“Nothing,” she said, the grin breaking free. “I thought the famous trader would have picked a more secretive name.”
Lips twitching, he asked, “Did you bring this up just to make fun of me?”
Lora smiled innocently. “Maybe.”
The grin on his face sprang free. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’resmiling.I win.”
Hewassmiling. Damn.
Lora snapped another picture; she was on the last page. “Did you find Damir’s name?” Eyden asked.
“No, he’s not listed.” Why would they leave out a name? “This is Ilario’s Damir, right?” Lora asked.
“You remember?”
Lora nodded.
“I don’t think we should mention this to him until we know what it means.” Damir couldn’t still be alive after three years. He didn’t want to get Ilario’s hopes up just to crush him completely later.
As he watched Lora with her phone device, something else occurred to him. “If you have your phone, why didn’t you contact your family?” Eyden asked. Was it part of the contract?
Lora closed the book before answering. “I don’t have a WiFi cube.” The spark in her eyes extinguished.
“That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
Putting the spell book back in place, he joined Lora. “Why Marcel keeps sending me threatening letters.”
A mix of joy and anguish flashed behind her eyes. “He does?”
“I told him you’re fine, but he won’t believe me. I wanted to ask you about it, but you almost bit my head off when I brought up the topic.” Strands of dark-blonde hair fell into her face as she tilted her head. “I also got one hell of a letter from your friend Maja.”
“What did it say?”
“Something along the lines of she’d castrate me, hack me into pieces, and feed me to the wolves if anything happened to you. She has quite the imagination.”
Lora laughed, but he didn’t fail to notice the tear in her eye. “Yeah, she does. What did you tell them?”
Eyden sighed. “That you’re okay and will reach out soon, butsoonhas kind of come and gone.”
Lora chewed on her lip before meeting his gaze. “If I write a letter, can you give it to them?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“Anything?” Lora’s lip curved upward. “Careful what you’re getting yourself into, Mister Kellen/Kelstrel.”
Eyden crossed the distance between them, stopping right in front of her. “Try me.” His eyes searched hers before drifting to her parted lips.
Footsteps almost made him jump out of his skin.
Fuck, fuck,fuck.
Someone was coming. Eyden tilted his head to the notebook still laying open. Lora sprang into action, putting everything back in its place. Eyden quickly removed a different crystal from his pocket and pressed it to the witch’s forehead. It would make her forget about the last half hour or so, according to Farren’s calculation.
A creaking sound alerted them that the door was opening. Standing up, Eyden surveyed the room quickly. There was nowhere to hide. He grabbed Lora’s hand and dragged her to the curtain, pulling it back into place. He flattened himself in the corner where the curtain met the stone wall. Lora’s shoulder brushed his, her breathing shallow.
