She froze mid-step.
“And it’s strange,” I continued, stopping beside her to cross my arms and tap my chin. “I don’t know how I know this, maybe I have a Gift—but I feel fairly certain you don’t have any coin to pay for it.” I let my eyes drift to her clothing, ripped along the collar and by her feet, as if someone had hacked at it with shears, and dirty from sleeping on the ground at least once.
The men had grown silent behind me. Probably trying to fade into the background as Arie’s glare burned up all the air in the space between us.
She took one menacing step toward me.
I stayed planted in the middle of the road.
“I don’twantthe lamp.” She took a step toward me, and another. “I don’tneedthe lamp, and I havenoplans to pick it up, so why should I worry about paying for it?”
She stopped in front of me, less than a foot of space between us, hands on her hips.
“I hate to break it to you, but creditors aren’t going to see it that way.” I shrugged, whistling a tuneless song as I stepped around her now, gesturing for the others to follow. “As far as they’re concerned, your bid means you bought it. No excuses, no changing your mind.”
Over my shoulder, I spoke up in case she was too stubborn to follow just yet. “Illium, what do the creditors do to people who can’t pay their debts?”
“Well, sometimes they’ll enslave them,” Illium answered in his deep voice, as serious and dour as ever. “Other times, they’ll put them in a cell or cut off a hand.” He shrugged. “Depends on the size of the debt, really.”
I let that sink in for a moment, before I turned back to face Arie, where she still stood in the middle of the street. “I suppose you could try to go into hiding. But I can’t guarantee that’ll be very effective.”
Ryo caught on to my tricks and backed me up. “Oh, they always find you.” He shook his head. “It’s terrible what they do when someone backs down on their word.” He lowered his voice so she was forced to step up and join us as we walked on. “I’ve heard awful stories of them taking the payment however they can...”
“Aww, maybe it won’t be that bad,” Bosh tried to encourage her, not realizing my ploy. “How much did you bid again?”
When she told him, he whistled a high note that fell low and final. “Ah,” he said, “Nevermind.”
I smirked a little, but didn’t turn around. “It’s up to you,” I shrugged, still not looking back. “But we’re going to need that Jinni’s talisman back, either way.”
CHAPTER 14
Arie
I’D WANTED TO FINDa quiet corner in the city where I could call Gideon back and make my request. I’d been rehearsing what I could say to convince him since the moment he’d vanished. But now... I clutched my skirts and squeezed, imagining they were wrapped around Kadin’s neck. His cocky smile made me furious. After my brush with slavery just the day before, he knew I wouldn’t risk that again.
But hewasbeginning to worry.Is she going to follow?
