What?“I have to rest for a bit if I’m going to have my full potential on hand.”
“And you can do that,” Kell said, “where I can be sure you’re not running out on me again. Our rooms at the Golden Rose are quite nice.”
Saeldian stopped too fast for Kell to keep from bumping into them. He caught Saeldian mid-stumble, one hand around their arm and one at their shoulder. Saeldian sprang away and scrubbed the touch off their arm.
“Are you hurt?”
It still tingled. “No.”
“All right, then. Let’s go wherever you were headed. Where you go, I go.”
“Sheld…” Jubilee said. “It’s okay. The bath is finished. Dad fixed the leak. There’s plenty of room, and you know Ma always fixes too much for dinner.”
Kell chuckled. “You’re staying at her parents’ house?”
“Theyliveat my house,” Jubilee corrected. “With my family. Who adore them.”
“Do they.” Kell’s voice was dry as sand.
It wasn’t up to Saeldian to say whom Jubilee could or couldn’t invite to her home, but Saeldian hated the idea of Kell walking through the gates and sneering at Righthoof Manor.
“It’s a bit of a walk,” Saeldian said. “I’m sure you’ll find an old lady to help across the street on the way.”
“Funny,” Kell drawled. “Maybe you should be an entertainer at the party.”
“All right, let’s play nice,” Jubilee said. “You’re a big fellow, Lorzok, but…druid? Am I right? I thought maybe ranger, but after the healing you just did, it makes sense.”
“I am a steward of the wild, yes,” Lorzok agreed. “I love the balance of nature, and I have been blessed with many of its gifts.”
Jubilee patted his elbow. “Solid. Cities aren’t your favorite, then?”
“Nature is here, friend.” Lorzok lifted one finger, and an iridescent speckled starling landed on it. “Nature is never gone from a place unless it is eradicated…and even that never lasts for long.”
“Lorzok’s powers are impressive,” Kell said. “Animals adore him, of course, but animals always know who’s worthy of trust, don’t they? They know faster than we do.”
Saeldian’s insides went dull and heavy. Kell hated them. He sometimes had moments when grief and fury wrapped him up—those days when he couldn’t help but look for a sign that the Feywild had pushed close enough that he could enter. But today he was cold, unforgiving stone.
Saeldian watched Kell out of the corner of their eye. He justhappened to be in Waterdeep at the right time—was thishisscheme? Was this revenge?
It didn’t matter. Saeldian had no choice about doing the job. They just had to be wary of Kell Redsong, whatever that took.
“Jubilee’s a fine lockpick and building infiltration specialist,” Saeldian said. “I’m a warlock. My patron’s an archfey, though, not a devil. Kell is…What do you do, Kell, since you don’t sing?”
“Good deeds,” Kell said.
Oh, this was going to bewonderful.
Kell shaded hiseyes against the sun and watched Saeldian walk ahead of him as if taking a stroll alone. The ten years he earned being someone without Saeldian Charmhand had crumbled the moment he walked in the door and saw them, and nothing he thought he’d say or do came to pass.
Suddenly, nothing mattered but making his ex-partner—his ex-friend—hurt. He needed to get under their skin like he needed to breathe. When they lost their temper, it was like a shot of cask-strength spirit swallowed in a gulp; the feeling was too much, and not enough.
“Kell?”
He could hear Lorzok. He could feel the sunshine’s warm touch on his hair and his shoulders. He could smell feast cakes baking, but—
The Flaming Fist had dragged him to Wyrm’s Rock barefoot. They had herded him into a chamber that had nobody in it but a magistrate and a secretary, who had recorded every careful word he’d said.
The way the magistrate talked about the theft without saying exactly what the object was for the official records was sneaky. Anyone could hang for any theft, but they didn’t want the details of this theft known. The clever white-haired dwarf in charge gave a guilty verdict and smirked when he told Kell he would see the gallows the next time he saw the dawn.
