Page 40 of Of Sword & Silver

I suppress a shudder. Our favorite new friend was a nasty piece of work.

His gaze swings to me, unknowable, then away again. “How could I know what any of that means? The King of Diamonds? The spired city? It’s nonsense. Gibberish.”

My face scrunches up in confusion. “Are you being serious? It’s completely obvious.”

“Oh, of course it is,” he huffs, amused by me.

Except I’m not joking. This time, anyway. My foot taps against the floor, and I cringe when it sticks slightly.

Nasty piece of work, indeed. And now that nastiness is all over my favorite pair of winter boots. Also known as my only pair of winter boots.

“How long were you in Cottleside again?” I ask, confused by his confusion.

“Too long, too long I was away from the world,” he shakes his head, something odd in his tone.

“Ri-ight.” I stretch out the word. “Well, the King of Diamonds is worse than that fucker I just stepped on,” I jerk my thumb at the tomb behind the Sword. “The spired city is where he lives and runs his stupid little cohort of mercenaries and thieves.”

“Thieves?” He glances at me again, then his attention slides away just as quickly.

I look down at myself, wondering what it is he finds so suddenly offensive about my appearance. Maybe it’s the wound he bit open.

“Did you have to bite me?” I poke at the jagged tear in my wrist. I’ll have to put a poultice on that. Goddess only knows where that male’s mouth has been.

The sound of his footsteps stops.

“Yes,” he grinds out. “I did.”

“Charming ritual. I could have used my daggers?—”

“I just said I had to bite you. Your daggers wouldn’t have worked.”

“Sure.” I lean against the direcat, grinning up at him. He’s clearly annoyed and frustrated, and I’d be even more of a liar if I said I wasn’t enjoying seeing him out of sorts. “Or maybe you just wanted to put your mouth on me.”

His attention jerks to my face, then slides down to the wrist I’m still cradling against me.

“I mean,” I drawl lazily, “I don’t know what kind of weird sexual stuff you’re into, but I’d prefer if you didn’t bite me until I bleed next time. A little love bite is fine, you know? A little rough, sure, but not that rough.”

His cheeks pinken, and my jaw nearly drops in shock.

Got him.

I just… didn’t expect his embarrassment would be so… cute.

“It did not give me pleasure to hurt you,” he says in a low voice, then pivots away from me, continuing his pacing.

The direcat shoots me a mischievous look, like it understands, and I swear, this animal is way more intelligent than it should be.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” I say seriously, knowing it will bug him even more.

“Where is the spired city?” he demands.

If he thinks I’m not going to press my advantage, he’s wrong. I nearly laugh.

“Please,” I say instead.

“What?” He stops pacing, staring me down.

“Ask nicely,” I tell him mildly.

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