Page 60 of The Crow Games

We kept to the shade, weaving down side alleys and backroads, avoiding hot spots for garm. A brush of wintery magic alerted me Asher was near.

He appeared at my side, his snowy hair pulled up in a messy knot. “You’re slowing down our coven.”

“I am not,” I ground out, dragging my boots through loose gravel. My feet felt like lead. My heels had gone numb in my shoes. “Nola just said a moment ago that we’re on schedule.”

“She’s just being nice,” he said.

“Nola’s not nice.”

“I was being nice,” Nola called over her shoulder.

Asher raised a white brow at me smugly. “If I offer to carry you, are you going to be stubborn about it?”

I came to an abrupt halt on the narrow street. I looked him up and down, trying to spot the trap in his words. “What will that cost me?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something. Are you going to let me? I overheard you being stubborn about the wheelbarrow back there.”

I tucked my revolver and dagger into my satchel to get them out of the way. “I didn’t want to inconvenience Emma or waste magic if I could avoid it. Turns out I don’t mind inconveniencing you at all, though.”

“That’s the spirit, Trouble,” he said, squatting down so I could climb onto his back.

Under the leather of his waistcoat, shoulder muscles bunched and hardened beneath the pads of my fingers, and my stomach fluttered. His big hands cupped my thighs, holding me in place against the solid plane of his back, and I became aggravatingly aware of the thump of my heart trying to beat through my chest.

I needed it to stop before he felt it stuttering against his back.

Do try to focus on not dying, Lisbeth’s voice chided me.Just kidding. What harm is there in noticing him? It’s not as though you plan to keep him . . . right?

A layer of travel dust had settled over me, darkening my sweaty skin. Dirt from my hands smeared his satin shirt. I smelled like salt and grime. I thought about apologizing for it, but then his shadows slid over me, dropping the temperature of my overheated body by several degrees.

I laid my head against his shoulder, struggling to stay alert to my surroundings. The heat of the day had zapped me of my remaining strength. His scent of spicy magic and woodsy leather wafted to my nose, chasing away everything else. I was so comfortable it was impossible to care much about things I had no control over.

Chapter 14

“Beware the revenant that still has their soul.”– Esther Weil, Renowned Folklorist

Isurvived nine more days in the games. We saw little of Asher, and it alarmed me how much I noticed his absence. Every night, I knocked on the bone wall between our beds, and my stomach churned when there was no knock back.

Ruchel had him spying on Bram and keeping an eye on the beast-born we called Bastard. The giants grew bold again, and he was busy doing whatever it was that reapers did to push them back. More nights crawled by without a word from the enemy of my enemies.

My friend.

During the fifth trial, we dodged belching geysers and sinking spots in the shade of towering trees. Dark movement caught my eye, and I turned hoping to find Asher perched on the branch above me.

But it wasn’t a reaper. The lounging black cat was bigger than a panther, with a spot of white on his chest. His tail drooped behind him, swaying lazily.

“Your humble servant greets you, God of Night and Mischief,” I said, bringing my coven to a startled halt in the bog. My boots sunk an inch into murky mud.

Well, well,Nott purred, directing his thoughts into mine,if it isn’t my favorite little pet. How goes the games, bloodthirsty one?

“They’re as messy and bloody as always,” I said with forced cheer. Based on the confounded expression of my coven mates, I was the only one receiving Nott’s messages.

His lips spread wider than was natural for a cat, showing off a deadly set of sharp teeth.Have you caused any trouble lately?

“Always,” I vowed. I had enough enemies as it was and didn’t wish to add this particular deity to that list. His mercurial reputation preceded him, and he could bar the way to the train on a whim and damn us to fend for ourselves against the beasts that resembled giant crocodiles.

Good, good. Running into me here is not a coincidence. I’ve a request to ask of you.

“I am ever your servant,” I said cautiously. Nott and Mara were the first gods I’d met who’d ever responded positively to the sight of a gray witch. And their divine energy did not match that of the god who’d killed my sister, which kept them off my murder list for now, but that didn’t mean I wanted to run errands for them.

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