“Shall we?” The dwarf tossed the artifact into a rucksack. As it plopped inside, I swore a sword glinted beneath the swirling matter. Blood flowed like wine. Red-slitted eyes fumed.
“Why do they call it that?” I wiped my brow on my dirt-crusted sleeve. “Pearl of Truth?”
“Reveals te truth,” he stated flatly, the tip of his beard twirling around him, flapping in the wind like the sail of a ship.
“Obviously,” I said with a saccharine smile. “In what sense? Past? Present? Future?”
“Te outcome of whatever path yer on.” He thumbed his sheath. “Any more questions?”
I got the feeling no more were allowed, but I asked anyway. “Who’s the client?”
“That’s confidential. Stalker business only.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” I gritted out, showing off the butterfly on my wrist, “I’m one of you now.”
Red bloomed on his light fawn cheeks, the tip of his nose, the tops of his ears. “Fine,” he spat, before turning on his heels. “Te Wizard.”
Suspicion lit like kindling.
“What would he want with it?” I needled, trailing his footsteps over the rocky shelf.
“Knowin’ te future is power. Maybe he doesn’t want it fallin’ into te wrong hands.”
“The king of an organized crime group is the right hands?”
“Tere not te worst ones.”
“Whose would those be?”
In a flash of silky hair and midnight shadow, he spun and shoved a dagger into the small space beneath my chin.
“Lots of questions.” He drew upward, pushing the sharp tip into my skin. “Did someone mess wit somethin’ they weren’t s’posed to?”
“No.” My lips hardly parted, afraid the movement might force the blade further into my flesh. Nemuik pressed in. “Ok—yes,” I choked out.
Cold night air filled the space between us as he withdrew his blade and stepped back.
I wiped my neck. A tiny bit of blood smeared my hands. “Are you joking?”
“What did ye see?” he pressed.
My jaw fell open. “You cut me!”
“’Twas jus’ a pinprick.” He waved it off like it was no big deal.
“Ugh.” Hands balling into fists, I let out a huff, too amped up to hold it in, too angry to stop and think about what I was saying. “I saw death. War. Beings being wrangled and rounded up. And then there was me, at the center of it all.”
The tide roared, slamming into the cliffs. My heart pounded just as loud.
Elbow resting on his knee, Nemuik stared out at the horizon. “Tere’s a storm brewin’.”
Despite the unruly surf dancing in his dark eyes, I had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the weather.
My knees buckled, fighting to sit and rest. “It truly was hell on earth.” Just like Finis promised. “I wish I hadn’t seen that.”
Nemuik sighed. “That’s te downside of soothsayin’. S’possible te know too much.”
“I mean, how do I just go on with my life knowing all this?” Acid burned in my chest. I’d never felt so helpless. “And that there’s nothing I can do to stop it?”
