Page 31 of The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil

“Okay, there’s Elena’s Emporium, which means we need to go left.” Walter guided us through Mercury’s Marketplace, the veiled magical place of commerce, a secret collection of shops and businesses catering to all those in the Mythic and mage communities. I’d allowed him to lead because of his annoyingly detailed itinerary, which he pestered me about the entire morning, even declaring we didn’t have time to walk through Pike Park Market, the mortal neighborhood where the main entrance to Mercury’s could be found.

I’d always enjoyed the delightful collection of food vendors flooding Pike Park, with so many wonderful flavors to mix and match and devour. Unfortunately, since my time in the orb, they’d built a field called a Lumen, where mortals infested and bellowed beyond reason to the point my dimmed senses could still hear the faintest echoes of their roars from miles away and behind the glamoured wall of Mercury’s Marketplace.

I adjusted my sunglasses, keeping my presence discreet in Mercury’s, which meant no Diabolic features on display. Not that many would notice on this bustling dirt street cluttered with cumbersome crowds of people. Many Mythics had their own unique features, from the winged harpies’ offering patrons a sample of their perfumes, to the gorgon soliciting passersby palm readings at her small shop, all the way to the shouting centaur selling kabobs. All the stores were cramped and crowded, built too close to or on top of each other. It made me grateful I’d turned off my brain receptors for air since there was no room to breathe.

Which was also why I demanded Walter and I meet his brother here. According to Riley’s tucked away memories, both the mage Collective and Mythic Council struggled to reinforce full order in this hidden territory, far from the reach of humans. Mercury’s Marketplace proved an easy place to get lost or disappear. Something we’d need when Walter’s plan backfired.

“Looks like he’s not there yet, so we should stay out of sight.” Walter snatched my hand, dragging me behind him through the crowd and into an alleyway. Sure, his grip was firm, but his skin was so soft.

“Why are we hiding?” I whispered in his ear. The sensation tickled the back of mine, so I knew it left little Walter flustered.

“We can’t just stand out in the open waiting on Al.”

“Ah, yes, Alistair, your eldest brother who’s agreed to assist us because he loves you.”

“No. I mean, yes. Obviously, he loves me, but he agreed to assist because I explained to him the situation, how I wanted to help, and he knows I’d never do anything the tribunal accused me of.”

“Except for the Diabolic binding.” I rolled my eyes. “If he’s anything like your mother, this is a trap.”

“It’s not a trap.”

“We should be following other leads.”

“Do you have other leads?” Walter’s voice had an edge to it, an angry attitude I’d never heard before. It made it difficult not to smirk.

“Not yet,” I grumbled. Riley’s memories had been utterly useless. He had more on trivia and pop culture than insight on the plot to raid the Magus Estate.

“Until you do, this is the plan.”

I huffed. “When this goes bad, which it will, I’ll gladly get us out of here so you don’t have to add ‘falling into an obvious trap’ to your long list of failures.”

“It’s not a trap.” Walter kept his gaze on everyone making their way past the Depot, among which were many sentinels, easily identified by their blue blazers and shield emblems as they cut through the crowd. “There’s only a tiny probability Al would lie, especially if the chancellors put pressure on him.”

“See. Trap.”

“Shut up.”

The second this turned bad, I’d snatch Walter away and take him someplace safe. Someplace far. Someplace he couldn’t cause me trouble. Why didn’t I do that to begin with? It’d be so easy to tie him up and lock him away. Still, my heart pattered in a rhythmic beat for his success. Was it my heartbeat or his?

He had his fidgety anxious expression on, studying something he lacked the variables for, which often made him uneasy. Walter preferred planning for everything. It was this damn binding casting the desire to see this through. Nothing more. Once my essence had been relinquished from him, I’d be free to be myself again.

Sentinels cut through the crowd, surveying the sea of patrons swarming about, then they crossed to our side of the street. I positioned myself on the corner as some of them plastered posters on market store windows.

“Shit.” Walter poked his head further out, chin brushing against my shoulder.

Other sentinels handed out flyers with our pictures. I’d shifted this host enough to go unnoticed, but Worthless Walter would stand out the second any of the Mythics or mages here caught a glimpse of him. I could glamour his features. It’d take time, probably more mana residue than I currently had stored, too. Shit.

A sentinel turned and stared right at us. I backstepped past Walter as the sentinel conferred with another, then nodded in our direction.

I spun Walter around.

“Stop,” he whispered. “If we run, we’ll look suspicious.”

“And if those two get a good look at you, we’ll look even more suspicious because they’re looking for us.”

He had a point, though. The second I bolted, they’d give chase. I had no way to know how many sentinels were currently in Mercury’s Marketplace. Walter wouldn’t make any commands, assuming he kept his end of the bargain, but I still couldn’t kill anyone until his last command fizzled out. I huffed.

“I just need a second to think.” Walter gulped. “Maybe you can glamour my face or let me borrow your sunglasses. No, that’ll leave your very Diabolic eyes exposed. Plus, sunglasses are super suspicious. I mean, I’d wager a lot of people wear like—”

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