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“Him?” The shopkeeper glanced at me and huffed. “She could do better than that scrawny thing.”
“Let’s see your mate, then. If you’re such a great matchmaker, he must be a real stud. Bring out Prince Charming!” Chloe demanded.
The woman turned up her nose at Chloe. “You are a ruthless fae, girl. You would do well as a merchant. Would you like to have a job?”
“Not here,” Chloe replied shortly.
The shopkeeper rolled her eyes. “Very well. Can’t convince anyone what’s good for them.”
That’s all the woman said before scampering off to harass someone else. She got into an argument with a nearby shifter, and seemed absolutely delighted about it, like the conflict was the one thing that had made her happy all day.
Chloe held her head high. “You have to be direct with the fae. They don’t respect you unless you’re a rude asshole just like them. Acting nice is suspicious around here.”
“Well, at least one of us can handle them,” I said.
I turned to continue onward, but a small child blocked my path. “The royal wedding is approaching!”
The child shoved a newspaper toward me. He had to have at least a hundred more in the messenger bag he carried. The top of the paper read The Annual Arcanea, and the front page showed a photograph of a red-haired woman in a regal dress. I realized it was Emma, the queen, and the girl we’d helped long ago.
“Get the inside scoop on what the queen will be wearing on her big day!” the child pressed.
“Sorry, kid,” I told him. “We don’t have any money.”
“You must stay informed!” he insisted, really trying to sell me on it. “Enemy forces remain close to Dolinska. Don’t you want to know what the king and queen plan to do about it? You can read all about it on page three!”
“He said we’re broke, kid,” Chloe snapped. “Now scram.”
The boy gave a huff, but he hurried away and proceeded to shove his paper into someone else’s face. Jeez, everyone was really pushy here.
We kept our heads down and walked quickly, so that no one else would bother us. My heart pounded faster than our footsteps. If anyone saw through our ruse, we were dead.
I caught sight of a sign in English. Enchanting Whispers, it read, with an arrow pointing down an abandoned alleyway.
“This is it,” I told the others, recalling the instructions Hattie had given to Headmistress Verla and Professor Warren.
We ducked out of the busy merchant district and followed a twisted alleyway until we reached a stone gargoyle shaped like a griffin. The sculpture had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, with talons on its front legs and heavy paws on the back. A doorway stood behind the gargoyle, which had to be the entrance to Enchanting Whispers.
Grant went to step around the gargoyle, but the statue moved. The griffin jumped in front of him, blocking his path.
Grant placed his hands on his hips. “What’s this? Some sort of illusion. Ooh, I’m so scared.”
He wiggled his fingers at the gargoyle sarcastically, then went to step around it again. The gargoyle snapped its stone beak at him, then swiped out its talons. Grant yelped and jumped back. The sharp stone caught the edge of his cloak, tearing it. Bella yelped and jumped out of Grant’s cloak. She landed on her feet and hissed at the stone statue. The gargoyle paid the cat no mind and swiftly spun around, smacking Grant in the side of the head with its tail. It kicked out its back leg and hit Grant square in the chest. He went flying and landed flat on his back.
“Grant!” Talia rushed to his side.
Bella quickly followed and licked his face. Grant coughed to catch his breath, then wheezed, “I’m okay.”
The griffin statue went still again, as if it hadn’t come to life at all.
“This is where Hattie said to go, isn’t it?” Talia asked as she helped Grant to his feet. He picked up Bella and tucked her back inside his cloak. “Follow the winding path until you get to the stone gargoyle.”
“We’re in the right place, but I don’t think brute force is going to work,” I said. “There has to be another way through that won’t get our asses kicked.”
Nadine approached the griffin statue, eyeing it from multiple angles. “What else did Hattie say? Something about griffin private parts? It certainly seemed strange coming from her at the time, but there’s got to be something to it.”
Chloe approached the statue and peered between its legs. “You think she meant it literally? Like, maybe we need to… stroke it.”
Nadine crossed her arms. “If that’s the case, the fae are sicker than I thought. I figured Hattie meant we need some sort of herb to give up as an offering.”
