“Cut the shit,minotaur!” the man barks. Rynthea’s brows knit together as her eyes flare. “Give us the sorcerer or we’ll destroy this whole fucking buildingandset it on fire!”
One of Rynthea’s eyes twitches as she glares at him. Then, oddly, almost eerily, a smile sweeps across her face.
“Okay.” She throws her hands in the air. “Fine. He’s not worth my business being destroyed. Let me go and get him.”
She wanders behind the counter again, past Penju, who is grimacing at the men, his spikes standing on end, appearing twice as lethal. When Rynthea disappears through the swinging door to the kitchen, I hear another door creak open in the distance.
Thane appears around the corner with his buffers splattered in blood. His sword, the blade dripping crimson, is in one of his hands. But the object in his other hand causes my breath to hitch.
It’s a man’s head.
And not justanyman.
The stranger in the gray cloak who’d, only moments ago, been sitting on the other side of the inn staring at Thane.
“I believe this is yours.” Thane chucks the man’s head at the masked men. It hits the ground with a sickening splat and rolls to a stop at the feet of their leader.
The leader takes a step back from the head and rapidly draws a sword.“Valkor,”he growls, raising the blade in the air. “We’ve been looking for you.”
“I can see that, jackass.” Thane locks his eyes on me. “Go out the back. Get to Pearl and ride to safety with Algar. I’ll find you.”
“Fuck that,” Algar counters while Zephra flies out the nearest window. “I’m not letting you fight alone.”
“He won’t be!” Rynthea’s voice cuts through the room as she storms out of the kitchen, slides over the counter, and lands on the other side with the long handle of a scythesword firmly in her hand.
With one solid swing, she takes the leader’s head off with the curved blade, then swings around and slices through another one of the men, separating him clear in half.
“Gods. Not again.” I back away as a stunned moment of silence stretches through the inn and blood pools on the floor.
“Get outta here, Torjack. And take the girl with you,” Rynthea orders, disrupting the quiet. That’s enough to send the room into an absolute riot.
Thane zooms past me, joining Rynthea in the slicing and butchering, while Algar throws himself into the brawl with a battle cry. His limp doesn’t hold him back from a damn thing. He’s good at killing—maybe not as talented as Thane and Rynthea, but he damn sure knows how to defend himself.
“Come with me!” Torjack presses a hand to my back and guides me toward the hallway.
As we pass, I spot Penju whipping out a dagger with a sneer. He jumps on the counter and plunges it into the top of a man’s head.
Torjack runs with me through the hallway and makes his way toward the back exit.
“Wait!” I call. “My bag! I need my things.” I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to come back for them, especially if the building ends up being set on fire. I have important items in there. Coins to get me through the rest of my travels. A map. Allergy elixirs in case the pollen becomes unbearable.
“Hurry!” Torjack orders.
I dash into the room I woke up in, throw the wardrobe doors open, and retrieve my rucksack and satchel. After I strap them to me, I turn to face Torjack. A sharp gasp escapes me when a masked stranger appears behind him.
This person isn’t dressed like the others in the main area, who wear simple black masks and buffers. This man’s buffers and mask are stitched with red. His hair is as black as ink and slicked back, his skin nearly as white as the snow in Velkana.
With a flick of his hand, the stranger suspends Torjack in the air and throws him into the wall.
“No!” I yell. “Torjack!”
“A friend of yours?” The man cocks his head as he looks me up and down. “You’re the noble one, I see.”
I back away as he inches closer.
With a twist of his hand, a cold, solid grip of power wraps around my throat, and I’m suspended in the air once again. He pins me to the nearest wall, choking and squeezing as I struggle against his magic, desperate for breath.
Darkness seeps in around the edges of my vision as the man watches me with blazing blue eyes. I don’t think I can take it anymore.
