Page 24 of The Demon Crown

"What?" she asked, looking down at her shoulder.

And son of a bitch.

That bastard.

That thieving, lying, moron had left his fucking handprints on her shoulders.

At some point while making out with him two nights ago, he must have squeezed hard enough to leave his fucking handprints on her skin. Varya bruised easily, but she could count his fingers. When had he done that? She didn't remember him grabbing onto her that hard but maybe he had.

"Where did you get those?" Altan asked, his voice quiet and dangerously low. "I thought you said you didn't get caught by the Horde?"

"I didn't." She snatched her jacket up from the floor, already angry at herself. "I ran into a little trouble along the way, but this has nothing to do with the Horde."

"Then what happened?"

She shouldn't tell them. She shouldn't tell anyone. It was a risk and she was stupid and...

Varya sighed. Rounding her shoulders in on herself like she was expecting a blow, she muttered, "Greed."

"Yeah we're all greedy, I get that's the problem. We live in this kingdom for a reason. Now how did you get those bruises?"

"Greed," she repeated. For good measure, Varya tilted her head and widened her eyes. "As intheGreed."

He blew out a long breath, eyes widening. "How'd you meet the king?"

"It's a long story."

"And I assume he knows you have the map."

Varya sat down, her jacket abandoned in her lap as she braced her elbows on the table. "Oh yeah. He knows."

"So we all need to run then." He shook his head, ankles crossing as he stared at her with disappointment. "You're always so careful! How did the king himself catch you?"

"He didn't. I sort of caught him." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and launched into the story. Conveniently forgetting that she'd kissed him, or shown any kind of interest in the demon, of course. And she didn't mention a word about how he was ridiculously tempting or that he'd made it very clear that he wanted her.

By the end of her rambles, Altan was looking at her with a very suspicious expression but also a resigned one. "All right. So you don't think he'll find you here."

"He doesn't know my name, had no idea the Horde existed, and I'd guess he doesn't even know the Shambles exist." She shrugged. "He's not exactly very aware of his own kingdom. Not in the slightest."

She omitted that the Horde might know who had stolen from them, though. They were more wily than any of them gave them credit for and... Well. She wasn't all that certain they weren't going to hunt her down for the rest of her days.

Better to leave town sooner rather than later.

Altan finally gave her a shrug. "Then if you think it's safe..."

"I do," she interrupted. "I'm ready for the next adventure."

But he still seemed a little hesitant. Not ready to risk her life. If that meant she had to play all her cards, then so be it. Varya was not going to stay here. She couldn’t. Not when the warmth of a soft bed and friendship was already so tempting.

Sighing, she reached down and pulled out the knife that she’d strapped to her thigh. Laying it on the table between them, she pointed at it. “This is the blade they used to harm him. It cut through his flesh, and he couldn’t heal.”

“What is it?” Altan leaned slightly closer, his nose wrinkled as he stared at the green blade.

“They called it Bonescraper.”

“Hm.” He shook his head. “I don’t know it.”

“Niether did I, but now we have it.” Varya took a swig of ale and then lifted her brow over the edge of the mug. “Well? What do you think? I have the only weapon that can harm him. I have a map to all our dreams. What reason do I have to stay here?”

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