At that moment, I would’ve rather him be a pervert.
That was the thing about magic. It always marked you. If you had a little, you were worse off because it liked to show up on the hands and fingers. If you had a little more, it might wrap its way around your wrist. The more you had, the closer the marking was to your torso and the easier to hide from a dull—and there was no shortage of dulls willing to sell information on a Wyrd Blood they stumbled across.
I’d never seen anyone else that had the marking on their back, as I did. I’d spent the entirety of my life hiding my back, hiding what was on it. Now they wanted me to display it to them.
Ryker took a single step forward. “I’m going to see it.”
It still took me a few seconds to move and to give Ryker his due. I was caught. Showing them now meant nothing. I turned and shrugged off my coat, then let it drop to the ground by my feet.
“What are you doing?” Ryker asked.
I lifted my shirt. “It’s on my back, not my chest.”
I didn’t see Ryker’s expression. I didn’t hear anything. The room was absolutely silent.
Finally, I heard Burn say, “Holy magic.”
I hadn’t seen it myself since I was five, so I didn’t know what it looked like anymore. I knew even then, though, how the markings would shimmer and almost seem to reach for the light when that skin was exposed to the sun, as if the markings were alive and flowing with platinum.
When I felt fingers tracing the vines on my back, I shoved down my shirt, ending the connection. I knew whose hand that had been by the strange current it sent into me, and the sizzle it sent through my body, as if his magic was trying to connect to mine.
I grabbed my coat from the floor, looking for another layer of protection. “Why did you do that?”
Ryker didn’t answer me, but nodded to the door, and Burn left, leaving it open.
“You obviously don’t want to kill me—not yet, anyway—so care to tell me what you do want?” I pulled my coat close around me as I waited to hear why he’d been looking for me.
“Did you know that you walked right through a ward to spy on me?” He went silent for a moment and watched me, tilting his head as he did. He leaned back, arms crossed, and I felt like every inch of me was being weighed and assessed in the most brutally obvious way.
He was right. I didn’t. Had I known I’d passed over one, I would’ve run for it. So I said nothing. Let him guess. I wouldn’t confirm a thing.
“Didn’t think so. I can feel the strength of your magic, but right now all you’ve got is parlor tricks. I’ve got a feeling you’ve got more than a few unintentional deaths in your past, as well.”
I did, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I walked toward the wall and sat down. He could ramble on as long as he wanted. I wasn’t responding until he told me what he wanted.
“Your poker face isn’t worth the effort. How many have you killed as you’ve recklessly wandered around?” His eyebrow rose with the question.
I didn’t budge from my spot. Didn’t nod. Didn’t soften my expression.
“You’re strong and you’re stubborn,” he said, followed by a short laugh, as if my worst trait somehow amused him. Easy to laugh when you weren’t the one who’d stepped in it all the way up to their neck.
He pushed off the wall and then he was gone. He popped up so close to my side that I jerked away and had to put a hand out to support myself.
His forearms rested on his bent legs as he knelt just to the side of me. His eyes were on me, staring intently.
Regaining my composure, I kept my eyes straight ahead. He might break me with his magic, but his mind games were nothing.
“You’re going to use your magic to get past the wards of Bedlam. In return, I’m going to let you live.”
My brain had a hard time getting past Bedlam. Bedlam was a country to the north that even the strongest Wyrd Blood didn’t mess with. It was for one really good reason. They had dragons. They also were ruled by King Harvos, who was known for a sadistic streak a mile long.
I let out a laugh that held only mockery. “That’s a ticket to the underworld.” I stared back at him. Ryker hadn’t looked insane, but he must be.
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you want from there?” It had to be something near priceless to start a war with Bedlam.
“I can’t tell you that.”
I rolled my eyes. That answer certainly wasn’t inspiring. “Even if I was willing, I’m not capable of that.”
“You are and you will, because it’s that or death. Those are your choices.”
“Then kill me.” Hopefully it would be less painful than getting ripped apart by a dragon.
He shrugged. “No.”
“You said I had a choice.” Was I really arguing for him to kill me? I’d only said it because I was being stubborn, as he’d pointed out.
He stood and walked away from me. “I lied. You don’t get a choice.”
“If I won’t work for you and you won’t kill me, then what?”
“You change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
He smiled, and I felt his magic flaring hot in the room, pushing at my senses. “We’ll see.”
He didn’t wait for me to say anything else as he walked out and shut the door.
Chapter 7
After twelve hours in the room with no windows and no visitors, the message was glaringly clear. I only ate or drank if they felt like it, and if I didn’t do what Ryker wanted, they might not feel like it. Luckily, I had the hollyhoney, but wow did that go down even rougher when your mouth was dry.
I knew they’d bring me something soon, though. Ryker wanted me alive, after all. He’d declined my choice of death, so there would either be food and water coming soon or he was a fickle man. I didn’t think he was fickle.
At least there was a toilet of sorts set up in the corner with a pail of water beside it, which I was hoping I wouldn’t have to drink from soon.
There was a knock at the door that preceded a plate of food, proving I was right about the wanting to keep me alive call. Not that it was that surprising. I’d told Ryker to kill me and he’d said no.
Burn walked in and placed a plate with a piece of bread, a slice of meat, and a small puddle of gravy on the floor. A jug of water was left beside it. He gave me a wave goodbye, as if we were old chums.
I heard the bar hit the door once it shut, and I went over to eat. I imagined the boredom might start to get to me at some point, but the food was pretty decent.
And it wasn’t that dark, because the gaps above and below the door were at least a few fingers wide.
I didn’t see anyone else again until night fell. Burn strolled in with a smile on his face and a new plate. He also had a pelt in his hand that looked fresh and thick, like I’d be its first owner. He tossed it to a spot beside where I was sitting.
“I’m not supposed to make it too easy for you, but it’s going to get cold tonight.”
He took the old dish away as I ran my hands through the new pelt. When he waved goodbye this time, I found myself waving back before I thought about it.
It wasn’t until a couple of hours after I’d eaten that I felt Ryker approaching. Damn, that man’s magic had crazy distance. He opened the door and looked over at me, where I was reclining on my new pelt. If he noticed it, he didn’t say anything.
He stepped inside and said, “Well?”
I said nothing. Did he really think I’d break that easy? This was the best I’d lived in years. I hadn’t lounged around this much since I was born. I even had a fur pelt to wrap myself in to stay warm.