A growl rumbled deep in his throat once the hellkin and pantheri were out of sight. “We should go.”
“We can’t just leave Cali,” Lira protested.
“I’m with Lira.” Sass crossed her arms over her chest. “We have to get her away from that she-demon.” She tipped her head to Vaskel. “No offense, Vask.”
“None taken. Marina is the worst kind of infernal creature, but the best way we can help Cali is to work on ridding Wayside of her entirely.”
Lira and Sass exchanged a wary look then Sass sighed. “He’s right. There was no talking to Thrain while he was under Marina’s spell, and I suspect it will be the same with Cali.”
Lira released a begrudging sigh. “She seemed unusually attentive to Marina.”
Vaskel grunted. “That’s her talent, and the more she sees that her affections are causing distress to others, the more she tightens her hold.”
Sass muttered some dark curses that even Vaskel had never heard, then she held up the long black hairs clutched in one fist. “At least I got the hairs for the potion. I suppose we should focus on that.”
“And I’ll focus on creating a recipe punchy enough to hide the flavor,” Lira said with a determined nod as she headed across the courtyard and away from the castle.
Once they’d walked under the rusty portcullis, Vaskel craned his neck to look back at the ancient stone fortress. “At least Marina is distracted by trying to charm my friends.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Sass asked, huffing as she took two steps for every one of his as they continued down the wooded road toward the stone bridge.
Vaskel slowed his pace as they crossed the icy bridge. “It is when you consider it could be much worse.”
Lira cast him a sidelong glance. “You mean…?”
“I mean that we’d be in much deeper trouble if she knew what was being held in the dungeons.”
Even Sass’s brown skin paled a shade or two as they all exchanged knowing looks. A dark mage was the last thing you wanted teamed up with a hellkin.
They walked past the wooden wagon where Rog and Rosie lived, and Sass snuck a glance behind them, as if Marina might hear them. “You’re sure she doesn’t know?”
Vaskel had considered this, but if Marina was busying herself with targeting his friends, she wasn’t aware of the much more powerful weapon locked up in an iron cell. “If she did, shewouldn’t bother with Thrain or Cali. If she knew the dark magic she could access, I doubt she’d even bother with me.”
“That’s both a comforting and terrifying thought,” mumbled Lira as they approached the Tusk & Tail, the wooden sign swinging gently over the door.
Vaskel pushed it open, held it for his friends, and then followed them inside the warm great room, which was blessedly still standing.
“There you are!” A resounding belch followed the booming voice.
Vaskel spotted the top of Thrain’s head behind the bar with a bottle of Rosie’s brandy in each hand.
“Thrain?” Sass crossed the room quickly, snatched him by one ear and dragged him from behind the bar.
“Hells and cinders, woman!”
“What are you doing?” She asked when she finally released his ear. “It’s barely noon and you’re already drinking?”
Vaskel suspected he was drinking his woes away if Marina had thrown him over for Cali.
“’S nothing,” the dwarf slurred. “Just some liquid courage.”
“Before lunch?” Sass pressed, tapping one toe viciously on the wooden floor.
“Before I go fight for Marina.” Train thrust out his barrel chest. “Before I challenge Cali to a duel.”
Lira put a hand over her eyes and groaned. “Sweet, simmering cauldrons.”
Thirty-Four
