Page 118 of A Fate so Cruel

“So you do like to shop.”

“I was fifteen and had an endless supply of money. I think most just assumed I was some rich merchant’s son.” He drank again. “I even had a female smile at me for the first time.”

Selina leaned forward with a mischievous look on her face. “Was she pretty?”

“Beautiful. If Saoirse hadn’t found me, I might have even gotten the chance to talk to her.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re telling me you haven’t eventalkedto a female before? No wonder you’re so charming.”

“Didn’t we already cover that when I mentioned how many are lined outside my door?”

“Yeah, but you have the whole alone type, bad boy persona going for you. I figured that would give you at leastsomeadvantage. Females usually go for that sort of thing.”

“Do you?” The question was out before he could stop it.

He shifted in his seat, but rather than letting her smile falter, Selina seemed to delight in his discomfort. She lifted her glass again. “My uncle seems to think so. He claims all my suitors have been . . . how did he phrase it? Disappointments.”

Rion smirked and took another long drink, emptying the glass. Their entrees arrived and Selina dug in, mercifully splitting the bread and cheese rather than snatching them for herself. She’d ordered a steak smothered in onions and gravy that made his mouth water. His own plate held steaming herbal chicken on a bed of rice.

It smelled divine, too

Selina stuffed the bread in her mouth. “So,” she said around the food. “What’s our plan?”

He bit into his food, content to make her wait for an answer, and froze. A tingling sensation crawled over his tongue, numbing it, and he promptly spit the food out. He reached out and snatched her wrist and Selina almost jumped out of her seat in protest.

“Don’t.” Rion kept his voice low, even as his heart rate sped. His vision was already blurring.

It was impossible, he hadn’t even ingested anything. But Foley was lurking in the city. Had he developed something else? Something worse than the poison spreading across their country? Rion’s gaze swept across everything on the table. The bread, the flowers, the cups of—wine. The wine.

Shit.How many glasses had he downed? He looked up at Selina’s half-empty cup. She’d only had a bit, which meant she wouldn’t be as incapacitated. He hoped.

“What?” She questioned, her gaze darting across the food on the table.

“We have to go. Now.”

“What do you mean, we just go—”

Rion spun and shoved his hand down his throat, forcing himself to vomit. Selina’s chair scooted against the wooden floor.

“The wine,” he breathed. “There’s something in it.”

He turned to watch her face go pale before she grabbed their glasses and sniffed each in turn. Selina sipped the liquid, then spit it out again, cursing herself. “I have the antidote,” she reached into her pocket, but the surrounding shadows were already moving.

Rion stood to his full height, wiping the edges of his mouth. He heard the slow whine of blades and let his magic crack the ground at his feet. Let it rise up and surround his body.

He usually tried to assess his opponents, to see how they fought.

Not today.

“Friends of yours?” Selina asked from the other side of the table.

His voice was a low growl. “Hardly.”

They charged and Rion drew the knives at his belt and let them fly, his magic in their wake. The assailants parried his blades and lunged. Rion drew his sword and met them blow for blow.

Chairs throughout the restaurant scooted across the floor and screams filled the air when Rion tossed one of his assailants down the long hall, a blade protruding from his heart.

Tables tumbled over and another blade slashed out, forcing Rion to tilt backward, barely moving in time before he lost his balance and tumbled backward over the table. It fell with him and Rion’s back hit the ground hard. The male lunged, but Rion pulled his knees in and kicked the table. It hit the male’s shins followed by a resounding crack. The male screamed, then Rion’s magic engulfed him.

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