Chapter 10
Elyse
Elyse wandered through the streets of Vincennes, bored and agitated. Luckily, the pedestrians bustling about seemed just as eager to ignore her as she was to avoid them.
Burning down the little house had been a blip of excitement in an otherwise dull day.
The others didn’t exactly make for great company.
They stared at her like they expected something from her.
And the way they’d fussed over those bodies—they’d wasted half the day with their pointless fretting.
The rest of the day had been spent traveling back to the barren fields and telling the farmers to plant as many seeds as possible.
It was no doubt faster with Elyse there to transport them, but a waste nonetheless. No wonder they had no leads on Lazarus.
Not that she’d had any more success…
Elyse meandered about the small city, debating her next move. She’d nearly decided to magick herself to Sevhella, find a grungy tavern to get stinking drunk in, and start a brawl. But as she strolled past a wide alleyway, something abruptly changed her mind.
Killian and Manny were in the alley, both shirtless, both drenched in sweat. Killian’s bronze skin glistened behind a shield of hard air, and Manny’s massive shoulders bulged as he shot off stunning spells.
Elyse leaned against the timber wall and took in the show.
The training itself was uninspiring, but the rippling muscles more than made up for that.
She bit her lips as she watched a bead of sweat trickle down Killian’s exquisite abdomen.
Then her gaze flicked to Manny, and the way his strong legs filled out his trousers.
The heat that surged through her had nothing to do with the summer air.
When Death had taken her soul, she’d taken many emotions with it. Love, admiration, sympathy. But not lust.
Neither of the men seemed to notice her as she continued to watch.
They were both delicious in their own way.
Killian was dark and lean and cunning while Manny was a broad wall of power.
Elyse took one last long look, memorizing their figures, before heading into the inn.
She savored the images, letting her imagination play as she sat down at a table and ordered three fingers of dry liquor.
Three fingers. The thought made her toes curl.
The patronage at the inn’s dining hall was preferable to the one in Domistad.
Far fewer people littered the room, which meant fewer people to fumble about, drunkenly bumping into things.
It was probably a good thing, considering the delicate-looking knickknacks that lined the shelves on the wall, though Elyse thought it would be a blessing to see the hideous figurines knocked to the floor.
She slouched at the table, her thoughts lingering on Killian’s neck.
She wondered how it would taste to lick the sweat from it, to bite it hard until she drew blood.
She imagined Manny’s hard body pressed against hers, how his strong hands would feel grabbing her breasts, or handfuls of her ass.
What would it be like for him to choke her?
To make Killian watch? She was enjoying her little daydream, until Sera entered through the doorway.
Elyse didn’t acknowledge her presence. Maybe if she ignored her, Sera would leave.
She couldn’t be so lucky though. Sera hesitated, but she still ended up making her way to Elyse’s table. “Hello,” she uttered.
Elyse made no reply.
Killian and Manny entered the inn a few minutes later, their shirts adorned and their chests still heaving with exertion.
Manny dropped onto the bench beside Sera, planting a sweaty kiss on her cheek.
After a moment’s hesitation, Killian seated himself beside Elyse, though he kept a good six inches of distance between them.
Elyse wanted to slide closer to him, if only to watch him squirm, but feared it might send the wrong message.
The last thing she needed was the fool thinking she actually cared about him.
A young, doe-eyed waitress quickly hurried over to offer the men water, disregarding Elyse and Sera completely. Killian asked for dinner to be brought out, and the waitress reluctantly left their table to fetch the order.
“I saw you practicing outside,” Sera said to Manny. “Your spellwork was great.”
Elyse snorted.
“Ignore her,” Killian grumbled to Manny. “You’re coming along just fine.”
Another snort left Elyse’s nose. “Your casting is slow, your spells are weak, and your accuracy is abysmal.” She leveled a stare at Manny, letting him know she meant every word. “But it’s not your fault you have a sorry excuse of a trainer,” she added. Her eyes flickered toward Killian.
“Oh? And what would you do differently?” Killian said dryly, not missing a beat.
Elyse took a sip of her liquor and let it roll over her tongue as she debated if she’d rather help him or tell him to fuck off.
Her ego won out. “When you first learned to wield a sword, did you childishly stab and swipe and hope you improved? No, you practiced twirling it, honing your grip, learning the weight and feel of the instrument. You worked your body, building your stamina and understanding how your own muscles and limbs work together.”
Killian opened his mouth to reply, but Elyse spoke over him.
“It’s the same with magic. You’ll improve faster if you do more than aimlessly shoot spells at one another. You have to hone your agility, your control. Then you’ll be decent. Maybe.”
Manny leaned toward her. “What do you suggest?”
She turned and looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of Killian rolling his eyes, and searched the room for a victim.
Less than a dozen people were in the room altogether, including their group.
At the nearest table was a scrawny-looking man with a mop of coppery hair.
He sat alone, his bony fingers picking at his dinner. He seemed like a good enough target.
Elyse turned back to Manny. “Him,” she said, gesturing with a tilt of her head. “Tie his boot laces together. If you can do that without making yourself known, then you’ll increase your control and stop announcing every spell you’re about to send.”
“You can’t do that,” Killian argued. “It’s cruel.”
It was Elyse’s turn to roll her eyes. “Cruel” was a vast exaggeration.
“He’s been staring at my chest since I got here,” Sera groaned.
“I’ll do it,” Manny piped in, and immediately turned to face the man. He lifted his hand and pointed his finger toward the man’s boots, his eyes squinted in concentration.
“Subtle,” Elyse scoffed.
Manny dropped his hand to the table immediately, his face turning red. But he schooled his expression into something more laidback and began to move only the tip of his finger in barely perceptible movements.
“Is it working?” Killian asked after a moment.
Sera nodded, her gaze continually flicking to the man’s boots to monitor Manny’s progress.
Elyse took another sip from her drink, watching with amusement as Manny’s lips pinched together in concentration. Killian shifted to face her.
“Tell me about this card game,” he demanded, voice low.
Elyse didn’t look at him. “What’s there to tell?”
“For starters, where is it?”
“I don’t know,” she said flatly.
“You don’t know?”
Elyse nearly gagged at the thick incredulity in his voice. “Would you like to try asking that again? Or would you rather I carve the explanation into your flesh, one letter at a time?”
Killian’s nostrils flared. It was the only sign of irritation he would cede, but it was still a small victory for Elyse. After an exhale, Killian asked in a calm voice, “How will we get to the game if we don’t know the location?”
“Through a door,” Elyse drawled. It was too easy to toy with him.
Killian shot a desperate glance at Sera, who quickly looked away.
“Fix your face,” Elyse snapped at Manny. His tongue was poking between his lips as he focused on his practice.
“Can you please,” Killian began in a breathy voice, sounding as if each word was chosen very carefully, “share whatever information you have about this game, including its location, time, and anything else I might need to know.”
Elyse released a huff. The fun had quickly faded.
No longer willing to speak to the haughty former lieutenant, she slipped a tiny card from her pocket and slapped it on the table before Killian.
As she took another swig from her glass, she watched him from the corner of her eyes.
He plucked the card off the table and studied it—both sides.
His golden eyes matched the scrawling font on the card.
He read the address on the card to himself. “So the game is in Sevhella?”
Elyse downed the last of her drink and slammed the glass on the table—hard enough to make Sera jump. “The door is in Sevhella. The game, as I said, is in an unknown location. Somewhere secret and warded, so that no one can cheat.”
Killian’s eyes dropped to the card again. “So we’ll use a portal?”
“No,” Elyse and Sera said in unison.
“Portals are huge and chaotic,” Sera explained. “They take a ton of magic. Portals travel between worlds, not two places on a map.”
“Worlds?” Manny sputtered, his eyes leaving his target for a split second. “Shit,” he mumbled before returning his attention to his task.
“Precisely,” Elyse said, though she hadn’t realized Sera cared to know anything about portals. “This,” she went on, tapping on the card with her finger, “is derived from the same magic used in the transportation potion.”
Killian nodded his head absentmindedly, his jaw making minuscule movements as he pondered. “So no magic whatsoever?” he asked.
“Not unless it’s something meant to keep a player alive or healthy,” Elyse answered.
As Killian parted his lips to ask something else, Elyse beat him to it.
She was tiring of his questions. “Like Mr. Grayson. He uses magic to prolong his life. That’s the only sort of spell that won’t be nullified during the game. ”
Killian went still. His eyes had darkened, and he shifted uncomfortably. Elyse made a mental note never to bring up Mr. Grayson again, not unless she wanted to see Killian look like a sad, wet puppy dog.
“Yes!” Manny hissed under his breath. He beamed at Sera. “I did it.”
“And just in time for dinner, too,” Sera said in that disturbingly sweet voice, right as a pair of waitresses set their plates before them.
Elyse asked for another drink, then began scarfing down her food. The sooner she finished her meal, the sooner she could get away from these hooligans.
“We’ll head back to Domistad tomorrow. Let Elyse do what she can for the farmers,” Killian said as he took a bite of bread.
“Where should we go after that?” Sera asked.
Elyse tuned them out as they debated their next move. Whatever they decided would be a waste anyway. As she carved into her meat, she imagined carving into Lazarus’s skin with the Blade of Hanael. She was shoveling the last of her dinner in her mouth when Sera asked, “What do you think, Elyse?”
Elyse’s eyes shot to Sera, her mouth still full of meat. “I don’t give a witch’s tit.”
Even Manny seemed too caught off guard to snicker at that. The trio stared at her, but Elyse stared right back, pouring disdain into her expression. Killian flexed his jaw before saying, “We need your help, Elyse.”
She pushed her empty plate away, preparing to rise. “You might need me, but I sure as hell don’t need you.”
Killian was about to protest when a loud crash behind him interrupted all thoughts. In an instant, he and Elyse were both on their feet, trying to suss out the danger.
The redheaded man lay sprawled on the floor, his boots connected by a firm knot. “I don’t know what happened,” he sputtered as the waitress flocked to check on him.
Manny’s face was pure scarlet as he tried to hold in his laughter, while Sera hid her smile behind her napkin. Even Killian bit his lip to contain his amusement.
“Acceptable,” Elyse offered to Manny as she turned from the table.
As she strode away, she could feel Killian’s eyes on her back. But she didn’t turn, didn’t slow. She simply kept walking toward the stairs that led to sweet privacy.