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As soon as Hugh wakes up, he begins to struggle against me, but it’s useless. He might have the gift of foresight, but seers cannot see their own futures. He had no fucking clue that one day I’d come knocking.

The idiot must’ve had his own future read by another seer at some point—all these guys do—but my guess is that his last reading was outdated. When someone gets their future read, it gives them agency to change that future. Hugh probably did change his future, and the ripple effects of that decision led him here, in the arms of yours truly.

I drop Hugh long enough to knock him out again, and then I sling him back over my shoulder. I head to Memnos, heading through its forests, towards the middle of the island. Creatures shriek and howl at the smell of Hugh’s dried blood. Deep in the Land of Nightmares are the Catacombs of Memnos, and at the heart of the catacombs is the Pit, where everything drops off into an abyss. The things that live there make even my blood curdle.

When I reach the Pit, I drop the unconscious Hugh at the rim of it and wait. It doesn’t take long. The reaves come first. These sickly, humanoid creatures are the gatekeepers of the place.

“It’s a human,” one of them says, curling his lip. Mortals just don’t have the same lifespan or magical capacity that fae do—at least most don’t. It makes playing with them brief and thus less fun.

I can’t do anything about his mortality, but, “He’s a seer,” I say.

They reconsider the man, tilting their heads this way and that. From the giant, gaping maw of the Pit, many different monsters begin to stir, some beginning to let out high pitched shrieks, others, low, moaning wails. There are even a few haunting cackles. All of the noises echo along the walls of the Pit before the deep trench gobbles up the noise.

“Aye, we’ll enjoy him.”

That’s what I thought.

I back away as creatures begin to climb out of the darkness, creeping ever closer to Hugh Anders, who’s now rousing. The calls begin to build on one another; this place is working itself up into a frenzy.

The seer blinks his eyes open, staring around him in confusion.

“I’m coming back in a day,” I say. “Short of death, he’s yours.”

The man, after all, needed to appear to have a heart attack.

Hugh’s eyes become wide and frightened as he takes in the dozens of shadowy creatures closing in on him. He doesn’t need to see his future to know he’s fucked.

I turn away from the man.

The last thing I hear is Hugh’s screams. I smile at the sound.

Chapter 15

My True Love

November, 8 years ago

“Bargainer,I’d like…”

I don’t even have to hear the full sentence, calling from me from far in the distance, to know who it is.

The sweet dulcimer sound of Callie’s voice instantly warms my blood and rouses my power.

My mate needs me.

I lean closer to my latest client, the slimy Politia officer who’s still trying to act brave despite the fact that the guy is considering stiffing me.

“You have two days to get me those files on Llewelyn Baines, just like we originally agreed,” I tell him. “Use them wisely.”

And then I vanish.

A moment later I materialize in Callie’s room. I hate myself a little that my heart pounds like a damn school girl’s the moment I’m near her.

Mysoulmate. That realization still knocks the breath out of me.

Her body is curled up on her bed, her back to me. From here I can see that she’s rolling her beaded bracelet around and around her wrist. The sight of all those favors she owes me, favors that will keep her in my life for a long time to come, fills me with both guilt and relief. She shouldn’t have to owe me anything, and yet I relish the fact that she’s already connected to me, albeit, through her debts.

The room smells … off, and from what I can see of Callie, shelooksoff—too flushed, too listless.