Page 18

Chapter 18

Tully

W hen I wake, I smell one thing.

“Pickles?” Why do I smell pickles?

I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I’m still woozy; the world is a touch blurry, but I feel much better. Nothing like a nice little pass out. I snort at myself and lift my wrists. Someone has given me bracelets made of twine braided with sprigs of dill.

A knock sounds at the door. “Come in.”

Halvard pops his big head in. “Tully, you all right?”

“I’m fine. Where’s Argos?”

“He’s in the kitchen. He just booked an event with the brewmaster’s guild. He impresses me if I’m honest. So much going on at the moment and he still has a head for a business opportunity.”

Heat creeps up my neck. “And just what did he promise to do at this event?”

“His illusions, of course. I’m sure you saw them lately, right? Amazing stuff.”

I stand and roar as best a witch can. Halvard’s eyes go wide.

“What’s wrong?”

I push past him. “Argos is what’s wrong. He knows he can’t use those stones anymore. For Blessed Stones’ sake, we don’t even have them in our possession!”

Halvard doesn’t follow me too closely. He used to be a warrior with the king’s army, but he gave that up and seems keen to stay out of trouble. Wise of him to give me a wide berth when I’m riled up like this.

“Argos!” I storm into the pub’s small kitchen.

The minotaur is there tinkering with some bizarre contraption of metal tubing, a pipe bringing heat from the pub’s wood-burning stove, and loads of large glass jugs.

“Hello, Mistress Witch. Are you feeling better? Unfortunately, we didn’t find out anything during our questioning of the staff. I heard you had a nap,” he says quickly, not turning around.

“I passed out locating the mirror and the khymeia.”

He whirls and opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

“I can’t believe you’re still trying to book events,” I snap. “You know you can’t use the khymeia even if we do get them back.”

“I don’t know. We can experiment once we deal with the mirror.”

I growl and bare my teeth. “They’re dangerous. I thought you had learned that. They’re made of the same stuff as the dammed mirror!”

He shrugs. “We’ll see. I’m sorry you passed out. If I had known that, I’d have sent Delixian back up to your room.”

“I assume he put these on me?”

“Yes, he seems like a great healer. Your town is lucky.”

“I don’t feel lucky right now. We are stuck in a mess of thundersnow and the thieves who stole the magical artifacts are at Rustion’s doing only the Blessed Stones know what.”

Argos stops fiddling with his machine. “You found them?”

“I did.”

“How?”

“I used my witch’s third eye. I can travel beyond my body and see energy signatures.”

“Wow. That’s wonderful. Can all witches do this?”

“No.”

“I knew you were special.” His lips twist up into a grin and his eyes twinkle. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I am mad again if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Because of the event planning?”

“Yes.” I huff and study his contraption, refusing to look at the way his slightly sweaty shirt clings to his large pectoral muscles. I will not lower my gaze… “You’re a fool, Argos.”

“But I have to get the funds. You know the truth now.”

I grit my teeth, hating the grief and worry straining his handsome eyes. “We will get that money without using the khymeia.”

“We’ll talk more about it once we get them back. Now, I want to show you something.” He turns back to his little project.

“Great. You’re tinkering in the kitchen when we should be sending messages to the town guard about the artifacts.”

“I have a good reason.”

“What reason could you possibly have that’s more important than finding our stolen items?”

“You.”

I blink. “What?”

“This is a distillation system. I found about a pound of dried dill in Cyrus’s storeroom and I’m distilling it to gather the essential oil. Once I have that in hand, I can make you a better bit of jewelry to wear so you’ll be protected from draining.”

The wind goes right out of my angry sails. “I…”

“I make it tough to hate me, right?”

“You do.”

“You’ll find a way. I believe in you.”

I laugh. “Shut up, Minotaur.”