck there with their Bargain Bracelets. Many are part of my… group,” he rambled, the words spilling from his mouth.

Lance scoffed at the young man. Clearly, the Merman had scared him a little. He was not sorry about that, as the lurking and following had perturbed him. He did not trust people who behaved that way.

“What’s in it for you? For them?” Lance asked.