13 Secrets by Michelle Harrison Page B

fairies’ retreating backs. “I’ll ask her, all right.”
    “What are you going to do?” Fabian said, his voice dismal. “If you come to the meeting, Gredin will know and he’ll punish you.”
    “It’s not worth it,” Rowan said softly. “I’ll go to see Tino alone. You two can wait for me in the smaller tents—there’s plenty to keep you amused. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
    “No,” said Tanya.
    “You heard what he said,” Rowan argued, exasperated. “You can’t come—”
    “I know that,” said Tanya. “I’m not prepared to risk something happening to Oberon. But there’s nothing to stop Fabian from coming with you.”
    “What? I told you, I’m going alone. There’s no need for you two to be there, or to be involved at all.”
    “There is,” said Fabian, fiercely. “Tino’s not going to let me and Tanya just walk away, knowing what we know, is he? He knows that if we’re involved, then it incriminates us and means we’re less likely to talk. But if you insist on going alone, he’ll think of a way to get to us, to make sure we don’t talk.”
    Rowan glared at the pair of them. “You should never have followed me. I knew what I was doing, and now you’ve messed everything up.”
    Fabian glared back. “You might be glad to have us by the time Tino’s finished with you.”
    “Look, just let me go alone so I can—”
    “So you can lie and keep us out of what’s going on?” Tanya cut in. “Not a chance. From what Tino said last night, we’re all involved now. If you don’t let Fabian go with you, I’ll tell everyone at the manor what you’re involved in myself.” She ignored Rowan’s scowl and focused on Fabian. “Be sure to get all the details. Gredin might have forbidden me to go to the meeting, but he didn’t forbid me from hearing about it.” She jerked her head to the smaller tents. “I’ll be in one of those.”
    She strode away from them, regret and anger pricking at her like spiteful pins. She could feel their eyes on her still as she approached the fortune-telling tent. Intending to duck inside to kill a few minutes, her bad temper deepened upon seeing that a long line had formed outside. With a sigh she continued past, but as she did, raised voices from inside stopped her.
    “All I see is that the brooch never left your house.” It was a young, female voice, and one that was familiar. “It’s there still—it’s being hidden.”
    “What are you suggesting?” The second voice was an older woman. She sounded flustered.
    “That you need to look closer to home to find the thief,” the younger girl said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, the psychic strain has left me feeling faint. I must go and lie down at once.”
    The whispering line hushed as the curtains were thrown back. With one hand pressed to her templeand the other fanning herself, Suki theatrically swept out of the tent. Tanya, along with everyone else, stared after her.
Suki
was the fortune teller!
    She was dressed rather differently from the previous evening, in an elaborately jeweled green gown that trailed after her. Her short blond hair was tousled and adorned with a flower garland that tumbled down her back. Her feet, padding nimbly away, were dirty and bare. She looked eerie and slightly crazy.
    “Just a minute, young lady!”
    Tanya’s head snapped back to the disgruntled, red-faced woman who emerged from the tent.
    “You can’t just leave it there. That brooch is my inheritance—” The woman stopped abruptly, realizing she now had an audience, and that she was its sole focus. Suki was gone. A few seconds of craning her neck and one undignified huff later, the woman stalked away. As the line resumed its whispering over the exchange, Tanya watched a thin, surly-looking man come over to the tent and turn the wooden sign around. FORTUNE TELLING CLOSED , it said. BACK LATER .
    As the crowd finally dispersed, Tanya stared at the sign. Tonight she had seen a different side of Suki. Her