The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)(8)
What kind of man could shut a door with the snap of his fingers? He couldn’t be from Morcant, because only the females of royal lineage had magic there. He couldn’t be from Vallé de Lumé, because it was a sorceress, not a wizard, who controlled the land.
That meant he had to be fae.
And that meant Thad was in way over his head.
Thad took another step toward the man. “Open that door and leave us be. We’ve settled our terms. I owe you nothing for the next nine years and eleven months.”
Ari stared at Thad, her mind racing to make sense of his words and coming up empty. The panic she’d felt in the ballroom earlier snaked through her veins again, sending her heart racing. What was going on?
The man smiled. “Didn’t read the fine print, did you?”
Thad froze.
“Why do you think I wanted a king in my debt?”
Thad glanced at Ari, his gaze haunted.
The man closed the distance between them. “The fine print, my boy, says that you are to do nothing to impede my business in your kingdom. You cannot interfere with my activities. This is simply a courtesy visit to let you know that there will be a little trouble at the docks tomorrow morning, and that you are to order the city guard to stand down. In fact, stand them down in the merchant district as well. Not just tomorrow, but for the foreseeable future.”
Ari glared at the man while her heart pounded. She didn’t know what kind of business he had in Súndraille, but if he didn’t want Thad’s interference, it was likely he was part of the growing wave of crime and violence Thad’s new subjects desperately wanted him to end.
“And if I don’t?” Thad’s voice was full of the kind of bravado he used when he knew he’d been beaten but was refusing to admit it.
The man’s smile winked out. “Then you will pay your debt in full. Immediately. And nobody survives that.”
Thad’s shoulders bowed, and the man snapped his fingers again. The door flew open, and the guards tumbled out, but the man turned and disappeared into the darkness.
“We should go back inside,” Thad said quietly. “People must be looking for us by now.”
Ari dug in her heels and pulled him to a stop when he tried to move toward the ballroom. “That’s it? No explanation for the creepy little man with the debt he’s holding over your head?”
“No.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” She glared at him. “Did you see what he did with the door? He has to be fae. Why are you mixed up with someone who can do magic? And what did he mean when he said that when you pay your debt in full, you won’t survive?”
Thad met her gaze, his expression fierce. “I was backed into a corner, and I had to make a bargain with him. It’s my problem, and I’ll deal with it. But you are going to stay out of this, and whatever you do, you are going to stay far away from Alistair Teague. Promise me.”
“Fine. I’ll stay away from Teague.” It was an easy promise to make. Teague made her feel like she was dangling by a thread over a deep, black hole. But if Thad thought she was going to stay out of this and ignore the threat to her brother, he was a fool. It was the two of them against the world; and the last thing Thad needed to deal with on top of questions about the legitimacy of his kingship and an economy shaken by a spike in crime was a fae threatening him over a bargain.
She couldn’t stop the nobility from questioning Thad’s ability to rule. She couldn’t stop criminals from targeting Súndraille’s cities. But she could figure out what kind of fae creature Alistair Teague was, and maybe that would help Thad figure out how to get free of him.
As a group of Draconi who appeared to be close friends of the Eldrian king spilled out into the garden, laughing and dancing, Thad straightened his shoulders, nodded to Cleo as she snatched up her tray of fizzy wine, and then took Ari’s arm and gently steered her toward the ballroom.
Ari stayed by his side, smiling until her face felt like it would never resume a normal expression and gritting her teeth at the barbed questions and insinuations many Súndraillians tossed at her brother.
Thad was going to have to make time in his busy schedule to have a heart-to-heart with her about whatever bargain he’d struck. In the meantime, she’d start asking questions about Teague. If a fae creature with magical power was in Súndraille, someone would’ve heard of it.
If Teague thought he was going to use the bargain he’d made with Thad to take her brother’s life, he was going to have to go through Ari first.
THREE
ALISTAIR TEAGUE SURVEYED the docks with cold satisfaction.
Deckhands hauled boxes of freight up the long ramps that led from the dock to the ships rocking gently in their berths along the inner harbor. Merchants scurried around piles of goods, issuing orders, while the ships’ captains called out commands to check rigging and move lively. At the mouth of the dock, where the weather-beaten planks met the crushed seashell road that edged Kosim Thalas, the harbormaster stood with a schedule of departures and arrivals in his hands.
Not a single city guard in sight.
The sun crept higher, tearing through the early morning mist with pale fingers. Flocks of seabirds cawed as they swooped over the golden waves of the Chrysós, diving to snatch fish with their sharp beaks. Alistair allowed himself a small smile. Like a seabird, he was prepared to descend on his prey without warning.