Page 36 of The Sorcerer's Thief
Without letting me go or stepping away, he straightens and peers around.
We’re approximately ten paces from where we started, just on the other side of Slinger, who’s still eating as if nothing were amiss. She may not have even noticed we moved.
Though ten paces is nothing to brag about, I’m delighted.
Laughing, he drops his head back to my shoulder. “At this rate, we’ll be setting new travel records in no time.”
“Better to start simple. You did tell me not to kill us.”
“I did.” He gives my waist a squeeze, then lets go and walks toward Slinger. “Perhaps you are the hugging type after all.”
Perhaps I am.
Chapter 11
Cricket
The air smells of rain, so we stop early. I want my magic lesson, and Julian wants to drool over my coin. Since he won’t gate us more than spitting distance, we haven’t made quick progress, but I can’t seem to be bothered.
The journey south with a grumpy sorcerer for a companion has been a lot more interesting than my journey north, alone and vengeful.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad Luminia is safer for humans now. I want that for all of us. But it happened too late to save my family. Too late to save me. A part of me will always be angry about that.
What would my life have been if I hadn’t been forced into trickery and stealing? If my brother were still with me, what would we be doing?
A pang of misery cuts like a knife.
Those are things I’ll never know.
Which is why I don’t usually let myself dwell. No sense in wallowing in what cannot be when I am here now, living what is.
And whatis, at the moment, is a clingy sorcerer who wants what I stole.
He rubs his hands together and stares at my chest. “Let me see the coin.”
We’re at a goat farm along our route in the barn of a villager who happily let us rest for the night in return for the rose honey we’d purchased just for this sort of bartered arrangement. Slinger has a stall, and we have a hayloft.
“All right, but no grabby hands. The coin is mine.” I remove it from my inner vest pocket and hold it in my palm for Julian to ogle.
He sits so close our knees are touching and stares at the coin as if it holds the answers to the mysteries of the universe. “Lovely. It’s singing for me. Can you hear it?”
“No.” That’s odd. I’ve heard the coin many times before, why not now? “What does it sound like?”
“A low hum, pleasing to the ear. If I had to choose a word to describe it, I’d say contentment.” He extends a hand.
I yank the coin away. “What did I say about that?”
“You said not to grab it, and I’m not going to. But you’ll let me feel its magic, won’t you?”
“What’s stopping you from snatching it and gating away?”
“My word, and though I won’t make that promise indefinitely, you have it for now. I’ll stick to our wager, as agreed. I still owe you a magic lesson.”
Julian continues to ask for my trust, and against every instinct, I continue to give it to him. “Fine. Go on, sparkle fingers. Do your thing.”
“Thank you.” He hovers both hands over mine and closes his eyes. His tongue darts out and wets his lips. His forehead crinkles in concentration.
What can he learn from this?
