Page 69 of Secrets of Graves and Gold

The daimon-man cocks his head. “So you want our help because we can do more than you can.”

I give his arm a light swat to try to tell him to ease up on the attitude, but Casimir speaks before I can. “Our friend might not be the politest of gentlemen, but he does raise our main concern. Why did you approach us? It’ll be easier for us to decide how to respond if we know where this conversation is going.”

Voleska clicks her tongue. “Straight to the point. Fine. You are clearly working with some impressive gifts. But we have the local connections. We could accomplish a lot more if we combined forces and tackled these assholes together.”

Julita lets out a skeptical sound. I don’t know. This bunch seems awfully… rough around the edges.

I restrain a snort. The small apartment Hanie found for us to squat in didn’t come with a mirror—my ghostly passenger has no concept of how scruffy I must look at this point.

Rough around the edges could be exactly what we need.

But we still have to be careful about it.

I raise an eyebrow. “We’ve gotten by all right without extra connections. What could yours tell us that we don’t already know?”

Emor smirks. “I’m sure you’ve heard all the victory celebrations, but did you know that one of the king’s magical advisors, a fellow named Lothar, has come with the latest troops to try to negotiate with the Order?”

Lothar—the royal advisor Stavros said specializes in potions… and hunting down riven sorcerers. The one who sacrificed an entire arm for whatever his gift is.

Has the king sent him to try to learn more about the scourge sorcerers’ illicit magic?

A chill ripples down my spine. “I didn’t know that, but how does it help us?”

“It shows how ineffective the royal army’s been,” Voleska says in a sneering tone. “Sending all these soldiers out here, and they either get cut down or have to retreat. At this rate, they’ll negotiate the whole province away just to save the rest of the country. We have to do something big.”

“That’s right.” Emor rubs his hands together. “And because we’ve lived here our whole lives, we also know the best ways to appeal to our neighbors. We just don’t have the power to speak to them without getting dragged off and tossed in a ditch. We need to show the people of Pima that someone can get the upper hand over the Order of the Wild.”

Voleska jumps back in with a triumphant smile. “And we know that the Order is planning some big meeting tomorrow morning. That’ll give us the perfect opportunity to make a stir when there are fewer of their stooges looking to bash dissenters’ heads in.”

I hadn’t known about the meeting either. A flare of hope lights inside me.

Casimir slips his hand around mine with a light squeeze as if to say he’ll stand with me. The subtle smile he shoots me suggests he’s ready to trust this bunch at least a little farther.

I’ve thought so many times about how difficult it’ll be for us to take on the scourge sorcerers alone. How can we dismiss any advantage that presents itself?

I let my lips curl with a small smile of my own. “I like the sound of that. Let us check with our companions, but maybe we can meet up later tonight and form a real plan.”

Twenty-One

Ivy

Icrouch on the ledge in the pre-dawn darkness, watching a devout cross the main temple room in the glow of the single, central lantern. He vanishes through the back doorway.

Like all towns and cities of decent size, Pima has one temple dedicated to the All-Giver and the nine lesser gods together. It’s nowhere near as impressive as the Temple of the Crown in Florian, but the vaulted ceiling and the statues watching from the alcoves below me still set my nerves wobbling.

I’m about to steal Nikodi’s greatest religious treasure from right under all the gods’ noses. Or right over their noses, as the case may be.

Hopefully they’ll feel the ends justify my means.

My ghostly passenger seems to be feeling similarly apprehensive.

Julita’s presence shivers in the back of my head. This is where I had my dedication ceremony and made my sacrifice to Creaden. I never thought I’d be back here just to pillage the place.

I speak under my breath, so quietly no one other than the soul lodged in my head could possibly hear the words. “They’ll get the artifact back afterward. I’d imagine Creaden would approve of you making sure your county isn’t taken over by questionable leadership.”

Julita makes a skeptical sound, but she doesn’t argue as I creep along the narrow ledge toward the decorative shield mounted on the wall high above the floor. The aged wooden surface tells the story of its significance with its carvings.

Supposedly, many centuries ago, the neighboring country of Bryfeen tried to steal Nikodi and the other nearby counties away from Silana. As the legend goes, the locals weren’t well-prepared enough to fight off the Bryfesh army on their own, and they were worried the royal forces wouldn’t reach them in time.

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