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)
I dig in.
Once I’m finished, there isn’t a single drop of broth left in my bowl.
“Did that help any?” Thane asks.
“Yes. Very much so.” I place my spoon down and pick up an oat crisp. It crunches as I bite into it, and the chocolate explodes on my tongue. “Mmm. That’s so good.”
Crumbs tumble to my chest, and Thane’s eyes follow them.
I swipe at the crumbs, my cheeks heating. “Gods…I love food.”
“Didn’t ask, Quinlocke.” He sighs, looking away from me.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t take anything he says personally.” Algar tips back in his chair, balancing on one leg and locking his fingers behind his head. “He’s a dick to everyone.”
“Yeah.” I huff a laugh. “I gathered that.”
“I’ve known him since his sixth year, and he’s always been uptight.”
“Algar.” Thane glares at his friend with an inclined eyebrow, as if telling him to proceed with caution.
“You’ve known him since your sixth year?” I ask, surprised to hear that.
“Oh, yeah. He was my neighbor, actually. Lived two houses away.”
“Wow. So you two really did grow up together?” I thought he had been exaggerating before.
“Yeah. We were like brothers.” Algar flashes a smile at Thane.
Thane shakes his head and peels out of his chair, like the last thing he wants to discuss is his past. “Going to the toilet,” is all he says before trudging away.
“You’ll have to tell me all about your childhood with Thane,” I say, biting into another crisp. “Surely he couldn’t have been this much of a grump back then.”
“Nah.” Algar considers that. “He could be serious, but he wasn’t an absolute jerk like he is now. There are so many good things I remember about him.”
“Well, that’s good. I’d love to hear what they were.”
“I’d tell you now, but he might overhear and put a spell on me.” He winks. “Soon.”
I laugh, then glance at the counter, where Penju is checking the barrels and reading something, while Rynthea holds a clipboard and is marking things off.
But then there’s a thud in the distance.
And that’s when I notice the hooded stranger who walked in is no longer at his table.
Rynthea places her clipboard down on the counter as the thudding grows louder along with deep, muffled grunts. Her ears twitch, as if sensing something.
Then the double doors to the entrance fly open, slam into the walls, and reveal a group of masked men.
Chapter 15
Algar and Torjack shoot to their feet. I stand, too, glad most of the unsteadiness has faded from my system.
“Absolutely not! Get out!” Rynthea bellows as she rounds the counter. “There will be no fighting in my inn!”
“There doesn’t have to be a fight,” the man leading the group says as he steps deeper into the tavern. “We just want the sorcerer.”
Rynthea raises her chin as Algar slips his hand down and snatches a knife out of the holster at his waist. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rynthea squares her shoulders as she inches forward. “There is no sorcerer here. I don’t like them in my inn.”
“Cut the shit, minotaur!” the man barks. Rynthea’s brows knit together as her eyes flare. “Give us the sorcerer or we’ll destroy this whole fucking building and set it on fire!”
One of Rynthea’s eyes twitches as she glares at him. Then, oddly, almost eerily, a smile sweeps across her face.
“Okay.” She throws her hands in the air. “Fine. He’s not worth my business being destroyed. Let me go and get him.”
She wanders behind the counter again, past Penju, who is grimacing at the men, his spikes standing on end, appearing twice as lethal. When Rynthea disappears through the swinging door to the kitchen, I hear another door creak open in the distance.
Thane appears around the corner with his buffers splattered in blood. His sword, the blade dripping crimson, is in one of his hands. But the object in his other hand causes my breath to hitch.
It’s a man’s head.
And not just any man.
The stranger in the gray cloak who’d, only moments ago, been sitting on the other side of the inn staring at Thane.
“I believe this is yours.” Thane chucks the man’s head at the masked men. It hits the ground with a sickening splat and rolls to a stop at the feet of their leader.
The leader takes a step back from the head and rapidly draws a sword. “Valkor,” he growls, raising the blade in the air. “We’ve been looking for you.”
“I can see that, jackass.” Thane locks his eyes on me. “Go out the back. Get to Pearl and ride to safety with Algar. I’ll find you.”
“Fuck that,” Algar counters while Zephra flies out the nearest window. “I’m not letting you fight alone.”
“He won’t be!” Rynthea’s voice cuts through the room as she storms out of the kitchen, slides over the counter, and lands on the other side with the long handle of a scythesword firmly in her hand.