“Move aside,” she said, finally meeting his eye. Her tone was not a question or request, but a command.
“Of course.” Florian dipped his head, obliging her at once.
She walked past him and straight to the bar.
Florian didn’t take his eyes off her. He didn’t know if he could, though he found himself a less obtrusive vantage point.
His fox waited impatiently, no anxiously, until the innkeeper came to her. “Please give me a room for the night,” she said, her tone intriguingly nervous.
Then, even more astonishingly, he granted her request immediately, sliding a key across the bar. She pocketed it at once and thanked him. Not a coin exchanged hands. Florian had stayed in this tavern for over a week now and had never seen that man miss a chance to collect on debts.
She skirted immediately towards the stairs, like a mouse scurrying for cover.
“That was a fascinating trick,” Florian said behind her just before she reached the first step.
Her back stiffened. She turned slowly to see him leaning against the wall, doing his level best to exude a casual air even as his blood sang with excitement.
“Why don’t you let me buy you that drink and you can tell me if everyone always does what you say?” Florian baited.
A touch of fear flashed in her eyes. Florian made sure to keep his smile friendly. He was gifted in reading faces, bodies. It was indeed one of the primary skills he offered the party. Though she was trying to mask it, Florian scented one of the most potent motivators about her: desperation. This woman was a mystery wrapped in an unspoken fear. He couldn’t help but wonder why. Where was the lordling she’d been with the other night? Who was she to him? And why in the realm was shehere?
Finally she nodded, and Florian led her to the bar. Her fingers searched for something to fidget with, settling to twine amongst themselves.
“Two more ales if you would be so kind,” Florian said as he leaned against the bar. Then, he turned back to her. She was assessing him tentatively. He allowed the silence to linger between them, studying her in kind. Seeing her closer, he realized her pert little nose was spotted with a spattering of freckles that were almost invisible in the lantern light. That and her eyes were swollen with the memory of tears not long past.
“What do you want?” she asked finally. Her voice was sharp as a knife in accusation. It caught him off guard.
“I want to know what you’re running from,” Florian answered honestly, “and what you’re looking for.”
She glanced over her shoulder, confirming his every suspicion. “This was a mistake,” she said, standing. “Don’t tell anyone that you saw me here.”
“Wait, please. I can help you.” He reached for her without thinking, but stilled before his fingers could even skim her cloak.
She stopped, but didn’t return to her seat, remaining tensed to bolt.
“I’m excellent at finding things, or people, or hiding them for that matter,” Florian said quietly, flooding his words with every ounce of sincerity he possessed. “No questions asked.”
Her eyes looked him over, considering his proposition.
“Who are you?” she said.
“Florian Crestwell, at your service,” he said with a flourish of his hand. Slowly, she sat back down at the bar. “And you are, my lady?”
“Yvette,” she said, sharing her name reluctantly, as if she was unsure what he would do with it once she handed it over.
“A pleasure to meet you, Yvette,” Florian said, pinning her with his most rakish gaze. Just saying her name sent an insane thrill down his spine, knowing she belonged to it.
Yvette looked back at him as if no one had ever come onto her before. There was such a cleverness in her eyes, and somehow such innocence. He had to know more…No questions.He was going to regret that promise.
“I’m looking for someone,” Yvette whispered, completely ignoring her ale.
“I see. I may require a name, though I have given my solemn promise not to ask.”
As she leaned in, Florian caught a whiff of a rich floral scent. It circled him entrancingly as he tried to keep his mind fixed on the matter at hand. “Keira, if she has another title, I do not know it.”
Fate was a curious mistress indeed, Florian thought with a smirk. “It seems you and I are united in common cause,” he whispered conspiratorially.
“I came here looking for her associates,” she said, urgency bleeding into her voice. “I heard whispers they were staying here.”
