Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
To plan all that in a split second while the house was being invaded and then to execute it flawlessly. He had stopped with five, likely because Velpor could’ve taken out that many but no more.
The man was frightening.
“Avaria,” I said.
She startled. “Yes, my lady?”
“When you searched the warehouse, did you find any papers? Any contracts, anything with the Butcher’s name on it?”
“No, my lady.”
“What about the people in the courtyard?”
“No papers,” Avaria confirmed. “However, we found this by the front door.”
She offered us an envelope. Everard opened it, pulled out the paper within, read it, and held it out to me.
H will strike after midnight.
“Another warning,” I murmured.
“Too late this time.” Everard looked at Avaria. “Who left the letter?”
“We do not know, my lord.”
He gave a small sigh. Avaria took a tiny step back.
“You let Maggie be taken,” Everard said, “you missed the watcher that followed us from the Butcher’s warehouse, and now you failed to note the messenger even though your people were watching the house.”
Avaria held perfectly still.
“Get the bodies right,” he told her.
“Yes, my lord.”
Everard nodded and she took off. I headed for the stairs, and he walked with me. The steps would be a challenge, but there was no way around it.
I was so damn tired. Getting through that conversation in the basement had sapped whatever resources the few hours of sleep had restored. The floor was beginning to look appealing. If I didn’t go up these stairs right now, I would curl up against the nearest wall and pass out.
I started climbing.
“That was a stroke of genius with the Redeemers,” Everard said.
“Thank you.”
If all went well, we would plant a spy in the Tower. We would need one because I’d killed the Butcher. While Hreban had compensated by bringing in a new assassin, the future was irrevocably changed, and having eyes and ears in Silveren’s domain would be vital.
“He is tailor-made for them: a verifiable sin to redeem, at the end of his rope, and skilled enough to be an asset,” Everard said. “More, he fits the part.”
“Yes. He’s bitter and jaded, and he looks like he expects life to kick him at any moment.”
We reached the landing. I took a little breather and headed for the second flight of stairs. “Do you think Tillmar will stay loyal?”
“Yes. That man is desperate.”
Weren’t we all.
“The Redeemers can offer him nothing, while I can give him everything,” Everard said. “He won’t break his oath.”
That right there was why I had to keep things in perspective.
I conquered the last step. Yes. Success. Clover had lit a lantern by my door and the hallway was bathed in comfortable light. Just a few more feet and I could fall into my bed face-first and let the world fade away.
“Why did you ask Avaria about contracts?”
I held Tillmar’s contract out to him. “There is something wrong with it.”
“There is everything wrong with it. The whole thing is an abomination.”
“Yes, that, too, but that’s not what I mean. Feel it.”
Everard ran his hand over the paper and stopped above the signature line. He frowned and raised the contract up, so the light of the lantern shone through it. A complex design curved and wound within the paper, wrapping around the signature spot.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.” He held his hand over it. “I can break it, but it would destroy the paper. We need a mage.”
Where could we get a mage without attracting attention . . . The Mage Tower was chock-full of them, but I needed a mage that wouldn’t report to Archmage Damaes. We had no idea what this contract did. We needed someone with some autonomy.
“Maybe I will make a trip to the Garden,” I murmured.
“Not without me, you won’t.”
“You cannot leave the house.”
“You cannot go without protection.”
“I have a perfectly good cousin. He can take me.”
“I will take you.”
“You are a wanted man. Solentine is more than capable of protecting me.”
“Maggie, you try my patience.”
And here he was, the Sleepless Duke coming out.
He fixed me with his stare. “After everything we have been through, why do you trust Solentine over me?”
“Because he didn’t lie to me.”
“I didn’t lie to you in all things,” he said. “When I promised you I would protect you, I meant it. When I told you I could give you everything Solentine offered and more, I meant that, too.”
The light of the lantern softened his face. He looked so handsome right now. Strong, trustworthy. Hot. Almost irresistible. I could just wrap my arms around him. He would kiss me and carry me to my bed. It would be scorching hot and dirty, a night I would never forget, and then I could fall asleep wrapped in those strong arms. I didn’t even know what I craved more right now, sex, intimacy, or comfort. I wanted all of it.