“Unless you like dining with ghosts, I guess.” Eli looked at his cart, eyes narrowing. “What are these? Fake love potions?”
“Fake?” Rey laid a hand on his chest. “I assure you, these are the genuine article.”
“Impossible,” Eli said. “No one can bottle love.”
“Spoken like someone who’s had his heart broken,” Rey said, slipping easily into the tone he used for difficult customers. Ittook a bit of magic, and maybe that was a little unfair, but all his magic did was draw attention, ensuring he had a chance to plead his case. He slunk around to block Eli’s way in the street, and Eli frowned at him. It was a risk, yes, but the best cons were always the trickiest. “Let me guess. It was a woman.”
“The only person I ever loved was my father,” Eli said. “Ask me who killed him.”
“Oh, now,” Rey said. “Familial love isn’t quite the same astruelove?—“
“His wife,” Eli said. “So much for true love.”
Well. That was emotional baggage Rey was not prepared for. He hurriedly changed tack. “Take a bottle on me, at least,” he said, fishing one out of his pocket and tossing it to Eli. The boy ducked, and the bottle landed a few yards shy of the road, rolling into the thick grass. “Ah.”
“No, thank you,” Eli said. “I don’t need love to complicate things.”
“One day, when you’re older,” Rey warned him, “you’ll appreciate the benefits that come with those complications.”
“Really?” Eli raised a brow. “And how many times have you fallen in love,Reynard?”
“Oh, dozens,” Rey said, and stopped, voice trailing off into silence. Eli stared at him, blue-green eyes cold, and Rey took a careful step back.
“Well,” he said, “You see, there’s an interesting story about that.”
He took off, bolting down the country lane. Boots thumped behind him as Eli thundered after him in pursuit, and Rey inwardly wept for the loss of Unicorn and his stylish clothes as he drew on the wellspring of his power.
The change happened instantly. One moment, he was a long-limbed redhead running full tilt for the woods. The next, he was tumbling about in the form of a red fox, tail whirling for balance.He scampered out of his shirt, but the collar got stuck on his hind leg. He shrieked in dismay as Eli stomped his foot down on the shirt, grabbed Rey from under the forelegs, and lifted him in the air.
“We weren’t done, Reynard,” Eli said, as the shirt fell limply to the ground.
“Yes, we were!” Rey whipped his tail about, paws scrabbling uselessly in the air. His voice, the same no matter what form he took, rang out unnaturally from the fox’s muzzle. “We were very much done! You don’t believe in love! I was wrong! Set me down!”
“I don’t think so,” Eli said. He lifted Rey a little higher. Around them, a new crowd was starting to gather, murmuring to each other and pointing to Rey’s discarded clothes. This was bad. This was worse than bad. Rey might have to avoid the border altogether after this.
“I’m sure you’re a reasonable man,” Rey said. “Let’s talk about this rationally, eh? If I gave you reason to track me down, I assure you that I was the victim in all of this. Whatever this is.” When Eli’s expression didn’t change, Rey sighed, gave up, and bit him.
Eli didn’t even flinch. Rey bit his arm again, blood pooling in his mouth, but all Eli did was tighten his grip.
“That man definitely turned into a fox,” a member of the crowd said, as Eli stared Rey right in the eyes. “Didn’t he?”
“Could be a witch, maybe,” another person said.
Oh damn. Oh damn, damn, damn. “Please,” Rey said, resorting to shameless wheedling. “I have children.”
Eli didn’t react to the obvious lie. “We’re going to have a conversation, you and I.”
“Right here?” Rey asked. “In the street? With everyone watching?”
“If you insist on running.” Blood was starting to pour down Eli’s arm and drip onto the road. “It’s about a sword, Reynard.”
“A sword?” Rey thought fast. He had been a sword-seller once, hadn’t he? “If it fell apart, I can always ask the forest mages who made it to replace the uh, the duel-winning charms.”
“Not that,” Eli said. “A different sword. Does the name Emeric de Valois mean anything to you?”
Rey went still. “De Valois? De Valois? I never heard of him before.”
“You literally said you had dinner with the family a minute ago.”
