“And what makes you think I want to listen to you?” Fire crackled around her balled fists, singeing the bar. “I’m much stronger than when you last met me. I could—”
“Spare me.” Fallor waved a hand through the air, as though he could wave away her words like a bad smell. “If you so much as make one move against me, your father dies.”
“What?” Vi whispered. The spark stilled, iced over with horror.
“Adela is thepirate queen—do you think she rules by being everywhere at once?” Vi stayed silent, allowing him to continue in whatever way he wanted. “No, she delegates, as any good ruler would. As I’m sure you would understand.”
“Get to your point,” Vi ground out through clenched teeth.
“I know you’re not threatening me, are you?” Fallor looked to Charlie. Charlie leaned against the bar, fumbling with a large hoop earring in his ear. “Because, you see, Charlie here has an imprinted token of Adela’s.”
Vi’s hand went to her watch at the mention of an imprinted token. She knew what that was. It was what had started it all—it was the same as her watch. Though Vi had never seen one made, she knew they could be used to communicate over any distance.
“He’s not the only one.” Fallor’s grin grew wider, verging on the point of mad arrogance. “Each one of my crew has a token. If Charlie so much as thinks you’ll use one bit of magic, he’ll activate it. If he, or I, don’t return in due time, the rest of my crew will activate theirs.”
Each one of his words was like a hook to her flesh—digging in, pulling, peeling, exposing her. They had so quickly put together a plan… none of them had thought for one moment Fallor would have a better one to counter with.
“So, not one more word. Not one bit of fuss for my colleague here,” Fallor commanded as Charlie slowly collected his cards. “You’re going to come calmly onto my vessel, or your father dies. Do you understand?”
Vi bit the insides of her cheeks. She wanted to screamjuthat him until her voice was hoarse. She wanted to burn the whole brewery down to ash, them inside. She wanted to sever head from spine with the blade of her scythe.
Maybe Fallor was lying. Maybe she could kill Charlie fast enough that he couldn’t get to Adela. But could she kill Fallor before he flew away? Could she, Taavin and Arwin take him down in the middle of Toris—a town where the majority of the population would stand for Fallor? And even if they could, how long until the pirates aboard Fallor’s ship would raise an alarm?
These were risks Vi couldn’t take—not with her father’s life on the line.
All she could do was nod.
“Good.” Fallor pushed away from the bar, starting for the back door. “Now, remember Vi, your father’s life depends on what you do next.”
More than you know.Because while Fallor had out-planned them, he had also overplayed his hand. Vi knew what she was dealing with. And most importantly, Fallor had just confirmedher father was alive. He was too valuable a bargaining chip for Adela to let him die without gaining something for it.
All Vi had to do now was get out of this.
Chapter Twenty
“Come on, pet.”Charlie grabbed her wrist and tugged. He was stronger than he looked,muchstronger, and if Vi didn’t go along she risked having her shoulder popped from its socket.
The moment they were out of the bar he turned, starting for the port. Vi’s eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Taavin or Arwin, but she found neither. The sun was already setting, casting the world in a bloody glow.
“Let’s get to the boat before dark. They say pirates are in this town… we wouldn’t want anything happening to you, now would we?” Charlie gave a laugh at his own joke, carrying on for everyone to hear, knowing full well that even if someone knew what was happening, no one would dare stop one of Adela’s men. “The path is narrow. Don’t try anything funny or you may fall off.”
Charlie pushed her ahead along the narrow way that wound along the cliff-side just above the docks. Vi glanced back over her shoulder. Where were Taavin and Arwin? By now, they were supposed to be following her in some form or fashion, ready to strike against Fallor when the moment presented itself. But if they did so in a way his crew on the ship could see… her father would be dead. Unless Adela was playing games about that, too.
Vi’s hands balled into fists, her nails leaving crescent moons in her palms. She hated this game of cat and mouse. She scanned the skies until she found a large bird soaring on the updrafts off the cliffs. She couldn’t make out its color, but Vi would bet it was ruddy. Fallor was flying high enough to stay in sight of the boat on the other side of the cliffs.
They had barely crested the top of the cliffs. Vi knew from Arwin’s reports that there was a switchback on the other side of the ridge, leading down to a narrow beach. There, a boat was anchored not too far off—a rowboat used to transport men to and from the beach. Vi scanned the plateau; she couldn’t see the vessel, which meant they couldn’t see her—she hoped.
Vi intentionally tripped herself.
She caught the toe of one boot on the heel of the other. Her hand raked against the rough wall for support, but she prevented her fingers from catching. Vi allowed herself to fall hard, knee splitting underneath her clothes.
“Get up.” The man took a wide step around her, hand on his earring. “Get up or—”
“I tripped.” Vi looked up at him, pushing herself onto her elbows. “I tripped, that’s all. I’m coming, I promise.” She leaned back onto her heels, rubbing her palms on her pants, trying to stall for every second she could. “Shite… I scraped my knee.” Vi made a show of inspecting the bloody spot on her clothes.
“I don’t give a rat’s arse about your knee. Get up or it’s your dear old father who’s getting his blood spilled.”
Vi put her palms on the ground, tucking her head and trying to sneak a look over her shoulder. Fallor was flying lower—no doubt coming to inspect the disruption. Vi took a slow breath.
