Page 63 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
A muscle tics along Wests’s jaw. “I can’t see into the Emerald City. His influence blocks me. I know you spent two days in there, but beyond that—”
“Beyond that you’re ignorant.”
He bristles. “Let’s put it this way—I have something you want. You have something I want. An exchange of information, plain and simple.”
“A bargain.”
“Yes.”
In the musty, dense atmosphere of the library, our voices sound thick and quiet, and the roar of the thunderstorm is a distant murmur. When I inhale, my nose tickles from the dust our entrance stirred, and I sneeze sharply instead of answering him. West laughs, his green cheeks creasing, dark eyes sparkling. And I almost smile back, before I remember that he plans to kill me.
I can’t tell him that my friends and I plan to destroy him, or he might decide to leave me here and go kill them. I’m not sure of the full extent of his power, but I can’t imagine they’d survive once he made up his mind to end them. Though Riordan is strong, he doesn’t have a significant amount of aggressive magic that could be used in a battle. From what I’ve heard, his talents tend more toward potion-making and spellcraft. Quick and clever as Caer may be, he’s not a match for West either. And the Scarecrow is practically useless.
So I opt for a partial truth that’s less threatening. “The Green Wizard wants your scrying stone. I’m supposed to bring it to him.”
All humor vanishes from West’s face. “Is that so?” He sets his staff against the wall by the door and takes off his wet leather coat, shaking off the rain and fluffing out the feathers clustered on the shoulders. Underneath, his clothes are black, well-worn, even a little ragged, like the outfit he wore when I first met him. Without the coat, he looks less intimidating. I wonder if he wore it for my benefit, so he could make a grander entrance.
“Is that everything the Wizard requested?” he asks, laying the coat over a nearby chair.
“Yes.”
He whirls, eyes snapping. “You lie.” The words fly from him, sharp as daggers.
“I swear I’m not lying. I’m supposed to take the stone from you and bring it to the Wizard—”
West collars my throat with his hand and rushes me back against the library wall by the door. I grip his wrist, trying to break the hold.
“The only way you can steal it from me is if I’m dead,” he hisses in my face. “You’ve been commanded to kill me.”
Oh. Fuck. I didn’t realize the two things went hand in hand.
“I don’t know why you’re so angry—nothing has changed. I was going to end you anyway,” I grit out. “Remember? I said I’d have to kill you first, before you kill me.”
“As if you could,” he snarls. “As if there was anything you could do to me that I could not resist.”
A naughty idea slithers through my mind. “Is that a challenge?”
My hand loosens from his wrist and drops to his waist, while my other hand slides between his legs.
His gaze intensifies, but his hold on my neck relaxes. His tongue traces his lips as something hard flexes under his pants.
Oh, he wants me. A gratified glee swells in my chest, but it’s mixed with a vindictive anger, because despite his lust for me, despite our connection, he’s still a slave to his plan for revenge.
With a swift twist, I break free and duck, lunging for an old ornamental pike in a bracket by the nearest bookshelf. I try to yank it loose, but it’s stuck fast. “Shit!”
West is on me, seizing my upper arms, whirling me away from the weapon. I throw magic into the motion, twirling us both faster than he expected—his grip isn’t tight enough and I spin free, my shoulder crashing against a bookshelf.
There’s an antique letter opener lying on a dusty stack of parchment. I snatch it up, whipping around just as he barrels in. The dull blade rakes along his forearm, slitting his sleeve and opening a shallow cut.
West grapples with me and wrenches the letter opener out of my hand. “Stop it, or I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” I say, breathless. “You can’t kill me… not yet.”
“I could put you to sleep. Send a mist into your lungs that would torment your mind and make you cough uncontrollably.” He shoves me against the bookcase, clasping both my wrists in one hand and pinning them above my head. “I could incapacitate you in any number of ways, Kin-Slayer.”
“Do it then. But you’d be breaking your bargain. You said you’d show me the book I need.”
“I said I’d do itifyou told me about your time with the Wizard. You lied, so the bargain is void.”
