I let the silence stretch, my heart thundering against my ribs as my panic swelled.Come on, greedy witch…
“Fine,” she snapped. “Healing potions for two lives in exchange for a thimble of your blood.”
Nell lowered her voice, stepping closer to me, and said, “I don’t think you understand. A blood sacrifice isdangerous.”
“I don’t care,” I told her, waving away her concern.
Holy-frickin’-mage, this had better work.
The dark mage grinned wide, and her elation made my skin prickle. Holding her hands into the air, she clapped twice, fast and sharp.
A stout hairy man with a hunchback shuffled into the room from the courtyard. “My lady?”
“Fetch two life potions from the dungeon.”
Dungeon? I scanned the silk tent, realizing how much bigger it was inside than it had appeared outside.
Magic.
The dark mage crouched and pulled boxes out from under the stone table, muttering to herself.
Nell sidled up next to me, her eyes brimming with tears. “Thank you.”
There was no way to tell her all I felt, so I just nodded and squeezed her hand.
“Come … sit here, child.” The mage motioned to a dusty couch at the back of the room that I was 99.5% certain hadn’t been there when we first walked in. With one last squeeze, I dropped Nell’s hand and walked over to the dubious piece of furniture. When my gaze landed on a jagged knife lying on the armrest next to a giant jar labeled “thimble,” I got woozy.
“What’s that?” Nell growled, pointing to the jar.
The mage turned, sneering. “This is my thimble.”
Nell frowned, and my stomach churned.
Not gonna lie; when the dark mage started cackling, doubt hit me like a pickup truck.
“It’s huge! That’s not fair,” Nell snapped.
The mage shrugged. “If you wanted something smaller, you should have stated so before the contract.”
Contract? What the what? When did I sign a contract? Were verbal contracts binding …oops.
Leaning in, she smelled the skin of my palm and then groaned, a guttural sound deep in her throat. “A virgin? I would have given you twenty vials of life potion had I known.”
Frick. How did she know I was a virgin? Seriously, mortifying and creepy! Also, I might not be so good at this whole dark mage negotiation thing.
I glanced nervously at Kaja. “Just hurry.”
The mage nodded and picked up the knife before she drew it across my wrist with one clean slice.
I hissed as the fresh wound seared across my skin. Holding the “thimble” under my wrist, the mage collected the dark crimson blood oozing in thin rivulets from my arm.
Mother Mage, protect me. The burning began to work its way up my arm, skittering over my shoulder and across the top of my back. Sweat broke out on my brow.
“Ahhh,” I hissed, and my cry became a roar as fire exploded from the base of my skull all the way down my neck. Damn. That was another mark! I knew that feeling by now.
Why did this keep happening, and what did these marks mean?
“Are you okay?” Nell’s voice warbled above me, and I blinked, trying to focus my now-blurry gaze. I glanced at the giant jar. Wait … it was halfway full a moment ago, but now it looked empty again.
