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“Interested or not?”

“What does it do?”

She rolled her eyes, mumbling to herself. “The chit is asking for cards and doesn’t even know what they do.” Theatrics done, she fixed her frown on me. “It’ll hold off a vampire’s thrall for up to a week. Rare. Three goldpieces.No haggling.”

The last part was directed at the boy.

Thrall. The guard at Greymere had used the term. “What does that mean?”

“If you don’t even know what thrall is, you probably don’t need the damn card,” she huffed. “It’s how the bloodsuckers get you. One look in their red eyes and they can make you do anything. They can enthrall any person, void or witch, with just a single glance unless you have an enchantment. They’re rare too.Three pieces,” she repeated.

Did Raphael have that ability? The first night… he’d told me to look at him and ordered me to untie him. But I hadn’t felt compelled. Then again, Greymere blocked all witch magic. Perhaps it blocked the vampire’s powers too.

I handed over the gold and added the card to my stash, then headed out.

The bells chimed behind me.

“Say, why’s a pretty girl like you worried about vampires?”

The boy had followed me out.

I shrugged. “Um. Just paranoid.”

“And after all that work I did to save your gold.” He shook his head at me, but his smile said he was just teasing. “Name’s Thomas, by the way. Go by Tom to my friends and pretty ladies Darlene tries to take advantage of.”

Pretty. He’d called me that twice now.

He held his hand out to me, and I shook it, all the while my cheeks burned. His skin was warm, slightly callused but soft.

“I’m Sam,” I blurted, before I remembered to give him the same fake name I’d given the others. “Short for Samantha,” I added, trying to salvage it.

He eased in a bit closer. Not quite so close I felt like I needed to back up, but almost. “Sam. You blush real cute, Sam.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I stammered something that approximated words but meant nothing.

He grinned, like I hadn’t just made a fool of myself. “Will I see you around here much in the future, Sam? I’m hoping you say yes.”

For a moment, I let myself enjoy the conversation. Imagine a life where I could just meet a boy, flirt, and learn what kissing felt like.

A life where I wasn’t on the run after betraying my kingdom and conspiring with one of our deadliest enemies to infiltrate the City of Answers.

“Probably not, Tom.”

He reached for my hand. By reflex, I jerked back, but I was a bit too slow, and he caught my wrist.

“You and I could head out into the woods and have a little fun before you continue on your errands, then.” A dimple appeared in his cheek as he beamed down at me.

I blinked up at him, surprised by his forwardness. “Oh. Um. That’s okay.”

He flashed me another smile, though it was a little disappointed, then fished out a card fromhis own deck. Some kind of fast travel spell—likely not for big distances, though, because those were pricy.

“See you around then, Sam.”

The writing on the card faded as he activated it, the magic emerging, eager to complete its task. It engulfed him in a small tornado, lifting him high as the sudden wind slammed against me. Once there was no sign of him, I went off to the tavern to find Raphael. Sunset had settled over the town, darkness looming at the edges. I drew my cloak tighter around me. There might not be any ogres in town, but I was a scrawny woman who didn’t live around here, walking around in the dark.

With no small amount of self-loathing, I realized I actually missed having the vampire around. At least when he was nearby, he was the only thing I had to worry about.

Rowdy noises signaled the location of the tavern, light trickling from the frosted windows. I pushed the doors open, scanning for the vampire as I unhooked my cloak.