The Darkest Magic (A Book of Spirits and Thieves) (15 page)

“A bit of both, to be honest.”

“I feel fine.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Next time, however, I’d prefer that we discuss our options before you jump right into spirit-capturing.”

Maddox frowned. He couldn’t tell whether he was grateful for Barnabas’s instinct to protect him or annoyed that he couldn’t just do as he pleased without being chastised for it afterward. After all, he knew his limitations, and easy magic like the kind he performed tonight was nothing new for him.

Finally, the innkeeper’s wife arrived with two trays, each bearing a veritable feast of the roasted pheasant he’d been craving since smelling it, warm and crusty bread, boiled potatoes, and a bowl each of barley soup. Once all that was placed down, she hurried away and returned again with enough ale for them to drown in. Maddox ate until his stomach hurt, and then he ate a little more. The woman kept returning to refill their mugs, and Maddox had never been more grateful to have a roof over his head.

Maddox was just leaning back in his chair out of fullness when suddenly the tavern door opened. A frigid gust blew in, bringing the wet storm with it. Maddox looked up to see a woman enter through the archway. She was every bit as sodden as he and Barnabas had been when they’d first arrived. Her dark blond hair was slick against her face, her gray cloak dripping onto the wooden slats of the floor as, shivering, she took a seat at a neighboring table.

For a moment Maddox expected someone to follow in after her, but she seemed to be without a companion.

A flash of boldness he’d never felt before took him over. “Miss?” he said. “You’re welcome to join us over here, if you’d like the company. That is, if you don’t mind, Barnabas.”

“Certainly not.” Still, Barnabas looked at Maddox with an arched eyebrow. “Please, do join us. Plenty of room.”

After a moment of hesitation, the young woman approached their table. Barnabas hopped up to his feet, helped her out of her wet cloak, and pulled out a chair for her.

“There you go,” he said once she was settled in her seat. “Now tell me: What is a lovely young lady like yourself doing out on a fearsome night like this?”

She eyed Barnabas’s damp clothes and generally disheveled appearance. “I suppose I could ask you the same question.”

The innkeeper’s wife approached then, refilling their mugs once again. Maddox noticed the young woman watching her, a flash of hunger leaping to her gaze as she eyed their empty plates.

“Can I get you something, miss?” the innkeeper’s wife asked.

“Yes, please,” she said. “Whatever these fine gentlemen had to eat would be lovely.”

“Certainly. It won’t be long.” The innkeeper’s wife scurried away.

“I will warn you,” Barnabas said. “We ate quite a bit.”

“Luckily, I’m very hungry.”

Looking at her now, Maddox couldn’t be sure of her age. When he first saw her in the doorway she’d looked like a proper lady, but up close she looked quite young—more of a girl than a woman. Still, though her face was soft-skinned and young-looking, there was something about her grayish-blue eyes that looked world-weary to him.

“I’m Liana,” she said.

“I’m Maddox,” he said with a smile.

Thankfully, Al remained silent. Maddox took his sack off the table and placed it next to him instead.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maddox.”

“I’m Barnabas,” said Barnabas, holding out his hand for several moments until the girl finally turned from Maddox and took it. “The pleasure is entirely mine. Liana is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

Maddox tried not to roll his eyes as Liana regarded both of them silently for a moment.

“I think I know how I can repay you for your kindness in inviting me to sit with you this evening,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “How would you like to know your futures?”

Barnabas let out a groan of disappointment. “A fortune-teller. That explains why you’re traveling alone. Maddox, beware of pretty fortune-tellers. They will take you for every coin you have if you give them half a chance.”

“Quite the cynic, aren’t you?” Liana scowled at him. “May I remind you, it was Maddox who asked me to sit with you. I didn’t invite myself.”

“She’s right,” Maddox said, then turned to his invited guest. “Ignore Barnabas. You’re welcome to tell my fortune if you’d like, Liana. I’m actually very interested in what lies ahead.”

“You’re sure?” she said, her pinched expression quickly replaced by a wicked grin. “You might not like what I have to say.”

Barnabas waved his hand dismissively. “Let the girl do her performance, Maddox, and pay little mind to what she says. That is, as long as she realizes we’re not paying her a single coin for her show.”

Once again, Maddox found himself newly surprised by how rude Barnabas could be toward everything and everyone. “Calm yourself, Barnabas. Like she said, she’s offering us our fortunes in return for our hospitality.”

Liana eyed Barnabas. “You don’t trust easily, do you?”

“I trust no one.”

“What about your son? You don’t trust him either?”

“Maddox has proven the single exception to my rule.”

“Very well,” Liana said, turning in her seat to face Maddox. “Let me look into your eyes, Maddox.”

Al coughed.

Liana frowned. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Maddox said quickly, lightly poking the sack next to him. “Nothing at all.”

He then held the pretty girl’s gaze, seeing new depth and a range of colors in her eyes. He found himself momentarily lost in their strange mixture of shades, from a soft silvery shade to bright sapphire.

“You’re on a journey,” Liana said. “In search of something very important.”

“Ha,” Barnabas scoffed. “That could be said of anyone.”

“When it comes to your goals,” Liana went on, unfazed, “you and your father are of like minds. And, despite the questionable means you might use, or have already used, on your journey, your intentions are good, and your hearts are pure.” Liana paused, her eyes still locked on Maddox’s. “Am I close? Is your heart pure, Maddox?”

“I’m not sure sometimes,” he said uncertainly. “I hope it is.”

“He speaks the truth,” Liana said, smiling. “Honesty is a rare gift, and it’s one you definitely possess. And so is love. I see it for you, Maddox. I see that you have felt love before. There is a girl whom you’ve lost, and though it seems an insurmountable task, you hope to find her again.”

Maddox swallowed hard and nodded weakly. “Yes. I do hope to find her again. But I don’t know how.”

“It will happen,” Liana said evenly. “One day, perhaps sooner than you think. Perhaps even on this quest you’re on with your father.” The fortune-teller paused again, this time looking even more deeply into Maddox’s eyes. “You seek a hidden treasure, one that might change the course of many people’s destinies. Is this right?”

Maddox found himself nodding, very conscious of his full stomach and those several mugs of ale working him into a warm, pleasant mood. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Who exactly are you, Liana?” Barnabas asked, his tone especially cool.

Maddox looked up at the interruption and started to see that Barnabas had pulled out his dagger.

“What do you think you’re doing with that?” Maddox demanded.

“This?” He pressed the blade against Liana’s waist, beneath the table and hidden from the rest of the tavern. “There will only be trouble if she doesn’t answer my question. Who are you, girl?”

Liana’s expression grew strained. “A fellow traveler, that’s all.”

“Put that away, Barnabas,” Maddox hissed.

Barnabas’s jaw stiffened. “Ah, there it is. The difference between you and me, my young friend. You haven’t lived long enough to see as much deception as I have. You meet a person who acts friendly, and you assume they’re a friendly person. But I’m wise enough to see beyond that facade. What I see behind that friendliness is nothing but devious intentions.”

“Do you?” Liana said coolly. “Well, then, did you see this coming?”

With a flash of metal, Liana pressed her own dagger against Barnabas’s trousers. At a very vulnerable spot.

Maddox cringed.

Barnabas clenched his jaw even tighter. “Clever girl.”

“Clever enough to handle a brute like you, at least.”

“Between your little fortune-telling act and this weapon of yours at the ready, you must already know exactly who we are.”

“What makes you say that? Perhaps I’m simply a girl who’s had to learn how to defend herself against violent criminals. Do you make a habit of threatening the lives of women you’ve only just met?”

Barnabas let out a feeble, choked laugh. “Not usually, but I’ll make an exception for you,
fellow traveler
.” He paused to let a sly smile spread across his face. “I never said Maddox was my son.”

Now it was Liana’s turn to laugh. “Pardon me for assuming that two men of vastly different ages who are also traveling together are related.”

“There are many ways for two people to be related, my dear. Why not assume I’m his uncle or his cousin or . . . I don’t know, perhaps his older brother?”

Liana cocked her head. “Have I struck a nerve, Barnabas? Are you worried you look old?”

“Thirty-four is hardly
old
.”

“No, you’re right. It’s
very
old.”

Barnabas narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I like you.”

“That’s fine with me. Now lower your weapon, or say farewell to the thing that makes you a man.”

“My sparkling personality?” he said, then grunted in pain as she pressed her blade down harder. “Fine.”

He pulled his weapon back. A moment later, she did the same.

“That’s better. Perhaps now we can speak a bit more freely,” Liana said. “First, perhaps you can share with me why one of your traveling companions is a reanimated severed head?”

Barnabas eyed her with an increasingly wary gaze. “How long have you been following us?”

“Long enough.”

Maddox was barely breathing now. “H-how?
Why?
”

Liana, her cheeks now flushed, flicked a glance at him. “Out of pure necessity. I swear I mean you no harm.”

Barnabas shifted in his seat and grimaced. “Ugh. I think I’m bleeding.”

“Erm, Barnabas?” Al piped up from his hiding place in the sack. “Perhaps you should be more careful when speaking to a lady.”

“If I saw one, perhaps I would.” Barnabas growled. He grinned darkly as he watched Liana eye the talking canvas sack with equal parts shock and curiosity.

“I
knew
it,” she said. “Maddox, your magic is incredible.”

Maddox was too stunned to reply, but a small part of him glowed inwardly at the compliment.

“Talk, fortune-teller,” Barnabas snarled. “Tell us what you want from us, and then be gone.”

Liana sat back in her seat, pulled up her skirt, and returned her dagger to a sheath she wore strapped to her shapely right thigh. “I know what you’re planning,” she said. “Some of it, anyway. You mean to find Princess Cassia, and from there you wish to remove both goddesses from their thrones.” Both Barnabas and Maddox perked up in their seats, ready to argue, but she raised a hand and silenced them. “Please. Don’t try to deny it; I already know it’s the truth. But you have nothing to fear from me.”

Barnabas snorted. “Fear you? Dream on, little girl.”

She shot him a pinched and unpleasant smile. “If you don’t fear me by now, then you’re not nearly as smart as you think you are. You’d be surprised by what a woman can accomplish when she puts her mind to it.”

“Oh, I know that much about women. But I’m not convinced about
you
. Or your motivations for trying to sleuth all of this out. What you’ve just suggested is treason and grounds for execution.”

“Of course it is. But some goals are worth dying for.”

“Those kinds of goals are rarer than slugs’ teeth.”

“True. But they do exist, don’t they?”

Barnabas studied her for a long, silent moment. “You can’t help us.”

“Yes, I can.”

“How? By telling fake fortunes to passersby, perhaps earning us a few coins? We can just as well do that ourselves.”

“I’m thinking something more like this.” Liana licked her fingers, snuffed out the candle on the table in front of her, then fixed a concentrated gaze on the wick, her forehead furrowing.

A moment later, the wick caught fire.

Maddox gasped. “You’re a witch!”

“Shh.” Liana looked around nervously. “I’d rather not let everyone in here learn the truth about me tonight. But yes, I can work some fire magic. Enough, I think, to be useful to you. Add to that my interest in seeing King Thaddeus’s heir on her rightful throne, and we have a great deal in common.”

“An interesting proposition,” Barnabas allowed.

Liana ignored him and instead studied Maddox carefully. “You wield death magic.”

Visions of vanquishing spirits and raising a severed head back to life filled Maddox’s mind, but he knew better than to answer Liana’s question definitively.

Barnabas continued to regard her like she was a lump of horse dung he’d just scraped from the bottom of his shoe.

“It’s all right,” Liana said after a silence stretched between them. “You don’t have to say. I know the truth when I see it. And this”—she reached across the table to poke the canvas sack—“is evidence of the truth.”

“Ouch,” said Al. “My eye.”

Liana turned once again to Maddox and grasped both of his hands. “I can help you,” she said. “I
can
. In many more ways than you even realize right now. I know tales—true tales—about the
immortals that I know you’ll want to hear. Perhaps I can help you learn more about yourself and what your magic can do.”

“I also know many of these stories,” Al said. Then, despondently: “As related by Valoria, of course, so who’s to say how true they are.”

“No, this isn’t going to work,” Barnabas said firmly, standing up from the table. “We’re done here, Maddox. It’s time to get some sleep. And when we leave in the morning, we’ll be going alone—just you, me, and the head.”

“No,” Maddox said, immediately and just as firmly.

“No?” Barnabas repeated, one eyebrow arched.

It was one of those rare times when a sharp instinct jabbed at his gut. “Liana is coming with us.”