Murder.
The list goes on.
I’m not quite sure what all he does, or that he’s even the right guy in black—I mean, a lot of people wear black—but he at least has to know how to fight and protect, otherwise all this gear he’s wearing is for nothing.
“You don’t talk much,do you?” A nervous laugh bubbles out of me as my gaze bounces to Bolivar, whose nostrils are flaring. His palms are planted on the countertop like he’s anticipating my throat getting slit at any moment. A glance around the pub reveals that all present—from beastials to humans to charmers to sorcerers—expect the same outcome.
Yep. I’m dead.
I shift, putting my back to our audience and lowering my voice so that only the man across from me can hear my words or see my face. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Look, the point is my sister got mixed up in a bad situation, and now she’s cursed. I need to travel to a place outside Meriva to get something that’s supposed to help her, but I won’t survive if I go alone. Now, I’m not sure what all you can do, but I know if I have someone who can protect me along the way, I might be able to make it. And if that person isn’t you, maybe you know someone who might be interested and can point me in their direction. I have to try for her—and I’ll give you all the coins I have.” I nudge the pouch closer to him. “I’m desperate at this point…so I’m begging you topleasehelp me. Or show me to someone who can.”
He doesn’t even bother looking at the pouch. His gaze burnsthroughme instead.
Then, before I can blink again, he lifts his other hand and flicks his wrist. Golden wisps burst from his fingertips, and something tight and warm wraps around me, hauling me out of the seat.
“Fuck off,” he grumbles.
Wow. The first two words I hear from him are “fuck off”? How insulting.
I gasp, staring down at my feet as they dangle inches above the wooden floorboards. My body moves, but not of my own accord. It takes a moment for everything to register, but it doesn’t stop my heart from racing or prevent the panic from crawling up my throat. I’m floating farther away from him, bound by an invisible force, and unable to free myself.
Oh my Orvena.
On top of being feared, he’s asorcerer,too? Even though I hate the way he’s magically manhandling me, I now feel even more compelled to get him to help me. Why? Because magic offers twice as much protection…though I’m not entirely sure he uses his with virtue, as Orvena instructed in her teachings.
Doesn’t matter. Maybe I’ve had too many drinks and am not thinking this through, but I still want his help. Magic is good. It’s an advantage that I need right now. I just need to reason with him.
That turns out being easier planned than done, though. The masked man isn’t returning me to my seat as I expected. Gasps fill the tavern as the patrons watch me struggle against my invisible bonds, and it’s only now I realize he’s sending me floating toward theexit.
Oh crap.
Chapter 4
“Wait!” I yell as he guides me closer to the door. I breathe faster, my heart pounding dangerously hard now. My panic has heightened tenfold. I try moving my arms or breaking free, but he has me completely bound. I can’t move—can’t even wiggle out of his grasp.
Oh gods.
“Just let her go, Thane.” Bolivar steps out from behind the counter, squaring his shoulders. “She’s already had a rough day.”
I look from the giant to the stranger and stop struggling against his magical grip. Bolivar knows him? My panic subsides long enough for me to take a deep breath. I lift my chin, trying to look confident—well, as confident as one can be when dangling helplessly above the ground.
“Yeah,Thane.” More likebaneof my existence. “Let me go. Now.”
The door flies open, and the handle slams into the stone wall. I peer over my shoulder at the slick cobblestone street and the canal that splits the Commons in two. A screech builds in my throat.
Bane of My Existence doesn’t let me go. Not until I’m completely outside and several feet away from the door. His hot grip vanishes as he plops me on the ground, causing me to land square on my ass.
“Ow! What the shadows is wrong with you?!” I yell, just as the door of the tavern swings shut. The smug satisfaction in Thane’s eyes is the last thing I see. “Oh no he fuckingdidn’t.”
I haul myself up, push my spectacles back in place, and storm back to the tavern, shoving the door open.
As if Bolivar was expecting my furious return, he stops me with a solid hand to the chest before I can even get two feet in the door.
“Do not go back over there. Do you hear me, Z?”
I maneuver around him and stomp toward Thane’s table regardless of Bolivar’s warning. Thane doesn’t pay me any mind as he wipes the blade of a dagger on the hem of his cloak with an air of boredom.
“Whoa, Zaira. Come on,” Bolivar whisper-hisses as he follows me. “You don’t want to get into it with this one, okay? I’ve seen what he can do, and believe me, that son of a bitchwillkill you.” He catches me by the elbow to stop me again.
