Page 11 of Seer Prophet

More trinkets of the Legion of Fire.

All of that lay on my left as I left the elevator lobby.

To my right, a dark wood bar lived under a low ceiling, surrounded by an even darker seating area filled with couches and leather booths. Most of the illumination came from muted fireplaces with blue flames. A small stream in a white, stone basin served as a kind of miniature reflecting pool around the edges of the room.

Feeling something off Revik, I glanced at him.

His face looked taut.

He touched my light, nudging myaleimitowards the cameras tucked away in corners of the room. I sent a faint pulse that I understood. When I glanced at him next, he quirked an eyebrow in a silent question.

It struck me suddenly that I was blocking him. I’d been trying not to obsess on the fact there were a bunch of naked women in a pool about ten feet from where we stood.

He must have felt some part of that, because when I glanced at him next, he gave me the first real smile I’d gotten since we got off the boat. He squeezed my fingers.

Don’t be ridiculous, wife.

What if they were men?I sent back.

He sent a thread of pain intense enough that I jumped.

When I looked over, that taut look was back in his eyes.

He’s going to try and separate us,he murmured.I can feel it already.

I gave him a bare nod.

He might succeed,Revik added.If we do this for real, we won’t have a good argument not to let him.

Not for long,I reminded him.It’ll be okay.

If we knew that, we wouldn’t need to do it this way at all,he sent, sharper.Allie. If they do, I’m not going to wait long. I mean it.

I squeezed his fingers. I understood. He knew I understood.

I continued to check out the room, noting the security grid I could feel just behind the white plaster walls.

Revik told me he worked with outfits like this occasionally, back when he was a Rook. It was pretty common for the Rooks to use organized crime syndicates as suppliers back in the day?of weapons, but also of people. He also told me this kind of exchange, meaning the one they’d proposed to us, wasn’t all that uncommon.

Reaching over, Revik fingered my necklace again.

Do we get a drink?I asked him softly.

No. Don’t accept anything they offer, either. Food or drink.

I quirked an eyebrow.That may not be easy.

It’s non-negotiable. Tell them you’re on a special diet. Or order it and don’t drink it. Dump it in a plant if you can.

My eyebrow rose higher.What about you? I thought you said you might have to get drunk with them.

That’s different.

When I frowned, he hit me with a harder pulse of his light.

I mean it, Allie. Be careful. He was way too interested when the subject of you came up. I don’t trust them to hold to their end of the deal, not when it comes to…

His thoughts trailed when three men approached.

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