“Because you believe I’ll tell someone.”
She flattened her lips and gave him a knowing look. “Everyone has a price.”
“No’ me.”
“I owe you a debt for slowing the men. I’ll find a way to repay you, but you need to go.”
Cullen stood his ground. “You can repay me by telling me what happened.”
“If you wait, you’ll encounter the soldiers again. I won’t come out to help you this time. Neither will Jenefer.”
Was it her imagination, or did he smile?
“Then you better hurry and tell me,” he pressed.
Tamlyn rolled her eyes in irritation. Cullen seemed like a man she could trust, but it could be a ruse. Yet, she didn’t think so. He would’ve had to know exactly where she would head, and she had been very careful. No one knew about their sanctuary.
Well, no one but him now.
If he were with the army from Stonemore, nothing she told him would be news. It wasn’t as if she would lower her guard and allow him close. That might be something a spy from Stonemore would try, but as she’d already told Cullen, they would move. It didn’t matter that he knew where she was now or what her story was.
“I saved the boy from death.”
Cullen’s brows drew together. “How?”
“He was to be sacrificed.”
Righteous anger clouded his pale brown eyes. “Why would anyone want to kill a child?”
“He has magic.”
Cullen shrugged. “So?”
Now it was her turn to frown. Only those with magic were nonchalant about the mention of it. Even then, many who had magic pretended they didn’t. There wasn’t a person on the realm who didn’t know why a human with magic was a problem.
She took a step back and thought about the fog that had suddenly rolled in as she ran from the soldiers. Cullen had appeared within the fog. Maybe she’d been too quick to open up. “Who are you?”
“I told you.”
Tamlyn shook her head and took another step back. “Everyone knows why magic is an issue. You don’t. Why?”
“You doona have to be frightened of me.”
“I’m not so certain.”
His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. “I’m new to the realm.”
That drew her up short. “New? How?”
“It’s…a long story.”
“Only infants arrive here. Not adults.”
His lips flattened. “As I said, it’s a long story.”
“One I want to hear.”
“Finish yours first. Why would anyone want to sacrifice a child?”
She put her hand to her forehead and shook her head. Was it possible that he didn’t know? He could’ve come up with another story if he lied. Only an idiot would claim ignorance—unless he really didn’t know.
“Tamlyn. Please,” he asked softly.
She dropped her arm to her side. “The humans on this realm are in two groups. Those with magic, and those without. Those without have persecuted and hunted those with any type of ability almost from day one. When the infants are found, no one can tell if they have magic or not. It’s up to those who take the child in to tell their leaders. Once they’re notified, the children are imprisoned and killed. These people discovered that if you kill those with magic early on, few can stand against you later on.”
“Bloody hell,” Cullen said as he ran a hand down his face. He shook his head, his gaze on the ground. “These children have no idea they are no’ supposed to use magic.”
“No.”
“And when they do, it seals their Fate.”
“Yes.”
Cullen lifted his head and looked at her. “These people must be stopped.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, but there are too many of them.”
“How do you learn when a child will be killed? Do you have a source in the city?”
Tamlyn swallowed nervously. “Not exactly.”
“Tell me. I’m no’ your enemy.”
For some reason, her lips parted, and the words fell from her mouth without hesitation. “I’m a Banshee. I hear the screams of the children about to die.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “What of the other cities?”
“I don’t know how everything works.”
“But there’s a possibility other children are being killed?”
She nodded, her gut twisting as it did each time she thought about this. “Those without magic are terrified of us.”
“Why? Have you attacked them?”
“I’m sure some have. But for years, all we’ve tried to do is stay alive. They don’t just kill the children. If they find one of us, they kill us.”
His brow furrowed deeply. “How do they know they’re killing someone with magic?”
“I don’t think they care. If there’s even a hint of it spoken about someone, they take action.”
“It’s like the witch trials,” Cullen mumbled as he paced.
Tamlyn wanted to ask what the witch trials were, but she decided to wait. “Those with magic hide. It’s our only option.”
“Perilously close to dragon land,” he pointed out.
She twisted her lips. The entrance was close to the barrier, but a large part of the underground city was beneath the dragons’ land. She would rather have them to worry about than her kind. The dragons hadn’t hunted her. Not that she wanted to test that theory.
“I told you that you shouldn’t get involved.”
He halted and looked at her. “I wouldna be able to look at myself in a mirror if I didna do something.”
“What can you possibly do?”
His lips tilted in a cocky smile. “More than you know.”
“You have magic?”
“Aye.”
“What kind?”
“You saw some of it,” he told her. “The fog.”
Her eyes widened. “Tell me how you came to be on this realm. And is there a way for me and my friends to leave it?”
“You wouldna be hunted in my world for having magic, but I doona think my world would be better.”
“That’s because you haven’t lived here your entire life,” she snapped.
“True.”
She briefly closed her eyes, hating when she lost her temper.
“Are there other Banshees?” Cullen asked.
Tamlyn nodded. “A Banshee found me. That’s how I learned what I was. She hid me and ran after a couple of days because men were on her trail. I’ve not seen her since.”
“Are you telling me that you were one of those children about to be sacrificed?” he asked after going very still.
“Yes,” she replied softly.
They stared at each other for several seconds in silence. Then she asked, “Why are you on this realm?”
“I’m helping my friends, who have been attacked by an unknown foe.”
“And you got here how?”
He hesitated as if he didn’t want to tell her. “A doorway.”
His answer floored her. “What kind of magic was used?”
“Fae.”
“Fae?” she asked in shock. “That can’t be. The Fae are a myth.”