The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow (The Guild Codex: Unveiled #3)(19)

“Everything will be a bargain,” I told her. “Unless you’re planning to become a lot more generous. Then I might consider being ‘companions’ with you.”

With a soft laugh, she stroked my cheek, her sharp nails tickling my skin. “Naughty boy. But perhaps I’ll indulge you. What gift would you ask of me?”

Wariness flickered through me. Was she actually offering me something for free? What I wanted most was to know why she was interested in me. She wanted me to believe she was considering me as a potential consort, but I didn’t dare believe it. She was too insistent on hiding her presence from Bane.

“You’re offering me a gift?” I clarified. “With no debt or expectation of a favor later?”

“Entirely free,” she crooned. “To prove my sincerity.”

Nervous tension prickled down my spine, but I decided to take the risk. “A spell.”

Her eyebrows rose. “A spell?”

“Something small,” I said casually. “How about concealment? You’re always sneaking up on me, so you’re obviously good at it.”

“You think concealment is a ‘small’ spell?” she asked, amused.

“It’d be a good demonstration of what sort of magic I can bargain for later.”

Her amusement deepened. “As you wish, young druid.”

Warm, slender fingers curled around my wrist. The turning my palm to face the dark canopy of forest leaves, she pushed up my sleeve. A single druidic circle was tattooed on my inner wrist, visible even in the darkness.

She pressed her sharp nail into the center of the circle. Stinging pain sparked when she broke the skin, and as a drop of blood welled, a black rune spread through the empty circle. A thick, shivery wave of magic slid through my body, taking root.

“Touch this rune and utter my name,” she purred softly, “and for the next ninety-nine beats of your heart, you will be one with the darkness. As long as no light directly touches you, you will not be seen by humans or fae.”

I nodded.

She released my wrist. “I hope you appreciate my generous gift … and will be more generous in turn.”

Yeah, right. I wasn’t promising her gifts, generosity, or anything else. And I wasn’t thanking her. She’d said she hoped I’d be more generous, but she was really hoping I’d get stupid.

“I’ll see you around,” I said instead, since it was inevitable she’d seek me out again.

I walked through the trees, and her gaze followed me, a pressure between my shoulder blades, but when I looked back, she was gone. I continued forward, finding a familiar path. My steps slowed, my boots silent on the mossy ground. A light glimmered through the trees, and I picked out the silhouette of the small cabin where Bane and I lived. Adrenaline spiked through me. I stopped.

As I waited, my gaze drifted up. A dozen red-and-white talismans hung from the lower branches of a tree. They looked like tiny figurines with round heads and tassel-like skirts of loose yarn. Dozens of them swayed from the trees all around the cabin.

Minutes dragged past, then Keelar’s voice whispered in my mind.

Now. Go.

I sped forward as quietly as possible. I couldn’t sense Bane’s presence or any of his fae, and my vargs were keeping watch.

The cabin was tiny and simple. Bane had built it himself after choosing this forest as his new territory. I slipped through the wooden door. The main space was small—a crude kitchen, a table with two chairs, and storage shelves along one short wall. Stacked on the shelves were the reference texts on sorcery and alchemy I’d been studying for the past ten years. Bottles and jars, vials and pouches, wooden boxes and dried herbs—all the ingredients for my alchemy arrays were stacked with other Arcana paraphernalia.

A standing wood stove provided our only source of heat. In the corner, beside a straw mattress covered in blankets, was a small wooden chest that held my personal belongings, which amounted to basically nothing.

Light glowed beneath the door to Bane’s room, but I knew he wasn’t inside. My gaze flicked up, sweeping across the markings etched in the doorframe. Another red-and-white talisman was nailed to the door. They were wards against fae, not humans, but my heart still shuddered in my chest as I swung the door open. Light flooded out, and I squinted against it.

Unlike my crude mattress, Bane had built himself an actual bed and carried in a comfortable foam mattress for it. He had real pillows.

Ignoring the bed, I turned to his worktable. Books were stacked on one end, scrolls of ancient paper covered in fae writing beside them. Artifacts, vials, and small weapons were scattered across the rest of the tabletop.

Other people might’ve thought it was weird that Bane left important, dangerous belongings just sitting around in an unlocked room, but those people had no clue. Reaching this cabin unnoticed was impossible, and anyone dumb enough to set foot inside would never make it out again.

As for me, I could go anywhere and touch anything—if I dared. Which I didn’t. His punishments for disobedience kept me up at night even years later.

I crouched and reached under the desk. Tucked in the corner was a metal case the size of four of my largest Arcana textbooks stacked together. I slid it out. A small, basic lock hung from the front, a deterrent more than actual protection. Breath hissing through my clenched teeth, I slipped delicate tools from my pocket and went to work on the lock. It popped open. I flipped the lid up, then went still, listening hard.