Page 3 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

Being an orphaned faeling had taught her many skills. The art of acquiring items that didn’t belong to her was one—and nobility were none the wiser at certain social events. No one watched for a lord’s betrothed; no one expected her to steal away into their pockets and relieve them of such obnoxious possessions.

She glanced at the counter. This one was almost insulting for how easy it was to thieve.

“The item, as discussed,” she dryly stated, as if she couldn’t care at all. “Now, give me what I bargained for or I’ll find another who has use for it.” White hair fell loosely from her hood in waves as she took a measured step forward, gripping her palm around the bag. Demanding sapphire eyes locked onto the green faerie’s claws that tapped one by one on the table.

Its eyes narrowed. “The fiancée of Kaine Dralkin, returning to make a deal? Tell me, does he know where his”—pausing and raking over the curves of her figure, those crimson eyes flashed from her black boots all the way to the cloak’s hood—“propertyis today?”

Glass shattered to her left, jerking her shoulder from the post, and she stiffened.

Three High Fae males with rippling muscles toweled by the cover of dark cloaks stood over a vendor. Likely hitmen. One forced and buried his knee into the vendor’s chest while silent chokes for air heaved from his lips. Gripping his throat with a raised fist while the others snickered.

Jasmine eyes raked over to her, and she quickly withdrew her gaze. She needed to get out of there. The clock was already ticking, along with the raindrops beginning to spit. And now she was in the midst of witnessing a possible deal gone wrong. She needed to leave before they had finished and quite possibly followed her out.

And if the High Fae males were not enough to send her nerves into an overwhelming panic,hisname was.

Lord Kaine Dralkin.

If any name could freeze over Firekeeper’s realm, that was it. It sent roaring rage tearing through her bones and a deep shudder across her skin. Instead of allowing him another moment of control over her body, she gritted back the warmth building in her palms and leaned forward with a snarl. “Stopwastingmy time. Either take it or I’ll find someone else.”

A wicked laugh echoed inside the canvas walls. Obviously amused at the nerve struck. Widening its smile, a taunting tone slithered from serpent lips. “My, my. How demanding… Very well. Ten coins, if it’s truly as you say it is.”

Just as expected. The incredulous snake was known for its shady deals and had offered an insulting proposition. Nobody honorable dealt business there. That wouldn’t prevent her from obtaining what she was promised. “It’s worth double that and you know it.”

“Yes, but seeing as you’re so deliciously desperate, that is my price. Take it or leave it. It makes little difference to me.” A green barbed tail swayed in front of the creature, its razor-sharp tip constricting around the satchel in her hand.

As she ripped the satchel away from it, she almost stumbled backward onto the street and noticed it beginning to darken with raindrops.

“Do you know what I had to risk to get this?” A foolish question. This faerie wouldn’t care. “Twenty coins. I’ll take no less.” She pinched her eyebrows, curling her lip to show gritted teeth. Taking less could not be a possibility. This was her last chance. If the deal fell through, there would be no hope—no escape.

Take the deal. Take the damn deal.

Walk away,now, her mind coldly growled. Laced with a gentle tingle, it caressed the endless walls of her mind like smoke dancing across the night sky.

“Fifteen.” Rain hammered against the roof.

“Twenty.” Thunder shook the stones beneath her feet.

“Seventeen—”

“Twenty-five”—a cunning grin—“and that blade. For wasting my time.” She gestured with a nod at the wall behind, flooded with various odds and ends that she didn’t care to know about. A black-bladed dagger hung. There was really no reason for it, but it amused her to see just how far she could push.

The faerie roared with laughter. “You have a spine on you, girl.” Claws tapped the table as crimson eyes speared her sapphires. “Very well.” It snatched the satchel from her hands before throwing a purse on the table. Then its barbed tail slid the dagger forward, coming to a stop before the table’s disintegrating edge.

She snatched what was owed to her so quickly her nails etched grooves into the wood. Shoving the dagger into her riding boot, the purse was shoved deep into the pockets of the leather pants next; she only wore such anunbefittingitem on outings such as this.

Without another word, her feet pivoted back to the busy stones of the rain-covered street and began to hustle away?—

“One last thing,” the faerie hissed.

But she didn’t turn back. Rain pelted her hood as she growled low. “The deal … isdone.”

“Is it?” A devilish laugh escaped its lips. “If you wish to walk out of here unannounced, as if you were never here at all, a future debt will be required. Whenever I call, wherever I will it, you will return here until what I deem is done. Swear it. Or your betrothed will learn of your activities.”

She glanced at the High Fae males ripping apart the stall down the street, avoiding the jasmine eyes of the one who simply stood and watched. “The deal is done.” Something like sparks lit in her eyes when she whipped her head over her shoulder, the movement catching the wind to disturb her white locks peeking out.

The serpent snickered. “I can sense your desperation, girl. I’m sure if Lord Kaine learned as to why you’re in the forbidden markets, he’d have you marked and thrown to the wolves. Or have you hauled off to the High King. Tell me, does he know that you’re a?—”

“Deal. It’s a deal.” A strong smell of smoke crossed her path as the green faerie grinned in delight. The shadows in the stall grew darker. And her blood threatened to empty.

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