Nathan’s questioning look snapped me out of my contemplation. My gaze darted to his, surprise vanquishing whatever that was.
“A?” Nathan asked again.
Concern grew on his face when I still didn’t answer. Nathan’s gaze darted to the crowd, his eyes fierce as he searched for the reason behind my strangeness.
The Fae closest to us shuffled back, responding to the aggression pouring off him.
Knowing I needed to do something, I touched his arm. “It’s alright.”
“It’s not alright. I can feel you shaking,” he growled.
“It’s not them. It’s me. There’s something wrong with me,” I confessed, my chest shuddering with a repressed sob.
As much as the admission was torn from me, it felt good to get it out. Something inside of me had changed. I couldn’t deny that anymore. It had started with that speck of darkness I’d torn from Ahrun when I swallowed his madness. It now grew within me. Its flavor similar to that of my magic breaking power. Yet somehow different.
It scared me.
I didn’t know what I was becoming.
Nathan looked like he wanted to say something before he broke off with a shake of his head. “We can’t discuss this here. Too many listening ears.”
He was right. Several Fae were watching us a little too closely. Their interest made me uncomfortable. Like I was an animal on display at the zoo. There was no telling who owned their loyalty either. Anything I let slip would probably be whispered in someone else’s ear before I even made it across the room.
First rule of spooks—never let them see your weakness.
Nathan guided me through the crowd, making a point to stare down any Fae or spook who lingered just a second too long before giving way.
I made a mental note of their faces, knowing my friend was likely doing the same.
It might be they were just a little brash and arrogant, thinking it was a game to challenge an enforcer. Or they could think they were untouchable because someone powerful was behind them.
Either option needed to be dealt with.
If it was the first, Nathan would put the fear of death into them so they’d remember the next time that we weren’t to be fucked with. If it was the second, things could get complicated, but the end result was the same. A display of power that would frighten off anyone else who chose to come at us.
“Now that we’re here, how about you drop that guard of yours and let me know what we’re doing?” Nathan rumbled close to my ear. “Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
That earned a wry smile from me. “You never give up.”
“We wouldn’t be the best friends that we are if I did.”
“I still don’t remember agreeing to allowing you to use that title.”
Friends and colleagues were one thing. Best friends were another. They were your ride or die. The people you might fight with the most but who’d have your back at the end of the day.
Strange as it was, Nathan had come to fit that definition.
It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to give him a hard time for deciding on his own though.
“You’ll come around.” Nathan turned sideways as we squeezed between two of the gambling tables and the crowds stationed at both.
I caught a glimpse of tiny Fae on green felt engaged in a death match similar to the one in the pit below. One of them was a pixie. Their face painted with red and yellow. Nubs where their wings were supposed to be.
Off guard, I took a closer look, making sure it wasn’t one of the two pixies I knew.
It wasn’t. Thank God.
“I swear you and Liam are the exact same person sometimes,” Nathan grumbled to himself. “It wouldn’t kill you to let me in.”
