The Goblets Immortal, Beth Overmyer [novels to read for beginners .txt] 📗

be wraiths in these parts. Last thing folks here need is for goblins to be brought down on their heads.”

What was there to say to that? It had seemed like the goblins had sought him out specifically. Who was to say they wouldn’t find him again, this time in a town? “I’ll keep that in mind. In the meantime…what would you accept as a fair trade for a pound of pecans?”

The man snorted. “You ain’t got the collateral. An’ this here fine young lady seems more than likely to give me proper business.”

At this Aidan turned, half-expecting to see Slaíne, though the Pull was all wrong – too weak and brittle in all the wrong places. Without thinking, he Summoned the silver sword into his hand.

It was the seer he had met at Prewitt Manor.

Chapter Ten

The seer was paying with a set of crystal candlesticks, which she drew from a tattered carpet bag. She paid no mind to Aidan, nor did any of the shopkeepers.

Good. No one had seen him Summon the blade; his secret was safe. But he would not be safe long if he did not find Slaíne and flee…if there was anywhere safe left in the world.

“I’ll be with you in a moment, Mr. Powell,” said the seer without turning. “But yes, why don’t you run inside and fetch that young miss? I’ll be wanting to talk with her as well.”

The salesmen gave strange looks as Aidan hid the sword behind his back – Dismissing it out of sight – and ran around the side of the building. He didn’t care. He needed to find that blasted girl. Where had she gone off to?

She was sitting on the shop steps, three paper parcels resting in her lap. Upon seeing him, she picked up the packages by the strings, as if afraid they would bite her. “Mr. Aidan, you look like you’ve seen a wraith.”

“We need to leave, Slaíne. They’ve found me.”

Slaíne’s eyes grew wide with fear, before lighting up with a fierce excitement. “Meraude is here, is she? I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Where is my….” Her voice trailed off as a frown formed on his face. “What? No Meraude?” Her face paled. “Oh goodness, the nymph creatures didn’t find us again? I didn’t think they was really dead—”

He grabbed her by the elbow and steered her into an ally on the other side of the bakery. “No, Slaíne, Lord Dewhurst is here.”

It was her turn to frown. “Lord who?”

Aidan rolled his eyes as she shook off his grip on her arm. “Just the man who says I murdered his family.” Only after the words left his mouth did Aidan realize Slaíne would have no idea what he was talking about. He had never filled her in on that particular part of his history.

“Lord Thing says you murdered someone?”

“Lord Dewhurst, and yes. He’s here. Or, at least, his servant is. We haven’t much time before they find me, and then I’m a dead man.”

It seemed to take a moment for her to process the new information, and when she did, she looked angry. “All right. We sneak out an’ all, but then you’re explainin’ what’s really going on.”

Aidan nodded. “Fair enough. Now hurry.” He Dismissed her parcels so they wouldn’t hinder her, and they ran for the end of the alley…which ran into a dead end right around the corner where it abutted another building.

“Lord Ingledark,” said the seer, who’d crept into the alley behind them, “I come in peace.”

He paid the witch’s words no mind, but again Summoned Slaíne’s silver blade from Nothingness and pushed the girl behind him. “Where’s your master?”

The seer’s shoulders heaved. She looked much older than when he’d last seen her. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but she seemed to have aged twenty years. “If my so-called master were here, milord, wouldn’t you know it?”

She made a fair point. If any Pull was familiar, it would be Lord Dewhurst’s; Aidan had been actively avoiding the man for the better part of his life. Still, her word alone wasn’t worth going on. He kept the blade raised. “What do you want?”

“Who are you?” Slaíne surprised Aidan by asking the seer. She seemed more curious than afraid, as if Aidan’s suggestion of the woman being dangerous wasn’t enough for her. Aidan hoped she wouldn’t have to find out for herself.

“You mean to run me through, eh, milord?”

“Some sorcerer,” Aidan spat. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the woman, though he could feel Slaíne moving around him.

The middle-aged woman laughed, of all things. “Sorcerer? You should know better than to believe that for a second, Lord Ingledark.”

“Stay back, Slaíne.”

The girl did not heed his words, but moved around him before he could grab her with his free hand. “Do I know you?”

The seer frowned. “No. But I know you.”

Wherever this was going, Aidan was certain he wasn’t going to like it. He moved cautiously as his traveling companion stepped closer to the strange woman. “She’s not safe. She’s betrayed me once already.”

The woman sighed. “Yes, and for that I am sorry. I had not had my bonds broken then.”

Aidan groaned as Slaíne moved in far too close to the woman. “I really wouldn’t—”

The girl waved him off, all attention on the seer. “What bonds? Like a curse?”

For all the smarts Aidan thought the girl possessed, she was behaving foolishly. Any closer and she’d be within attacking distance from the seer. Slaíne, he knew, had no weapons. The girl was defenseless, so with that thought in mind, Aidan reached into Nothingness and Summoned one of his copper daggers, discreetly so that neither woman would notice. One thought, and he could send the dagger flying at its intended mark…if only he knew that Slaíne would not get in the way.

As if answering his thoughts, the seer said, “You hit the girl in the back with the dagger, milord. Right when you think the shot is clean.”

Slaíne turned with