Page 36 of Queen of Wrath

My eyes darted up to the person responsible, and my heart all but stopped. He was still holding on to my arm as we stared at each other.

I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

“Are you alright? I heard you yelling.” Zane frowned down at me. “The potions market is not for the faint of heart, as I’m sure you’ve realized by now.”

He was probably trying to crack a joke to cut the awkward tension between us, but I couldn’t bring myself to even crack a smile.

“I certainly didn’t expect it to be like this,” I said curtly, yanking my arm free and turning my face away from him. “I was completely fine on my own, though.”

He gave a light chuckle, not saying anything more about it, but his eyes were clearly making fun of my I-wasn’t-as-helpless-a-woman-as-I-looked act. With my disguise in place, it wasn’t as if he could recognize me, but the more skeptical part of me warned me to be careful, that I should turn around and leave, but I couldn’t help the okay-you-caught-me smile I flashed at him in return.

From what I remembered about Zane, he had always been unusually perceptive, and possessed a frightful tendency to get to the bottom of things disturbingly fast.

“I take it you're not from around here,” he said, folding his hands behind his back. It made him seem unassuming, as if he wasn’t up to anything but innocent curiosity.

Luckily, I’d gone over my cover story about a gazillion times, so even Zane, and his sneaky way of wringing information out of people, wouldn’t be able to catch me out. “Am I that obvious?” I laughed, looking out over the crowd still milling right by us. “I only moved here a few months ago. A lot of things in Theskin are still new to me.”

“How refreshing to hear. I don't know very many people who weren't born and raised in the city.” He gave me a genuine smile, and I was reminded of how his mere presence had always brought great comfort to me.

He’d been that kind of guy for as long as I could remember. The guy everyone trusted and relied on for anything.

It looks like the city hasn’t changed him at least. That’s good.

“It sounds like you need to get out more.”

This elicited a laugh from him. He looked like he hadn't done so, not truly, not in a long while. “I'm sure you're right.” Then a look of longing replaced it. “Life has a way of keeping you stuck, steering you away from your dreams and the people you wanted to share it with…”

What? This wasn’t entirely the same easygoing Zane from my childhood after all. Hadn’t I just seen him with a beautiful little family the other day? He had two children, who were still alive and well, and an adoring wife. What more could he ever want?

His eyes widened once he realized what he’d said. He stood straight as he nervously scratched the back of his head, giving me a sheepish smile. “I'm sorry, I don't know why I just divulged all of that to you.”

“Don't worry about it. I tend to have that effect on people. If an outlet is needed, I might as well lend an ear, right?” I knew better than to allow this conversation to continue, but the familiarity I felt with him was simply too comforting to let go of just yet. I wanted to stay with him for a little longer. “Perhaps you can help me find what I need while you tell me more?”

“Sounds like a deal.” He gave me a gentle smile and offered me his arm.

Even if Zane wasn’t aware of it, he was offering me a chance to be Lea again, if only for a few secret moments. With a bright smile spreading across my face, I wrapped my fingers around his arm and let him lead me into the crowd once more.

With every step, we were shoved closer together. At first, it was nice, like a warm embrace, but then I couldn't breathe anymore.

Zane pulled his arm away for a moment, only to wrap it around my back an instant later. “The crowd is in rare form today. How about we try this instead?”

I watched as Zane’s other hand pulled out a small golden hoop, almost like a child's bracelet, with a black stone in the middle. I looked on in confusion as the black stone began spinning.

Zane held it to his lips and blew on it.

Suddenly, a stiff wind swept through the crowd and churned around us like a tornado.

The dirt from the floor kicked into my eyes, and I hid my face in Zane's chest.

The wind only continued for a handful of seconds longer before everything went dead silent. It wasn't just the wind that had ceased. All movement had disappeared as well. It was so quiet that the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

I pulled my face away from Zane’s chest and looked around to see that we were still in the marketplace, but…there was no one around!

The stalls had remained, as well as the items stacked upon them, but the people were nowhere to be seen.

Even the sky had gone completely dark. It was as if Lunair’s light had been swallowed by a passing giant, never to return.

“What is this place?” I looked up at Zane, confusion and fear gripping my heart, but he quickly placed a finger over my lips. He then leaned in close, lowering his mouth to my ear. “You can look for what you want here, but you’ll have to be very quiet. We've entered a different plane of existence. If they hear you, they'll come.”

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