Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
“No,” Estelle said with another cruel twist to her lips. “It’s her or nothing.”
“Then it’s nothing,” Graves said.
Estelle reared back in surprise. Kierse could see that she’d been certain that Graves would fold. That he would love nothing as much as his own pride and prize. But he’d gone against her script, proving to her that Kierse mattered to him and he wouldn’t use her as a bargaining chip.
“This is your answer?”
“Yes,” Graves said defiantly. “We will go if that is yours.”
“Ah, you think me devoid of hospitality. You will stay the night.” Estelle glanced between them in confusion. “If you would like.”
Graves turned to Kierse and held his hand out. “Come along.”
Kierse swallowed and then put her hand in his, letting him pull her against him. Her heart hammered in her chest, wondering if this had really been the right play.
“You will change your mind,” Estelle said.
“Don’t count on it,” Graves told her.
Chapter Six
They remained silent as Estelle’s servant escorted them to a small, grated elevator that whisked them to a higher floor, then led them down the hall to a wooden door.
“Your usual room,” the woman said.
“Merci,” Graves said. He pushed the door open for Kierse. “After you.”
She stepped inside and found a grand guest suite overlooking the Eiffel Tower, complete with an adjoining bath and a four-poster bed.
Kierse hastily turned away from the bed as Graves shut the door and pressed his hand against it. A second later, the crush of magic around them diminished. Kierse gasped in a breath. She hadn’t realized quite how oppressive it was until it was gone. The house was dripping in magic. Pervasive and all-consuming.
“Holy shit,” Kierse said as she sank into a chair. “How much magic is she using?”
“Too much,” Graves said. He shot her a wry look. “She’s showing off.”
“For you?”
“Me. You. It’s all a bluster.”
“She must be incredibly powerful,” Kierse said.
“She would like you to think so.” He swept his hand out, and for a second she could feel his magic wash over her and then disappear.
“Now who is showing off?”
“I don’t want her to be able to listen in.”
While Graves’s main magic was knowledge, his secondary magic was noise distortion. Even another master warlock wasn’t going to get through his magic to hear their conversation. Which was for the better. Since they were lying.
“That was quite a performance,” Kierse said.
His expression remained hard as he looked at her, but she could see a question in those swirling irises. As if he wasn’t quite sure whether she was complimenting him. “It went as planned.”
“Stirring,” she praised drily. “The way she was shocked that you’d risk your precious objects for a lover.” Kierse almost laughed. Instead, she bit the inside of her cheek and glanced away, inspecting the room. “When we both know you wouldn’t.”
“Hmm,” was all he said.
She flicked a glance at him and found him watching her. “What? Are you so surprised everyone knows you? I’m shocked you got away with a marriage ruse yet again. Perhaps it was just shocking enough to get her to believe it.”
“Perhaps it was,” he said stiffly. No expression change.
Kierse turned away again. No reaction from him shouldn’t matter. She wanted to get the cauldron for the thrill of it. If it cancelled out her debt for his help with the bracelet, then all the better. In fact, maybe he’d be in her debt. Wouldn’t that be a welcome change of pace?
“What did you see when you looked at her?” Graves asked.
“A woman no older than me. Mid-twenties at most, with dark hair down in waves around her shoulders, and violet eyes. She was wearing a red gown and gloves. Did she not look the same to you?”
“She’s talented in hiding her appearance when she wants to. She usually has the violet eyes, but the gown was different. An expensive tiered pink thing that she used to wear back in the day, and fancy heeled shoes I’d recognize anywhere. Her hair was coiffed into this big elaborate…” He trailed off as he held his hands above his head for emphasis. “I wasn’t sure how much of it was fake.”
“I thought you could see through her illusions?”
Graves shrugged. “I can parse the truth from her magic when I touch it. For instance, I knew that the room wasn’t a full falsity from the authentic fireplace. And I could tell her dress was false when she hugged me.” His gaze swept over her. “But you couldn’t see the shape of her illusions?”
“No. I could feel her magic, though.”
“Interesting.”
He said it like it was something she should be able to do. But she’d never been able to discern the nature of someone else’s magic, just that they were using it. She was pretty sure that was part of the magical intuition that was on the other side of her wisp abilities.