Renee’s anger gains a sheen of fear.
“Sounds like my cat did a number on your voice box,” I say, trying to keep my confidence as he steers us away from the market.
“Don’t you worry,” he grunts. “I’ve got a little spot for him on my mantle.”
“You touch that cat and I’ll take your balls,” I snarl.
“You’re so spirited!” he exclaims with a smarmy tone. “I might keep you when this is all over.”
“People will look for us,” Renee growls out.
“Oh, sugar, I’m countin’ on it.”
Icy dread wraps around my heart as the hunter leans forward, smirking at me.
“You’re dragon bait.”
forty
Dragon Bait
Itry to make eye contact with others around us, but it’s dark enough that I’m not sure anyone notices our distress. Not as if they could do anything about it. I have no idea what this hunter’s deal is, but I know he can rip open portals between worlds and cast energy shields from the thing on his arm. Who knows if thatsnapI heard was a blade coming out, or something even more deadly.
I know I should stop looking for help from ordinary strangers, they’d only get hurt, but I can’t help scanning the crowd as we’re corralled toward the exit.
Renee pinches my forearm and I look at her just as she goes down, throwing herself forward. She yanks the hunter off balance and he loses his grip on me.
“Run!” Renee screams as she kicks and flails.
I hesitate a fraction of a second before bolting. The heels of my shoes sink into the dirt as I push through the crowd. I curse them,but there’s no time to take them off. There’s shouting as people behind me realize something is happening. I look over my shoulder to see the hunter tackled to the ground by a mob of lumberjacks promoting their forestry business.
I turn back to help when another hand grabs a fistful of my hair. My heart seizes in my chest and panic takes me. I grab their wrist as I suck in a gasp, but when I try to scream, nothing comes out. The crowd is all turned away, looking at Renee and the hunter.
“You’ve made this far more complicated for Master than it needed to be,” a feminine voice whispers in my ear.
She’s familiar, but I can’t place her. Another hunter? How?
“Camouflage us, now.”
My stomach twists. How could she know about my magic?
“Now,” she growls, and I feel the sharp sting of something unnatural in my chest. “You’ll lose more than your voice if you don’t comply.”
I don’t want to relinquish my hold on her wrist, so I do it one handed. My fingers tremble as I push my magic out, wrapping us in a sloppy shield of invisibility. She grabs my bag and I yank it into my chest. The corner of the book bites into my sternum and I remember: the magic brand!
I release her wrist and reach for the neck of my shirt, but she’s faster, and stronger. She grabs my arm and twists it behind my back.
“Not yet,” she says. “We aren’t ready for him.”
I try to scream and my throat fills with glass. My eyes water but I’m silent.
The woman turns me, one hand on the bag clutched at my chest, the other holding my arm firmly in a painful twist.
“Don’t even think about dropping that camouflage,” she says. “We don’t need you alive.”
Then why are you taking me,I want to ask.
They want Bastian. They want the book because his soul is tied to it. I won’t give it up. I promised to protect it.
