Page 21 of The Gargoyle's Gift
“I doubt that very much.” Magnus grunted. “Have a moment?”
My initial reaction almost had me blurting, “Not really,” but I gritted my jaw and ground out, “I suppose,” instead.
“Good. I’ve several questions I need to ask you. Shall we go to the Empty Cask? We could have a drink. I’d say like old times, but there weren’t many of those.”
His candor got half a smile out of me. “I suppose I could join you for an ale.”
He nodded, and we departed the council building together, nervous energy humming under my skin.
Chapter 11
Gaius
The waitress had barely set the tankards in front of us before Magnus started right in.
“I assume there’s a reasonable explanation as to why you’re connected to several unusual occurrences within the walls of this city as of late?” His tone held no condemnation, and his eyebrow lifted with something like amusement as he brought his ale to his mouth.
“Definereasonable.”
Magnus snorted, then shook his head and relaxed back in his chair. “You know, my niece is quite wise for being just a youngling.”
“Niece?” I frowned at him. This chat was already proving far more disjointed than I was prepared to manage. I understood now where Imogen got her conversational skills.
“Yes, Greta. She’s mated to the white-haired demon who helped us with the horde that managed to get inside the city gate?”
I nodded. I wasn’t daft. “Yes, I know who she is, I just didn’t think we were here to talk about your relations. Or their mates.” The bond flared under my ribs, my thoughts straying to Lovette at the mere mention of the word.
“I have a point, I promise. She told me I had to make things right, even if I didn’t know where to start.”
The back of my neck tingled, a warning of what he was on about. “Make what right?”
Magnus was as uncomfortable as I was, his hands clenching and unclenching around his ale tankard, his body shifting position in his chair. “This.” He gestured between us with one hand. “My discord with you, Gaius. For the things that have driven us apart all these years. It is foolish to continue allowing what happened to come between us when we could have long since been allies. Friends.” He glanced down, focused on something carved into the tabletop instead of looking me in the eye. “We have to forgive one another. It’s well past time.”
I scoffed, unable to censor my knee-jerk reaction to such a suggestion. But it was no different than what Lovette had told me, and in truth, since he and I had gotten into a brawl outside of Caster’s shop not long ago, regret had festered away inside me.
“You broke my nose, you know,” I said, hearkening back to that day. We’d had an altercation in the street, several punches thrown and landed between us. Blood spilled. And revelations on both sides.
“Looks like it healed up fine. It’s no more crooked than it has always been.” Magnus smirked, but it was short-lived. “There are things I cannot move past, regarding Grace. I am on her timeline where her history with you is concerned. Ours is a separate thing. I’m sure you understand.”
I adjusted my aching leg, shame cool as it swirled through my veins. I’d unintentionally terrorized his mate, believing I was flirting. Setting us up to be something far more than we were ever meant to be in my mind only. I’d needed a new perspective on my actions to see what I was doing, to realize how far I’dfallen into my assumed persona while I worked for Caster under the blessing of the council.
I gulped deep from my cup, the heat settling in my chest as I formed the necessary words. Words that tasted like ashes but left me feeling lighter once they were out. “I do. And I am sorry, to the both of you, for how I behaved. You were right, I had every opportunity to make choices that would have actually been helpful to her and did not. If you could extend my apologies to her, I’d appreciate it.”
“Oh,” Magnus said, mouth agape. “I will, of course.”
I nodded, finishing the contents of my cup and raising it to signal the waitress I needed a refill. She hurried over with a pitcher, filling my cup and his with a smile. In the back of my mind, I conjured Lovette’s face, a smile on her lips. My heart thumped at the idea of making her proud. I shook my head, clearing thoughts of her away so I could focus on her father, but the burn under my ribs refused to abate.
“Which brings us to the several other things we need to discuss, Gaius. Do you happen to know anything about what happened to Caster or his shop?” I stared across the table, saying nothing as I sipped at my refreshed ale. “I see. Was what happened sanctioned? Like your employment there?”
I snorted. “Hardly.”
“And the merchants?”
“What merchants?” I tilted my head to the side, playing dumb, curious to find how much he’d discovered.
“The ones who all had estates on that street with the faulty well.”
His levity, not to mention the excuse I’d known would be used, made me laugh. “Seems like several items are much more readily available in town since they met their untimely end.”
