Given the fact that I was all but hogtied on the floor beside her, I held my silence, instead inspecting the landscape of bruises marring Alicia’s face.
Although her nose was now straight, the site had swollen considerably, and beneath her eyes, half-moon circles of deep purple werejustbeginning to peek through the delicate skin. In a day or two, those bruises would be a spectacular testament to the violence needed to capture the Eloran scientist I’d corrupted with my touch. Bruises that spoke of both a defiant spiritandcloaked her beauty from the casual observer—a blessing considering where we were headed.
Groaning, I shifted. Searching for a comfortable position, despite the fact that my arms had gone numb and my shoulders ached from hours frozen in the same unnatural position. The sun now hung low on the horizon, but I’d been senseless as the lush, ki-fed greenery of my home had melted away. Replaced by a city blackened by war—and I recognized none of it.
Alicia scooted closer, pretty green eyes darting over the shattered landscape. And, pressing her lips to my ear, she whispered, “Looks like the outer reaches of Liyas. Won’t be long now, lass. The auction house is—” she cleared her throat, squeezing bruised eyes shut. “It’s going to be okay. This auction house supplies wealthy merchants, for the most part. But it’s too far out for the soldiers on the front lines t’bother with. We’ll have a few moments to speak freely when we get there.”
But what—orwho—would be waiting for us when we did? I took a breath, then plucked at the parasite buried in my chest.
Nothing.
No hint of wild, Elite ki. And if I couldn’t sense him, surely it went both ways? Surely Jasper’s moronic betrayal scheme had achanceto keep me free of the captain’s clutches?
“It’s dirty Glaith,” Alicia whispered, forcing my head forward to inspect the collar wrapped around my throat. She tapped the stone affixed to the back of my neck. “Iron mixed with Glaith. Don’t know what the Empire calls it, but we call it Raith, on account of what it does to the Triloth who touch it. Turns ‘em into glassy-eyed ghosts, too weak to draw breath. We don’t use it, as the Triloth canna tolerate the effects long enough to determine if that filth has any purpose beyond a cruel restraint. But seein’ as you’renot… one of the Triloth… I have a theory—”
“Oy!” the fool shouted, pounding on the partition separating us from them. “Shut it, back there! I can hear you sluts whispering!”
“Bastard,” she hissed, scowling at the back of his head.
But the coach was slowing, coming to a stop behind a battered brick building. Most of the windows were either broken or boarded up, the walls charred by fire. Regardless, the sounds of merriment spilled forth, hinting at a gathering of a great many people.
The auction house.
“Jasper!” a man called from a hastily constructed booth. “Good to see you, mate. What’ve you got for me today?”
“Only the best for your fine establishment, Caleb,” Jasper said, deboarding the coach before it had come to a complete stop.
Caleb scratched the back of his head, leaning on an ornate walking cane as his eyes flicked over Alicia’s bruises, and passed over me entirely. “Uh, well I wasn’t expecting you for another fortnight. I’ll… uh… I’ll have to check the register to see if we’ve got time to fit these two in.”
“A full roster, you say? That’s unfortunate.”
The fool joined Jasper, heaving a great, theatrical sigh. “I guess we’ll have to move on…”
Jasper huffed then reached into his cloak, withdrawing a small sack. “Unfortunate indeed. And here we were, ready to make it worth your time for the late registration…” He bounced the sack, making it jingle.
Caleb’s eyes gleamed. “You know, I seem to recall there being an opening toward the end of the auction,” he said, reaching for the bribe. “And if you hurry, you can fill it right now. Wallace isn’t aging well, you see. He makes mistakes with the roster all the time.”
Jasper dropped the sack in Caleb’s outstretched hand, grinning. “Good man! Through the back as usual?”
“Of course. If you’ll give me a moment to inspect the wares. This auction house has a reputation to uphold. Can’t be selling sub-par product—” he choked, face turning a blotchy red. “The fuck am I looking at?! Where did you find this… thiscreature?”
“Ah, yes.” Jasper cleared his throat with a grimace. “This is the Wood’s Menace who’s been plaguing me and mine these last years. She smells like a dumpster and looks like a goblin, so we’ve decided to name her Hob. I’ll be selling Hob more as an… oddity, in the unlikely event that there’s a buyer among your fine patrons.”
“Thisis the Wood’s Menace? Ha! Hardly the six-foot monster wielding a battle axe, Jasper! She’s just a little thing.”
“Perhaps not,” Jasper replied, cheeks pink. “But she’s a powerful wood spirit. Took expensive talismans blessed with the serpent to bring her down.”
The fool rapped his knuckles on the bars. “Say hello, Hob.”
When I did nothing but glare, Jasper collected Caleb’s ornate cane with a polite nod, then jabbed it through the bars, landing a strike in the center of my bruised or broken ribs.
I gasped, grimaced in pain, teeth flashing.
Caleb’s head snapped back. “Bloody hellfire! You’re not joking! Look at those teeth!”
“Yes,” the fool said, holding up the arm I’d bitten, showing off the puncture marks I’d left peppering his skin. “And if you’d like to keep all of your digits, I wouldn’t touch her.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you sellthathere,” Caleb said, scratching at the back of his head. “She’s hardly what the patrons will expect—”
