“Does it matter?” Chandra asked.
“Yes, it does,” Silva said. “The protection will vary in power depending on who it is for, as will the price.”
“The price isn’t a concern. Give me the strongest talisman you have.”
Silva’s brows shot up. “The strongest, huh…very well.”
He retreated to the back of his tent and literally vanished into shadow.
I stared at the orange fabric, clearly visible through the shadow that Silva had just vanished into. “What the fuck? Where did he go?”
“It’s all right. Silva is a rare kind of tantrik able to create small pockets of reality hidden outside of time. He keeps his most valuable items in a pocket space that only he has access to.”
The way he said that was as if it was the most mundane thing ever. And to him, the Asura who could teleport, it probably was.
“How do you know him?”
“He was a survivor of a purge that happened a long time ago.”
“A purge?”
His tone dropped in volume. “There was a rebellion once. The Asura quashed it. Many were executed.”
Erabi had mentioned a rebellion too. Her parents had been executed for their part in it. “You saved him, just like you saved Erabi, didn’t you?”
He looked down at me in surprise. “She told you?”
“Yeah…she did.”
His throat bobbed, and he looked away. “I wish I could have saved more…”
Silva materialized from the shadows carrying a wooden box. “Here.” He handed the box to Chandra. “It’s the strongest I have at the moment.” His gaze flicked to me once again. “It will work best if it’s worn all the time.”
Okay, so he’d obviously surmised that the talisman was for me.
Chandra pulled a pouch of coins from his pocket and handed it to Silva. “Thank you.”
“And thank you for your business.” Silva pocketed the pouch then met my gaze and dropped me a bow. “Until we meet again.”
Chandra placed his hand on the small of my back, ushering me out of the tent and back into the night.
“He knows who I am.”
“Yes. But we do not use names. Not here. Not when there could be eyes and ears about.”
“Spies?”
“There arealwaysspies,” Chandra said. “Come, let’s get to the rise, and I can shift us home.”
We were halfway across the bridge, two stocky men coming toward us going in the opposite direction, when I registered the prickling across my scalp. The men picked up speed toward us, and alarm bells went off inside me.
Chandra grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. My stomach dipped, signaling a shift. But it never came. Instead, a metallic scent filled the air and stung my nose.
The men broke into a sprint toward us, silver flashing in their hands.
Chandra shoved me behind him. “Get back to Silva now!”
I stumbled, scrambled to stay upright, and ran back the way we’d come.
