Slowly, his posture relaxed as he searched my face. He let out a breath and the worried crease in his brow vanished. If I was being honest, the knowledge of a past lover came with a bit of relief. If Felix was a blushing virgin, then I could only imagine how awkward our encounters would have been. Not that I had guessed he was a virgin after spending a night with him. There’s no way someone was that good at sex just off the fly. Maybe if our relationship didn’t pan out, I could work out joint custody of his tongue.
“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Alexis grumbled.
“Where is your master?” Felix asked. “If you’re here, he shouldn’t be too far.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, pretty boy! I’ve traveled all the way here from Goldcrest City. No Lucca in sight. I’m an independent woman, after all.”
“How?” I asked. “Alligators don’t live that far north.” Goldcrest was at least a full week away on horseback. I had no idea what that translated to in gator miles, though it couldn’t have been any faster.
The sword’s voice took on a smug tone. “My own ingenuity.”
When neither Felix nor I responded, she huffed. “Fine. I got stolen while Lucca and his mate were visiting a bathhouse. I kept my mouth shut because the bandit who took me mentioned heading towards a port and I want to see the ocean. But his stupid ass got attacked by Barbara and I’ve been stuck in her back ever sense.”
“Where’s the bandit?”
“In Barbara.” she replied.
“Oh.” I didn’t really know what else to say to that.
“Don’t pity him, he sucked. Even tried to sell some poor girl to that creepy claw cult a few towns over. And he never even bothered to oil me properly. Can you believe that? I can practically feel myself rusting away!”
“Wait, go back. What’s this about a claw cult?” I asked.
I got the distinct feeling the sword just rolled her eyes. If she had any. “You know, those weirdos in red cloaks. They approached Fisher. That’s the unlucky son of a bitch in Barbara, by the way, and asked him to bring women to their cult compound or whatever.”
Felix and I shared a look. “Do you know where their compound is located?” Felix asked. “A few women in Boohail have gone missing.”
“I do!” She chirped.
We waited for her to continue. But the sword fell silent. “Are you going to tell us?” I urged.
“Take me to the beach and I will.”
I growled in frustration. “Are you serious right now? If you know where those missing girls might be, then fess up.”
“I’ll fess up on a beach surrounded by man booty. Preferably mermen, if ya got em.”
“You little shit. We don’t have time to throw you a damn beach party.” The audacity of this hunk of junk was going to give me gray hair.
Felix put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Stay calm, Lamb. There’s an easier way of making her talk.” His eyes darkened in a way that sent chills down my spine. “Get dressed,” he said, patting my shoulder. “I know just the man to send our new friend to.”
The sword let off an excited gasp. “Is it a merman?”
* * *
Fallon leaned back against an oak tree glared down at the sword. Even though I saw him the day prior, the dragon shifter looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. Dark bags had formed under his eyes and his normally shining black hair had dulled. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Where is this cult located?”
Alexis didn’t answer. Once we arrived back at Cinnamon’s home, the sword had loudly declared her demands and fell silent. Unfortunately, Fallon hadn’t been able to undo the protection wards around the crystal yet. The most he had been able to identify in the past day was that it was made by a group of mages instead of just one. With six different magical signatures swirling around one object, it was going to be more than a few days’ work trying to untangle their web. Which meant our greatest hope of finding my friend and the others was a crazy sword demanding a beach party.
The dragon shifter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Rabbit.” He called. “Does this tree hold any value to you?” He said, motioning to the tree he was leaning on.
Cin raised a brow at him, then shook her head. “No.”
“Good.” Fallon pushed himself off the tree and grabbed the sword. He took one look at the silent hunk of metal, then immediately began slashing at the hard oak.
Tree bark spray around him from the violent force of his swing. Alexis screamed and cursed at him anytime her blade met wood. “Stop!” She wailed. “This is not my intended purpose! I cut flesh and emotions. This bark will dull my blade!”
Fallon took another slash at the tree, then stopped. “Are you going to tell us what you know?”
