Page 24 of Throne of Ice and Blood
Goddess above, I have used magic to manipulate her into trusting me. And she is worried thatIam not going to trustthem. That cold slimy guilt twists in my gut again. I try to block it out.
While furrowing my brows a little, I pretend to think it over for a few seconds, the way a normal person would. Then I straighten, set the carrot down on the crate next to me, and give her a nod. “Alright.”
Relief washes over her features. I once more have to swallow down a flash of guilt.
“Great!” A beaming smile spreads across her face as she jerks her chin. “Come with me.”
Since I’m reasonably certain that I have gotten her to trust me now, I release the grip on my magic at the same time as I step out of the darkened storage room. That way, they might justthink that my eyes were glowing because of the darkness and the torches reflecting against them.
“Bad decision, this is,” the grumpy man mutters from where he’s now sorting through a shelf in the corner. “I’ll tell ya. Very bad. Don’t come crying to me when this blows up in your face.”
“Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Dad,” Kath replies, and she does give him a soft smile before she strides towards the steps on the other side of the room.
After flipping my hood up to hide my ears, I follow her as we walk back up them and out through the trapdoor. Kath waves me forward, and we start back out of the dead end.
Sunlight streams down from the blue sky and warms my cheeks as we make our way through the city. Murmuring voices mingle with clinking and clattering sounds coming from inside various shops, and the scent of baking bread and cooking food drifts out of several windows. My stomach rumbles in response since I threw up most of the food I ate after I fell down the castle wall. Thankfully, the grumbling of my discontented abdominal organ is drowned out by the sounds of the city.
“Your eyes are really cool,” Kath says as we turn a corner and continue down another road. While still keeping one eye on the people around us, she motions at my eyes. “The two colors and the glowing… They always do that?”
“The two colors, yes. The glowing, only sometimes.”
“Cool. Yeah, I suppose that’s great when it’s dark.”
My mind churns. So, she does think that my eyes were glowing because of the darkness. They must not know as much about fae as the dragon shifters do. And I decide not to correct her about the reason for my glowing eyes. The less they know about my true powers, the better. For now, at least.
“Well, here we are,” Kath announces as she stops outside a three-story building made of dark wood.
Tilting my head back, I look up at the rather impressive building. “You live here?”
“God no!” She laughs. “Wouldn’t be able to afford it even if I saved up for it my whole life. This is The Black Emerald. It’s a… thief bar.”
Surprise pulses through me, and I turn to stare at her in surprise.
She scratches the back of her neck a little sheepishly while a mischievous smile blows across her lips. “I’ll explain inside.”
After jerking her chin at me, she simply walks up to the door and opens it. I cast a glance over my shoulder to check for dragon shifters before I follow her across the threshold.
The inside of the tavern is also made of dark wood. Tables and chairs occupy the front of the room while wooden booths with cushions in emerald green fabric line the walls. There is a long counter to my right, and what looks like a door to the kitchen. I sweep my gaze over the people who are eating and drinking and chatting around us while Kath and I weave our way through the spacious tavern and towards the wooden staircase at the back of the room.
People watch me with suspicious eyes at first, but as soon as they notice Kath, the suspicion evaporates and they go back to eating and drinking.
The soft murmur of voices disappears as we make our way up the stairs and then through a corridor on the second floor. My heart patters in my chest as Kath stops in front of a plain wooden door and knocks.
“Yeah?” someone calls from inside.
“It’s me,” Kath replies.
And before the other person can say anything else, she simply opens the door and strolls inside. I follow her.
The room we enter is a lot smaller than the tavern area downstairs. One large table takes up the floorspace in the middleof the room. There are twelve chairs around it, but only three of them are occupied. Burning candles stand in a cluster in the middle of the table, even though bright daylight falls in through the window. I quickly study the three people seated at the table.
Two men and one woman. All three of them look to be around the same age as Kath. Since humans age differently, it’s hard to tell, but my best guess is that they’re somewhere in their twenties.
“Where’s Hector?” Kath asks as she strolls up to the table and pulls out a chair.
One of the men, a guy with red hair the same shade as Kath’s and blue eyes of a very similar color too, is the one who replies.
“He’s…” the guy begins, but then he trails off when his gaze slides to me. After a second’s pause, he ends his sentence with a vague, “Out.” Clearing his throat, he shifts his gaze back to Kath. “Who’s this?”
