Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Thane tilts his head. “Horses in Redclaw are the cheapest. Plus, I figured your people would need the coin after what happened during my last visit—you know, the one you all so eagerly keep bringing up in conversation?”
Garyn’s smile vanishes, and he works his jaw, inching closer to us. I ball my hands into fists, and my nails bite into my palms as I back away. More men line up behind Garyn, each one more menacing than the next.
“Maliek’s been looking for you. Did you know that?” Garyn runs his tongue over his yellow-stained teeth.
I don’t miss the way Thane curls his hand into a tight fist at the mention of this Maliek.
Garyn notices as well and sneers. “So how about this,” he says, waving that same annoying finger. “You pay me for destroying my tables and killing my men, and I won’t tell Maliek I saw you here.”
Thane’s silence is deafening as he gives Garyn a lethal stare. Then he scans the men gathering behind Garyn. There has to be at least a dozen of them. Each one holds a weapon of some kind. Seeing the blades, axes, and hatchets twists my stomach into knots.
“Maybe you should just pay him,” I suggest. Surely, he has enough coin for it. I’ve given him a full pouch—and if he doesn’t, I have some to spare, too. Not many gold coins, but it’s still something.
“Get on the horse,” Thane orders me without taking his eyes off Garyn.
“What?”
“Get on the fucking horse, Quinlocke.” Hearing him say my last name causes a spiral in my belly…and not a bad one, despite the knots of dread that are developing. It’s good to know he remembers part of my name, at least.
I turn for the horse to do as I’m told, swinging a leg over its bare back. Only then do I realize Big Hat is no longer around.
Shit. That can’t be good.
“Come on now, Valkor! Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be!” Garyn bellows after a haughty laugh.
“It can be simple if you fuck off and let us walk through those gates with my horse,” Thane shoots back.
“Without my retribution?” Garyn makes a tsk tsk noise. “Not happening and you know it. I suggest you cough up the coin now before you lose a few limbs and, if I’m lucky, an eye.”
Thane squares his shoulders and deepens his defensive stance. “Let’s be honest with ourselves, Garyn. We all know that after today, you’ll be telling everyone you went blind because of me.”
A shadow runs over Garyn’s face, his skin tightening behind the eyepatch. “Well, if you want it that way, I hope you make it to the Crystal Realm, though one of Xaimur’s hells seems more fitting for a fucked-up soul like yours.” The men behind Garyn swarm me and Thane with tight grips around their weapons. Garyn snaps his fingers. “Kill him and bring that pretty girl to me.”
“What?” I shriek. What in the shadows do I have to do with any of this?
I give Thane a death glare, waiting for him to do something. He doesn’t budge.
Why is he just standing there? Why isn’t he trying to get us out of here?
“Oh, Orvena.” I grip the reins to guide the horse away from him, ready to gallop to the gates and take off because fuck this. I am not about to die because of some man’s ego.
A battle cry erupts, and one of Garyn’s henchmen rushes forward with an ax in the air, taking a swing at Thane. Thane dodges it with ease, and a dagger materializes in his hand. He stabs the man in the chest, twists him around to slice his throat, then kicks him into another man charging his way. He performs all of this in movements faster than I can blink.
I back away on the horse, searching for a way out. The only exit I can spot is the gates we snuck through. I start for them as more men swarm Thane, but someone yanks me backward by the rucksack before I can get anywhere and slams me to the ground.
The horse whinnies and wastes no time clomping away as the breath whooshes out of my lungs. I cough as a man appears above me with a hatchet in hand. He swings down, but I roll out of the way just in time and hop to my feet.
“Come on, pretty girl,” he taunts, licking his lips. “I won’t hurt you if you make this easy.”
“Uh, Thane!” I call.
Just as quickly as I say his name, a dagger whizzes through the air and jams straight into hatchet man’s temple. Well, damn. I guess he is worth the coin.
When the man drops to his knees, the dagger is magically snatched back out and returned to Thane. Blood dribbles from a hole in hatchet man’s head before he collapses. If this had been performed during target practice and not on an actual mortal, I’d find it pretty damn impressive.