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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

O ur journey through the wilderness of Pyros had been longer and more tiresome than either of us had anticipated and we’d been forced to backtrack more than once to lose the hunting parties who still searched for us.

It was infuriating not being able to face them but with our magic burned out and the numbers against us, fighting them hadn’t been a risk we could afford.

So it was with more than a little relief that, after almost two full weeks of travelling - the last days of which had been without food thanks to our supplies running out – we finally made it onto one of the huge roads which criss-crossed the rugged landscape of Pyros.

We’d skirted the city and were circling back towards civilisation in the hopes that no one would connect us to the bloodshed at the outpost.

We’d joined the western road leading to Leergaith just before the wide bridge which crossed the Hivard River. It stood ahead of us, flanked by its two stone monoliths of Phoenixes, their wings aflame at their backs.

I tugged on my hood, making sure my features were hidden in its shadow as we slipped into the throng of Fae all making their way to and from the city.

I was desperate to find somewhere to rest and eat and bathe.

I’d done my fair share of travelling like this but I’d never gotten used to the feel of dirt and dry sweat plastered to my skin, the need for a bath consuming me even more deeply than my desire to sate my growling stomach.

Magic felt like a buzz in the air around me and I let myself take a sip of it, drawing a sliver of power from the desires of the many Fae who were passing along this well-travelled stretch of road.

Crowds often overwhelmed me when I wielded my gifts among them, and I fought the urge to wince as a combination of pressing wants closed in on me.

Hunger, thirst, lust, healing, warmth, silence, coin – every Fae here wanted one thing or another and my head spun as their desires began to impact my own.

Vesper.

I glanced around, once again convinced that I’d heard someone calling to me, this time from the road ahead.

But there was nothing there just as there had been nothing there among the trees we’d crept through to get here or in the fog as we’d waded through swamp water.

Perhaps I was losing my mind to my grief, imagining my sisters calling out to me even though I knew they never would again.

I forced myself to focus on my immediate surroundings and for what felt like the hundredth time, forget the whispers of my imagination.

A big bastard slammed into me as he passed, knocking me aside while my attention was skewed. I snarled at him, biting down on the words I wanted to hurl his way as our need for secrecy forced me to remain silent about the offence.

Bastian seemed less inclined to care about going unnoticed though. He reached out to grab the man’s cloak, yanking him back by it so forcefully that he fell to the rough cobbles at my feet with a cry.

“Mind where you’re walking,” Bastian snarled at him, his own hood down and features on show. Clearly he had no fear of being recognised but I was less fortunate in that regard.

The bastard lurched to get up but Bastian slammed a foot to his chest, forcing him down again with a growl that betrayed the beast beneath his flesh.

Fae were starting to look our way, drawn by the prospect of a show.

I sighed, slipping away into the crowd with my head down, not needing to witness what came next because male bravado had long since lost its appeal to me.

I’d endured enough of it in the training ranks of the Sinfair and if there was one thing I knew about big, strong idiots throwing their weight around to gain superiority over the other, then it was that it meant next to nothing in real battle.

Posturing was the kind of time-wasting bullshit that only ever got you ki-

I ducked as something big and screaming was hurled over my head before splashing loudly into the river beyond the stone Phoenix statues. The Fae who had shoved me surfaced a moment later, spluttering and cursing. Bastian caught up to me, draping an arm over my shoulders.

“Subtle,” I grunted as I shoved his arm off of me and stalked up onto the bridge.

“That’s where so many spies go wrong, my sweet spectre. They think skulking in the shadows makes you less suspicious, when truly the least suspicious of all are those who choose to draw attention to themselves.”

“Sounds like bullshit to me,” I muttered, glancing up at the ramshackle stalls which crowded either side of the bridge selling fresh produce and grain, offering services of protection or guidance through the city, the use of horses and carriages alike.

My eyes met with a vendor selling fresh bread and I quickly glanced away but it was too late.

“Oh salacious salamanders, never before have my eyes beheld such wonderous beauty!” the man called, lurching forward and knocking several buns from the edge of his stall.

I cursed, reaching for his desires, shoving aside his sudden lust for me and finding the urge to protect his wares from thieves just beneath it.

I yanked on that while also tugging on the hunger of a group of street kids who were skulking by the edge of the bridge at the same time.

My own stomach growled as I looked at the fresh rolls scattering to the ground but we couldn’t risk the attention of getting caught thieving so close to the city gates and I forced myself not to lunge for any of them myself.

The kids made a dash for the bread and the vendor started shrieking at them, flames bursting from his hands as he warned them back and I strode away into the crowd once more.

“My buns!” the man wailed. “My plump and crusty buns!”

“Subtle,” Bastian taunted as he kept pace with me easily and I took care to keep my eyes to the ground.

We escaped the chaos of the bridge, the road quieting a little as it straightened out and the city finally appeared ahead of us.

I was overdue a night in a proper bed and now that I could somewhat trust Bastian not to try and run from me in the night, I planned on sleeping the moment we found ourselves somewhere safe to rest.

The magic I’d gathered as we walked swelled within me bit by bit until finally I had collected enough to create an illusion with it. I’d worked hard on perfecting this magic while at Never Keep and already had a preferred shape for the cast in mind.

I lifted my hand and slowly ran it down my face, altering my features and hiding them beneath a mask of plainness, disguising the allure of my Succubus nature until at last, I felt confident enough in my work to look up at the Fae who travelled the road close to us.

“Nicely done,” Bastian said as he regarded me, though his compliment didn’t feel all that genuine.

“Are you certain you won’t be recognised here?” I asked for what must have been the tenth time, but he only snorted dismissively.

“Do you have any idea how long I spent down in that cave?”

“Were you a child when you were captured?” I asked.

“No,” he replied without elaborating and I shook my head, not caring enough to push him on his less-than-forthcoming answers. If he didn’t want to tell me then that was fine. No doubt we both had demons which were better off buried in our pasts.

We fell into silence as the crowd closed in around us and a line formed to gain entry to the city.

There were a group of six guards at the gates, a legion of fifty or more lining the walls above and no doubt a hundred more within earshot inside the walls should any trouble break out.

We’d all played at war for long enough to know to man our cities well at all times.

This would be the real test of our skills of deception and I only hoped that Bastian remained as quick-witted beneath the steely eye of interrogation as he was with cutting quips aimed to strike at me.

I ground my jaw as I eyed the long line ahead of us, merchant carts filled with wares from the outlying farmlands took up the majority of the queue. Each of them were being hunted methodically to check for stowaways or the like and my patience for timewasting was already growing thin.

I considered Bastian’s claim that drawing attention wasn’t always a bad thing when trying to go unnoticed and decided to test it for myself.

I elbowed past the farmer whose cart stood directly before us, baring my teeth at him in warning as he barked a complaint.

Bastian made a sound of amusement before following me willingly enough and I pushed past every vendor, farmer and hapless Flamebringer peasant who stood between us and the gates until we’d made it to the front of the line.

“Names?” a guard barked, his focus on the ledger he was scrawling in while his counterparts waved the wagon they’d just inspected through the gates.

“Destiny, because I’ll change the course of yours within the space of an hour if you can afford me,” I purred in my most seductive voice, coiling my gifts around the tendrils of unsatisfied lust that clung to the man and tugging on them just enough to make him look up from his scribbling and focus on me instead.

“And this is Aries,” I gestured to Bastian at my side dismissively.

“You know, like the great ram because he can ram your back d-”

“Real names, not pleasure house pseudonyms,” the guard grunted, though his lust spiked at my insinuations and he eyed me with more interest. “And drop the illusion before I rip it from you.”

My lips parted on a breath of surprise and I glanced at the red crystals embedded in the gate beside him, each of them pulsing slowly with inner light and clearly giving away the use of my magic.

“Apologies,” I said quickly. “My sinmaster demanded I hide my face from all except those with coin enough to see it.”

“Not just her face,” Bastian chipped in unhelpfully. “He’ll hunt you down and carve your eyes out if you try to claim a free look at her breasts.”