Snow coated our faces and I raised mine to meet him in another kiss. Now might not be the best time for a make out session, but really … who gives a shit.
Eventually, though, we had no choice but to rejoin reality. I was back on my feet, and with our hands tightly linked Braxton and I made our way to the rest of the group, standing in front of Louis’ doorway. I met the sorcerer’s purple eyes and knowledge of what the next few hours was all about flooded back in. It was time. We were going to Krakov.
Chapter 17
The step-through took us from a snowstormed mountain range down into a valley of sorts. Concealed within this valley was a medium sized town. I was going to guess this was the gateway community which protected Krakov. Which thankfully meant that there’d only be supernaturals here. We wouldn’t have to hide our otherness.
It appeared to be laid out similarly to Stratford, but with the more snow friendly style of chalet dwellings. These homes surrounded a few large square “meeting hall” structures.
It was still freezing, but the area was protected from the worst of the storm. The scenery looked familiar, so I assumed we were still in the same region of Romania – in the Carpathian Mountains. From what I could see from our higher vantage point, the area was probably around ten miles in diameter, nestled down in what looked like the crater of a volcano. Mountain ranges encased the quaint little town.
“This is Bruvnest,” said Louis. “Their securities are breachable because I’ve been here before, but there is no easy way into Krakov.” His regal features shifted to the bitch twins … yeah, I’d upgraded them from fruit. “It’s your party now, ladies. Whatever plan you have set in motion, you’d better move your asses. The townsfolk are starting to catch on that we are here.”
He wasn’t even kidding. Members of the community were emerging from wherever they had been. Rugged, they had the distinct size and appearance of our familiar supernatural races. I wasn’t surprised to see they had a lot of trolls here. They were always around mountains and rocky areas.
I heard the townsfolk murmuring amongst themselves. No one spoke English. It sounded Eastern European … Romanian. Which would make sense, you know, since that’s where we were. As they closed in, I could hear them more clearly.
“Ce naiba?” was a popular phrase.
Louis was keeping an eye on them, his gaze unwavering, streams of power emanating from him.
“Do you know what they are saying?” I asked him, since he looked to be following their conversations.
He chuckled. “Something along the lines of ‘what the hell?’ I don’t think they’re impressed to see us appear inside their securities.”
Couldn’t blame them for that. Their one job was to protect the barriers and the prison, and we’d just strolled right in. The twins were acting pretty indifferent toward the townsfolk drawing closer to us. They joined hands, and while there was nothing obvious about what they were doing, I could see the energy bleeding off them. Then they started to sing. It was a low, haunting melody, which seeped through my skin and settled into my blood. I could feel the notes wanting to twirl their way into my mind, but I was strong enough to hold them at bay.
The conversations from the townsfolk trickled off and silence descended over the snowcapped community. Then they started to retreat back into their hut-style homes and other buildings – seemingly without thought – away from where they had clearly been coming to confront the intruders.
As their song died off I narrowed my eyes on the twins. “What did you do to them? What the hell are your powers?”
Louis was the one to answer. “I’m surprised you’ve managed to keep this little secret to yourselves,” he said. “I recognize that song. You’re sirens, and you also have persuasion.”
Finally we knew the race of the twins. Sirens. The elusive female fey. Generally they only had power over males, but I didn’t have any idea what “persuasion” was. Obviously something which could influence an entire town.
Louis must have noticed my confused expression. “The twins are very old, and the older fey can sometimes harness a type of influencing energy. We call it persuasion. Sirens are already blessed with persuasive power. Seems these two have tapped into it further.”
I leaned forward, hands on my hips. “Are you saying you can control people? Make them bend to your will?”
Orange laughed in a derisive manner. “If that was the case, we wouldn’t have needed to use Mischa to force your hand. We can send suggestions, but there is no force. Most supernaturals simply do not have the strength of will to even realize their thoughts are not their own. With suspicious supes, such as prison community members, we don’t hide our presence, we influence them to believe we are one of them, not a threat. They ignore us after that.”
Lemon piped up. “It is especially strong with males.”
Braxton crossed his arms over his chest. “Only some males.”
They both nodded, and I realized they must have at some point tried to control my dragon shifter. Stupid bitches.
At least much of the mystery around the fruit twins made sense now. “Since you’re sirens, and the prisons are filled with an overabundance of males in charge … they pretty much escort you right in, don’t they?”
Supernaturals were not generally sexist – aside from the male-oriented mystics – females were equal in all manner, and in many instances superior. But for some reason males were more interested in working in the prison system. The councils were always trying to tempt females into prison jobs, but we seemed to favor the running of the gateway communities.