Page 50 of Magick and Lead
Charlie’s expression darkened. He knelt, pretending to tie his shoe, and glanced back. When he rose, he took my arm.
“It’s a spook,” he said.
“Spook?”
“A spy,” he said, hustling me up the sidewalk. “From the Secret Intelligence Bureau. Come on.”
“I thoughtyouwere a spy,” I said, my tone accusatory.
“Not like these guys,” he muttered. “There, this way.”
He led me toward the street. In the center of it, a vehicle clattered past. I’d heard of these—big, necromancy-powered carriages that ran in the center of the road—street cars.
“Jump!” Charlie said. I grabbed a handrail and leaped onto the moving vehicle’s lowest step, and Charlie bounded up after me. When we were safely on board, I looked back to find the man with the newspaper standing in the center of the street andstaring after us. Something about him—his motionlessness, or the intensity of his stare—sent a shiver through me.
Charlie pushed his way onto the already packed streetcar, jostling bodies aside to make room for both of us. With one hand, he grabbed the bar that ran over our heads. Others were using it too, to keep stable as the car jittered along the tracks. Charlie’s other hand went to my waist, steadying me, too. I slapped it away, even as a bump threatened to knock me right out of the vehicle’s open door. Quickly, I reached up and grabbed the handrail, my fingers overlapping with his for a second before I adjusted my grip. Charlie watched me with bemusement.
“What?” I demanded.
He shrugged, feigning innocence. How had I ever fallen for this smug, arrogant?—?
But he was looking out of the car now, back the way we came.
“Well, they’re onto us,” he whispered. “I might’ve pissed them off when I failed to report for duty this morning.”
I shook my head. “Stupid. You should have kept up your routine.”
“If I’d done that, I’d be out over the ocean blowing dragons out of the sky, Princess, instead of?—”
“Standing here, annoying me? Alerting enemies to my presence?”
His jaw worked as he gritted his teeth. He probably would have stalked away at that moment if he could have, but there was no room. Already, with the riders all around us, our bodies were pressed together, my breasts against him, my pelvis rubbing against his with each bump and rattle of the streetcar.
He seemed to become acutely aware of this at the same time I did, and I saw his cheeks flush as we both stopped breathing. Our eyes locked, then we both quickly looked away.
Charlie cleared his throat. “How is he?”
I blinked. “Who?”
“Parthar.”
The little dragon’s name broke the rising tension, snapped me back to myself— and to my reason for being here.
“I’m… I’m surprised you ask. It’s the first time you’ve mentioned him.”
“I think about him every day,” Charlie admitted. “Every time I was looking for you, I was looking for him, too. I mean, to be honest, I tried to forget about the little beastie. But being without him is…”
He didn’t have to finish. I could see the anguish on his face.
“I know what it is for a rider to be without their dragon,” I said.
“I’m not a?—”
“I know,” I said. “Believe me. But you are bonded to a?—”
Before I could say the word, he put a finger to my lips, glancing at the other riders, and I realized our voices had risen above a whisper.
I felt the sudden overwhelming urge to kiss his finger. Or to bite it. But he took it away fast.
