Chapter 24
The wagon moved with such speed down the roads of the city that Birdie wondered if they were being pulled by jinns instead of the five horses she had seen hitched up front. There was barely any light to light up the small dark wooden box. Wren laid on his side in the cramped space with Birdie kneeling beside him and the jinn at the other corner.
"Who are you?" Birdie asked the man.
"My name is Azad," the jinn answered. "I was sent by Ira to get you out of the city. But not him."
"I'm not going anywhere without him," Birdie moved a bit closer to Wren.
"What the hell?" Wren groaned as he tried to sit up but hit his head on the low bench. His eyes itched from the dust storm and his skin felt as if someone had rubbed him with sandpaper.
"Let me see your eyes," Birdie leaned forward.
But just as she was about to wipe away the bits of dust and sand away from the fey, the wagon hit a pothole on the road, sending her crashing into the prince. Wren's arms shot out as he grabbed Birdie and broke her fall on his chest. Her cold and red nose collided with his jaw as she lost her balance and dropped all her weight on him.
"Sorry," Birdie said as she tried to climb back up.
"Don't move," Wren warned her, feeling the way her hair caught on the button of his shirt.
But of course the girl had a bad habit of doing everything he told her not to do.
Birdie tried to jump back but suddenly realized she couldn't when a sharp pain yanked her back to Wren on the floor of the wagon.
"I told you not to move," Wren muttered against her ear. "You need to start listening to me."
"Don't order me around," Birdie pulled back just enough to untangle her hair and rise up to her knees. "Let me see your eyes."
"Don't order me around," Wren mocked her as he sat up.
"You're going to go blind with sand in your eyes, stupid," Birdie grabbed his face and turned him towards her. "Who will take me home then?"
Clicking his tongue with irritation from the pain in his eyes, Wren let Birdie hold his eyelids open and blow into them gently to push away the bits of sand. In the confinement of the small wagon, Wren couldn't ignore the scent of sage in her hair. The humid air amplified it to the point where it was all he could smell as she held his face and used her thumb to wipe away the corners.
"I shouldn't really be bringing him anywhere."
Birdie frowned as she sat back on her legs and looked back at the jinn in the other corner. She felt Wren shift beside her as he peered into the darkness.
"Who're you again?" He asked.
"Azad," the jinn replied.
"You're part of the insurgency," Wren said. "That dust storm back there..."
"What's the insurgency?" Birdie asked, looking at Azad and then at Wren.
"Rebels," Wren said. "Every now and then they try to stage a revolution against the throne. Key word being try."
"We will wipe your kind out," Azad spat. "The Tyveer did it once and we will do it again."
"You're from Earth!" Birdie gasped.
"Y-yes," Azad looked at the girl with wide eyes.
"You're Tyveer," Birdie's heart began to hammer with excitement.
"How do you know about Earth?" Azad asked, tilting his head.
"Ira didn't tell you she's from Earth?" Wren asked.
"How do you know Ira?" Birdie turned to Wren.
"How do you know Ira?" Wren asked.
"She's my grandma."
"Oh this is new," Azad whistled. "No fuckin' way. She just said you were family. You're her granddaughter? Wait a minute, when did Mirza get married and have babies?"
"Who's Mirza?" Wren wondered.
"My dead uncle," Birdie replied.
"Dead!" Azad gasped. "Mirza is dead?"
"How do you know Mirza?" Birdie's neck was beginning to hurt from the constant back and forth.
"The kid used to sit on my shoulders!" Azad said.
"The kid cursed my baba and caused him unimaginable pain," Birdie glared.
"Wait, who's daughter are you? Ira has four sons." Azad asked. "Who's your father?"
"Heyder," Birdie said, feeling her chest tighten. "I'm Heyder's daughter."
"Oh no," Azad shook his head. "What has that little shit done to have a daughter like you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Birdie demanded.
"Look at you!" Azad motioned with his hand. "You look like his kind."
"You should take that as a compliment," Wren said. "So Ira is your grandmother? Ira? The leader of the insurgency?"
"Why do you look like one of them?" Azad asked.
"One question at a time," Birdie snapped. "I go first. Where are you taking us?"
"Good question, little bird," Wren said, dusting off his hands. "I want to know too."
"Well, I'm supposed to be taking you to Ira," Azad pointed at Birdie. "She said nothing about him."
"And I already told you I am not going anywhere without him," Birdie said. "Ira is your leader, correct?"
"Yes," Azad said.
"And I am her granddaughter. So therefore, you must obey my commands just as you would hers."
The corner of Wren's mouth curved up as he watched the girl before him. He knew she was from royalty. Her damn attitude spoke for itself. But it was the first time Wren witnessed Birdie speak down to someone else beside him and he found himself enjoying it.
"Forgive me, your grace. But I am not going to risk the lives of all my men for a princess who has no idea how things are handled in this part of the world," Azad said. "Why should I take the prince of the fey kingdom into our territory without the explicit instructions of my commander?"
"Then speak to your commander," Birdie snapped. "I am not going without Wren."
"He's a fey," Azad said as if that might wake her up.
"He saved my life," Birdie said with stubbornness.
"And we just saved him from those guards," Azad laughed. "There! Debt repaid."
"No."
Before Azad or Wren could even begin to understand what was happening, Birdie pulled out the handcuffs she had stolen from one of the guards in the dust storm and placed one one cuff around Wren's wrist.
"Whoa!" Wren raised his hand.
"No, no, no!" Azad tried to move forward but Birdie had already placed the other cuff around her own wrist.
"There," she said with a satisfied grin. "Now we are a package deal."
"Shouldn't we have at least talked about this before?" Wren arched his brow and raised his hand, eyeing the cuffs as Birdie's hand rose with him. "I have commitment issues."
"Do you want to be separated from me and lose any and all connections to Earth?" Birdie hissed.
"I wouldn't be losing all connections," Wren rolled his eyes. "Thanks to your big mouth I now know Ira is from Earth too."
"Wren!" Birdie smacked the fey's shoulder.
"This won't stop me," Azad said, his eyes narrowed and filled with irritation. "I am not taking him anywhere."
"Then I guess I am not going anywhere either," Birdie shrugged.
"I can just cut off your wrist," Azad said.
"I like to see you try," Wren challenged.
"Listen," Birdie took in a deep breath to calm the atmosphere around the wagon. "Why don't you contact my grandmother and see what she says. I am sure she will be more sensible than you."
Azad snorted.
"Just ask her," Birdie said.
"Fine," Azad threw in the towel. "I'll ask."
______________________
Through the narrow alleys of Yori and across the wooden bridges of the glass canals, the wagon was taken to the docks and hidden in an abandoned warehouse. Before jumping out, Azad pulled out two long pieces of cloth and blindfolded both Birdie and Wren.
"Now get out," he said. "Carefully since you decided to become siamese twins."
Feeling their way towards the door, Wren climbed out and helped Birdie down to her feet. They felt Azad take their arms and lead them down a gravel path and then into a warm room that smelled of dried roses and jasmine. Birdie stepped closer to Wren, her ears alert and her heart in her throat.
"What's this?" Someone asked. "Why are there two?"
"Ask madam Sultana," Azad sighed. "She refused to leave without the fey."
"They're both feys!"
"No," Azad snorted. "Believe it or not, one of them is actually a jinn and guess what, she's Heyder's daughter."
"Heyder?" The other voice asked. "What has he done?"
"I don't know but Ira is in for a shock when she sees what her beloved son has reproduced."
"I can hear you," Birdie said, frowning. "And I do not appreciate you speaking about me in that manner."
There was a scratch of silence before the blindfold disappeared. Birdie flinched in shock as she was greeted by an hairy face with a deep scar down the side of his face.
"There's no way," the jinn said. "She's a jinn."
"Isn't that what I just said?" Azad asked.
"And who's this?" The jinn took off Wren's blindfold and gasped. "You brought the prince? Damn it, Azad!"
"It wasn't my choice!" Azad yelled. "She handcuffed herself to him!"
"Where are we?" Wren asked, looking around at the dimly lit room. "What is this place?"
"The Taj Mahal, your majesty," Azad said.
"Where's my grandmother?" Birdie asked.
"Not here, clearly," Azad looked around.
"Then go get her."
The jinn with the scar arched his brow at Birdie's tone and looked back at Azad.
"Oh yeah," Azad smirked. "She's just like her."
"What are we supposed to do with them?" The jinn asked, looking down at the cuffs. "We're only supposed to deliver her."
"Maybe you'll get extra brownie points for a prince too," Wren shrugged.
"This isn't a buy one get one free offer," the jinn shook his head.
"Omar, relax," Azad said, taking a seat at the edge of the table and pulling off the gloves he had on his hand. "We'll go ask Ira what she wants us to do."
"And in the meantime?" the jinn, Omar, looked over his shoulder.
"In the meantime, Madam Sultana and pixie prince can stay here."
"I am not a pixie prince," Wren corrected.
"No is speaking to you," Omar held up his hand.
"You are," Wren said. "Right now."
"Omar," Azad's eyes watched his friend. "No....don't do it."
Birdie watched the old jinn take a threatening step forward. She was about to jump in between the two when Wren jerked his arm and pulled her in front of himself.
"Come any closer and I will disintegrate her," Wren warned, earning a gasp from Birdie as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her stomach.
"And you still wanna take him to meet your grandma?" Azad looked at Birdie.
"Wren, what are you doing?" Birdie struggled.
"Get back," Wren spoke to the jinns, ignoring Birdie.
"Are you scared of us, Little Prince?" Omar laughed.
"I could disintegrate you both if I wanted to with no effort," Wren snorted. "Sure, you two might put up a bit of a fight, but it's not a challenge. However, I know Ira will make your deaths even more painful if her granddaughter dies on your watch. So choose wisely, my friends."
"You prick," Birdie tried to swing her elbows back but was unsuccessful.
"Go speak to Ira," Wren said. "Go tell her I have her granddaughter."
"Technically, we have you," Azad said. "And her."
"That's not how it's looking right now," Wren said, sending a harmless ping of energy into Birdie's back and making her yelp in shock. "Go right now or the next one will be louder."
Azad and Omar looked at each other with concern and doubt. Birdie could see the wheels in their brains turning as they wondered what to do. No doubt if they could use their mind-link, the two would be having a whole conversation right now.
Seconds ticked by and the two jinns did not move. Birdie could feel Wren's warm breath on her neck as he held her firmly. Her wrist began to hurt but every time she wiggled to try and create some space, Wren just pulled her back.
Suddenly, after a long pause, Birdie let out a scream.
Omar and Azad jumped forward, their eyes glowing silver. They glared at Wren with their nostrils flaring and their hands in fists.
"Touch her again and we will end you," Azad said.
"Go speak to Ira," Wren said through his teeth. "Now."
Omar looked at Azad.
Birdie let out another scream.
"Okay, okay!" Azad said, holding up his hands. "Stop hurting her, damn it!"
"Go!" Birdie squirmed and twisted her face.
"Omar, grab the locks," Azad said.
"You're really going to leave them here?" Omar asked in disbelief.
"You want Ira to kick your ass if anything happened to little miss sunshine here?"
"I don't think this is a good plan," the jinn shook his head.
"Man, just get the locks!" Azad snapped. "They'll stay here. We'll be back as soon as Ira tells us what to do."
With a few more moments of hesitation, Omar grabbed the heavy padlocks and a set of keys on a metal ring. He glared at Wren and then Birdie before stomping out the door.
"Stay in here," Azad said. "We can't afford to create another dust storm to go find you."
"This would be a lot easier if you just took us with you," Birdie said.
"I'm not going over this again!" Azad pulled his gloves back on and hurried out the door.
Birdie flinched as the door slammed shut behind the jinns and then the locks were clicked into place. She couldn't hear anything else as Wren unwrapped his arms from around her.
"You dirty liar," he said, shaking his head. "I did nothing to you those last two times."
"It worked," Birdie shrugged. "They're on their way to Ira."
"And I'm sure they will tell her all about how the Fey prince has been torturing her granddaughter," Wren rolled his eyes. "Crafty little lies."
"You're welcome."
"This is a mess," Wren muttered. "Take out the keys and take these cuffs off."
Birdie stood quietly.
"Where are the keys, little bird?" Wren asked.
"With the guard," Birdie smiled.
"You idiot."
"It was the best I could do!" Birdie defended herself. "I knew right away Azad wouldn't let me bring you with me in that dust storm so I took the cuffs as fast as I could because I had a feeling I would need them."
"You didn't have a feeling you might need the keys?"
"I...." Birdie took a deep breath. "No."
"Brilliant," Wren laughed with frustration. "What a brilliant angel you are."
"Thank you," Birdie smiled. "I think that's the nicest thing you have said to me since we met."
"What are we supposed to do with this?" Wren raised his hand and shook it along with Birdie's in the cuffs.
"Well, can't you take it off?" Birdie asked. "My magic is blocked but what about you?"
"Oh you sweet sweet sweet dumb angel," Wren pinched the bridge of his nose. "These cuffs can not be taken off with magic! They're supposed to keep criminals from escaping!"
"That's kind of smart," Birdie looked down at the cuffs. "Back on Earth we just use spells to detain people."
Wren did not reply. He stood motionless with his eyes shut and his hands pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration. Birdie stared at him as the flicker of the fire in the fireplace danced over his features. His black hair was glossy like liquid onyx and the firelight only made it glossier. If he wasn't so mad, Birdie would have been tempted to push his messy locks out of his forehead. They looked so smooth and soft. Wren didn't have curls like Adan. His hair would feel like strands of silk in Birdie's hand.
Suddenly, as Birdie caught the direction of her thoughts, she gasped silently and shook her head.
Her head began to pound in her chest as she looked away from Wren and turned to create distance between them. When she felt the sharp tug in her wrist she was reminded of their awkward situation.
"What are you doing?" Wren asked, staring at Birdie who had stepped away, causing his arm to rise.
"Sorry," Birdie muttered, not meeting his eyes.
"Move with caution."
"Okay," Birdie nodded.
"Did you just agree with me?"
Birdie did not reply. She stared at the fire, feeling her insides grown numb and tingle all at the same time.
Why did she just compare Wren to Adan? They were nothing alike. And why was this the first time she thought about Adan since she had landed in this awful crazy world?
Was Adan looking for her? Did he miss her? Did she miss him...
"Come this way," Wren tugged on the cuffs.
Birdie looked up and found the fey motion towards the worn out sofa by the fireplace. Her feet began to shuffle over the rugs as she followed him and sank down.
"I can't feel my feet," Wren let out a deep sigh and leaned his head back. "I am so tired. My bones are hurting."
Their handcuffed hands rested between the two on the sofa. Birdie did not dare move. She sat as still as a statue, just starting at the fire.
"How come you didn't tell me about your grandma?" Wren asked.
Birdie shrugged.
"It's kinda important, don't you think?" Wren asked.
Birdie nodded.
"So then why didn't you tell me?"
"Like you tell me everything?" Birdie muttered.
Wren's brows furrowed, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Birdie shook her head.
"You're suddenly very quiet."
"I'm tired too."
"Are you sure?"
"Am I sure that I am tired?"
"No," Wren clicked his tongue. "Are you sure that's all that's on your mind?"
"Why do you care what's on my mind?" Birdie's gaze flickered up with irritation.
"Because suddenly I trust you a little less than I did this morning."
"I don't really care," Birdie looked away again.
"Are you plotting my murder?"
"Possibly."
"What's with the long face?"
"Can't decide how I want to kill you."
"The best way to kill somebody is to blindside them," Wren said. "Strike when they least expect it."
"Stop talking, Wren."
"Seriously, what's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
"Hey! We're kind of stuck and we kind of don't trust one another. Pardon me for being paranoid that you are planning something dumb and stupid. I need to know what's going on in that head of yours."
"If we don't trust one another then why should I ever let you inside of my head?" Birdie shouted back. "You don't belong in my head."
Suddenly, Wren grinned.
"Then where do I belong?" He asked.
"Fuck off," Birdie scootered away.
For the next several minutes, no one said another word. They both sat staring at the fire and listening to the logs crackle. Birdie's chest rose and fell in a steady beat and pretty soon, Wren found his pulse climbing down to meet hers. He was too restless to sit still. Every part of him wanted to pace the floor until his eyes grew heavy with sleep. But something told him Birdie was not in the mood.
He stole glances at her from the corner of his eyes for many hours before her lashes began to flicker and she pulled her feet up. Leaning her head back, Birdie slowly lost the fight to her slumber and crashed. Wren watched the whole process until she was in deep sleep and her eyes began to move behind her closed lids.
"Great," he mumbled under his breath and leaned his head back.
Slowly, as the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the moon rose to take its place outside, the pair on the sofa was buried under the exhaustion from the day. In her sleep, Birdie felt her arm be pulled towards Wren as he shifted his position to get comfortable and stretch out his legs on the coffee table. She leaned against him and buried her face between his shoulder and the sofa to hide from the firelight and seek comfort in the darkness. Wren's woodsy scent of pine and cedar was oddly comforting and made Birdie suddenly long for the woods behind her home. She began to dream of the treehouse and running through the woods with Hayden and her baba.
She was so wrapped up in the cocoon of Wren's warmth and scent that when he moved away, it was like being thrown into ice cold water. Birdie's mind snapped out of her sleep state immediately as she tried to move forward and get comfortable once more. But as she searched, the spot beside her came up empty.
"Wren?" Birdie slowly began to open her eyes.
"Rise and shine, Sultana," Azad suddenly said.
Birdie jumped up. Her head began to pound from how quickly her heartbeat had escalated. She looked at Azad and then at the group of jinns standing before her.
"Wren!" Birdie shrieked as she spotted the fey down on his knees with his hands bound behind him and his mouth covered in tape.
When Birdie tried to leap towards him, Azad pulled her back and threw her down on the sofa. Her brass cuffs rattled with her broken handcuff as she scurried back up and looked at Wren.
Recognizing the familiar fear in her eyes, Wren began to struggle to get free from the hold the jinns had him under. He swore on everything he had ever known that if those fukcers dared to touch her, he would skin them alive. The girl was already traumatized by one asshole. She would lose her mind if she had to go through that again.
"Stay back!" Birdie yelled, rolling off the sofa and moving back as far as she could from the jinns. "Don't touch me!"
"Your grandma is waiting for you," Azad said.
"Let him go!" Birdie looked at Wren.
"No can do, Sultana," Azad shook his head.
"I said let him g-"
Birdie didn't get a chance to finish as Omar snuck up behind her and hit her over the head.
Wren watched the girl collapse on the floor seconds before they knocked him out as well.
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