Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
T he village was nestled in the foot of an emerald-green hill.
Neve pulled her hood up as they entered the settlement. Now that one assassin had sought her out, she was fearful of everyone she saw. Although the village was small and sleepy, there was also no way to fully blend in.
Eleksi directed the horse to the village stables. They dismounted with their scant belongings, and he passed the reins and a few coins to the stableboy.
“Do you have another horse I might buy?” he asked the boy. “For tomorrow morning.”
“Aye, I’ve several. I’ll have another one saddled up and ready for you.”
Eleksi directed Neve toward the village square. “We can’t go straight to Klatos, because I have a stop to make along the way. But it won’t take long and we’ll have enough time.”
“Fine. No, wait. What kind of a stop?” She slid her finger across the front of her throat. “ That kind of stop?”
Eleksi smirked, his eyes darting around the sun-filled square. “Subtle. No one could possibly decode your gesture.”
“Well, is it? Kidnapping me is one thing, but I’m not prepared to assist you in your . . . vocation.”
“It’s not that. But it is important.”
“Hmm. Alright. I don’t suppose I have much choice but to tag along.”
“And I haven’t kidnapped you. I’ve removed you from Starlight Gardens for your own protection.”
“My knight in shining armor.”
The village inn was a two-story building made of beige stone, with a red tiled roof.
“Whenever we meet anyone, let me do the talking,” he said as they stepped beneath the shade of the entrance awning. “If I need to neutralize any suspected threats, I implore you to make yourself scarce.”
“What if I can help, though?”
“Try to avoid the urge.”
“But do you really go around ending peoples’ lives just because you suspect they’re a threat?” she demanded in a scandalized whisper, leaning forward. “And why do you get to be in charge?”
Eleksi shrugged. “I’m better at assessing risk than you are.”
“Says who?”
“Me.”
“I think not.”
Eleksi stroked his stubbled jawline while he considered her, his silver ring glinting. “Neve, you live at Starlight Gardens. You spend your days studying and conjuring and swanning around your chambers in indecently sheer red silk nightgowns. That qualifies you for a good many things—” He paused, dragging his gaze over her body. Her mouth fell open in outrage. “—but it does not necessarily qualify you for assessing risk. Do you know what does?” He leaned down and mimicked the cadence of her scandalized whisper. “Being an assassin.” Reaching over her head, he opened the door to the inn. “Now, come. You need to lie down.”
“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” she muttered, pushing past him into the cool shadows of the foyer. She rounded on him when he joined her. “Tell me the truth and say you didn’t watch me bathe.”
“Ah, well.” A wicked grin lit his face. “Do you want me to tell the truth, or do you want me to say I didn’t watch you bathe?”
Neve’s face flushed. The thought of him watching her without her knowledge was horrifying, of course. And yet, somehow it also made her stomach flutter.
An older lady with white hair looked up from sorting room keys to greet Neve and Eleksi. “Welcome. How can I help you?”
“I’ll take two rooms for the night, please,” said Eleksi.
The innkeeper chortled. “Will you just? I can’t help you, I’m afraid. Yours was snapped up the moment you checked out yesterday, and we’ve no more. The roads are busy, what with everyone traveling for the Harvest Festival.”
She tapped the hand-scrawled sign tacked to a board behind her. No vacancy .
Neve’s shoulders sagged. If she didn’t rest soon, she thought she might have to curl up on the floor and sink into unconsciousness. Using her deathly ability had been punishing on her system. It was taking her far longer to recover than from casting regular magic.
Eleksi was unperturbed. He reached into his cloak and withdrew a handful of solid gold coins. Their value was far more than any room was worth.
The lady’s eyes bulged as he plunked the coins onto the counter in front of her.
“Are you sure you have no rooms?” he asked. “None at all?”
Her gaze stayed on the gold. “I suppose I don’t want to be hasty.” She swept the coins off the counter, glancing around the foyer. “Look, I’ll tell you what. You can have my suite for the evening. My sister lives here in the village and I can bunk with her.”
Leaning against the counter, Neve almost whimpered in relief.
Eleksi bowed his head. “I appreciate it very much.”
“I made the bed up with fresh sheets this morning.” She slipped the gold coins into her dress pocket and patted them. “Let me just fetch my belongings and the room is yours.”
The innkeeper shuffled down a hallway, out of sight, and returned less than a minute later with a knapsack.
“There you go.” She handed a bronze key to Eleksi. “Whenever you’d like to leave in the morning is fine.”
“But where—” started Neve.
“Thank you,” said Eleksi, interrupting her. “You’ve been very helpful.”
“End of the hallway, on your left,” said the innkeeper with a rosy-cheeked smile.
Eleksi opened the door to the suite and they stepped inside. The room was small but well-appointed, with a plush bed, a fire crackling in the hearth, a washroom behind a curtain, and a wooden rocking chair. Standing in the doorway, he passed the suite key to Neve.
“I’ll come for you in the morning.” He took several more gold coins from his jacket and put them in her palm. “Order food from the tavern next door, then sleep.”
She raised her eyebrows. “But what on earth will you do?”
“Sleep in the stables. Plenty of hay.”
Neve looked to the cozy bed and back again. “You can’t do that. It’ll be freezing overnight.”
“I’ve slept in plenty of worse places.”
“But you paid for the room.”
Eleksi squinted. “I did. But the gold was, well . . . ”
She shook her head, mystified. “What? Fake?”
“No, it’s real. Royal gold always is.”
At once, Neve understood. “It’s the gold you were paid to kill me.”
“Aye.” He had grace enough to look ashamed, rubbing the back of his neck and grimacing. “The least I can do is give you the bed.”
Neve sighed. “Be that as it may, you don’t realize how bad you look. Your skin is gray and you still have dark marks on your throat. I worry you’ll die in your sleep if you have to bunk in a stable, and it’ll be my fault.”
“But I survived what you did to me. I’ll be alright now, won’t I?”
She kneaded her fingers together. “That’s the thing, I don’t know. What I did to you, I’ve never done to anyone. Not to that extent. Please, just stay in here. We can use the bed in shifts. While one sleeps, the other can take the chair by the fire.”
His penetrating eyes searched hers. “You’d feel comfortable sleeping with me in the room?”
“If you’re concerned, I could weaken your body first by draining more of your essence?”
Without taking his eyes off her, he kicked the door closed. “Little witch, that isn’t the threat you think it is.”