Merry chatter hung over the outdoor tavern. I scanned the smiling faces around us while I pretended to drink from a mug of ale. Light from candles with orange-tinted glass domes shone down from the strings that crisscrossed the seating area, casting the whole space in a warm glow. The scent of grilled meat and spices drifted through the warm evening air. Everyone looked to be enjoying themselves. They had no idea that this was about to become a battlefield in about two minutes.
“And we’re sure that’s him?” Audrey asked in a soft voice while her gaze drifted over a man seated a few tables away.
He was eating alone, and he looked relaxed as if he often came to this tavern and knew every inch of it. Which, according to Levi, was exactly the case. His dark brown hair was combed back, and his moustache neatly trimmed. Shrewd brown eyes studied the steak on his plate before he cut off another strip.
“Yeah,” I replied. “According to Levi, he’s one of Gale’s top advisors.”
She nodded. A few seconds of silence passed while she continued stealthily studying the advisor, whose name Levi had told us was David. Then she slid her gaze back to me.
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll just end up hurt and humiliated for nothing,” she said.
“I know. But I’m sure Levi will enjoy it regardless.”
She let out a half disgruntled, half amused huff. “Yeah, I’m sure he will.” Then a serious expression descended on her face. “You shouldn’t have offered to take it all yourself. I’m not some kind of damsel that needs protecting.”
I couldn’t help the slight smile that pulled at my lips. “Oh don’t I know it. Sometimes, I think you might even rival Levi in terms of sheer deadliness.”
“Then why did you make that offer?”
“Because I meant what I said.” I held her gaze. “I’m not going to just stand by and let someone hurt you if I can do something about it.”
“And I meant what I said when I told you that I feel the same way.” There was an unyielding note to her voice when she spoke, informing me that she was fully serious about this. “So I appreciate the gesture, but never forget that we’re equals.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Equals?”
Her eyes flashed. “You—”
“Didn’t I just tell you that I sometimes think you rival Levi in terms of sheer deadliness?” A sly smile slid home on my mouth as I continued watching her with eyebrows raised. “I’m pretty sure that puts you above me.”
For a couple of seconds, she just blinked at me as if processing what I had just said. Then a smug smile tugged at her lips, and she shot me a satisfied look. “Good answer.”
I smirked back at her for a few seconds before dipping my chin and saying, my tone once again serious, “But your words are noted.”
The smile on her face turned from smug to appreciative as she nodded back.
Murmur from the other guests washed over us as we went back to watching and waiting in comfortable silence.
I was glad that we had talked earlier and decided to figure out together how our new relationship was supposed to work, because it made conversations like these much easier. While I would always try to protect her whenever I could, she was also right. We were equals, so I was going to have to be more mindful not to overstep the boundary she had just pointed out. And besides, she was more than capable of taking care of herself too.
That comment about her deadliness might have sounded like a joke to lighten the mood, but I was only half kidding. After spending all of these weeks working together with Audrey, and watching her fight and kill from right beside her, I sometimes wondered how in all hell I had managed to survive a five-year war against her. She had some obvious weaknesses, of course. Like the lack of defensive magic, and physical strength in hand-to-hand combat. But her poison was so fucking lethal, and she was so damn skilled with it, that it was a bloody miracle that I had managed to stay alive through all of her attacks.
A hush suddenly spread across the outdoor tavern, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I knew without turning to look exactly who had just walked up somewhere behind us. An involuntary spike of dread shot through my chest. Fuck. I was not looking forward to this.
As if she could read those thoughts in my eyes, Audrey discreetly brushed her fingers against mine while reaching towards her wine glass. When she spoke, her voice was a faint whisper. “It’ll be fine. Remember, it can’t be worse than when I stabbed you in the chest.”
A surprised laugh tore from my throat. It dispelled the rising dread inside me in a flash. I gave Audrey a grateful smile right before a powerful voice cut through the warm night air.
“Callan Blackwell,” Levi said in a voice pulsing with the promise of violence.
In my heart, I knew that this was staged. That I was the one who had suggested this plan in the first place and that Levi was only doing what we had agreed. But hearing him direct that voice at me still made it feel as though someone was raking a blade of ice down my spine. I drew in a deep breath to steady myself. Showtime.
The wooden chair clattered down on the stone ground as I shot to my feet and whirled towards him in a show of shock. With a look of alarm on her face, Audrey leaped to her feet as well.
“Did you really think you could just waltz back into my city like this?” Levi continued as I finally faced him.
I didn’t even have to fake the flinch as I met his gaze. He was wearing his signature metal shoulder plates and bracers over a tightfitting black shirt, and his gray eyes were so full of cold fury that I swore I could see frost spidering across the ground. Fuck, I hated how much fear and respect for him was still ingrained in me.
“Levi,” I said in reply.
“Oh it’s Levi now, is it?” he said, echoing the real conversation we’d had in his throne room.
Raising my hands, I held them up in a placating gesture. “Look, we’re not here to cause trouble. Shit’s going down in Eldar right now, so we—”
“I don’t care. Get the fuck out of my city.”
Orange light danced over his sharp features as he took a step forward. It made panic flash across everyone’s faces, and chairs scraped against stone as half of the tavern stood up and backed away while Levi prowled towards us. Audrey and I moved away from the table so that we could stand side by side.
“I’ve settled my debt,” I said, my hands still raised.
“You’ve bought your life back.” Levi cocked his head as he came to a halt a few steps away. “Which is the only reason that you’re not currently bleeding out at my feet. But that still doesn’t mean you’re welcome here.”
“We can’t go back to Eldar right now, so—”
“Again, I don’t care. You have one chance to walk away. Right now.”
Audrey and I only remained standing there. Tension crackled through the tavern, and a few people outright hid behind their tables as the King of Metal continued staring us down. I flicked a quick glance around the area, as if looking for a way out, but what I really did was make sure that David was watching. And he was. Very intently.
A sheet of metal shot towards me.
I barely had time to get my palms together and call up a force wall before it hit. The boom as his attack slammed into my defensive wall echoed over the whole tavern. People screamed from somewhere to my left.
“Please, Levi,” I began.
He just shot another sheet of metal at me. It crashed into my next force wall with another earsplitting boom. To my left, Audrey called up a tendril of poison and shot it towards Levi.
His eyes snapped to Audrey as he shoved her attack aside with another metallic sheet.
“You,” he said, fury lacing his voice. “I was going to show you mercy because you weren’t a part of this. But now, you will share his fate.”
We had needed to give Levi an excuse to be angry with Audrey too, which was why we had agreed that she would attack him. Now that that was done, we were about to enter the really unpleasant part of our scheme.
I kept blocking Levi’s strikes at us with force walls until a slip-up looked believable. When he threw his next sheet of metal at us, I let it go through. Pain shot through me as the flat sheet hit me straight in the chest with enough force to send me flying backwards. Slamming into the table behind, I flipped over it and slid across the surface before crashing down on the ground. Plates and cups went flying as my body knocked them off the tabletop.
While I tried to struggle upright, another metal sheet hit Audrey in the chest as well. I winced as she flew backwards and smacked into a cluster of chairs a short distance from me. This was the part I had wanted to do on my own. I had wanted Levi to only beat me up, and leave Audrey out of it. But as much as I hated to admit it, they were right. Audrey and Levi needed a public reason to hate each other, and this was the only way. Hopefully, Levi would at least keep his word and take the worst of it out on me.
I threw a half-hearted attack towards Levi while I struggled to my feet. He knocked it aside easily. Screams split the night as my force arc hit the side of the building instead. Bits of stone rained down on the terrified people hiding behind an overturned table.
His next attack took me in the shoulder, making me spin around before a metal pole slammed into the back of my knees. I crashed down on the ground. Another strike hit me across the shoulder blades, and I toppled forward, almost smacking my forehead into the ground. Yanking up my hands, I managed to break my fall right before that could happen.
But I was already on the ground, and Levi started up a merciless barrage of strikes. Good. Because it meant that he wasn’t attacking Audrey.
Pain pulsed through my bones as his metal hit me. However, I knew that it looked far worse than it actually felt. It was painful, yes. But it was nothing compared to the beating he had given me when I bought my life back five years ago. He couldn’t go all out this time because we still needed to be in relatively good shape in order to get this mission done and kill Gale.
The pounding stopped abruptly. I sucked in a shaky breath and dragged myself up to my knees in time to see Levi hauling Audrey over to kneel next to me. As soon as he had deposited her on the ground beside me, he called up a long metal pole that twisted around our wrists before it hardened, locking our hands apart.
“You should have stayed in Eldar,” Levi said as Audrey and I raised our heads to look up at him.
Steel sang into the warm evening air as the King of Metal drew the sword that he kept strapped to his spine. Candlelight glinted against the blade as he leveled it at Audrey.
“Now, beg me for your lives,” he ordered.
“Please, sir,” I began. “She’s not a part of this.”
“She became a part of this the moment she attacked me.”
We used a version of our real conversation from back in the Court since it would sound more natural and believable that way.
All around us, people seemed to be holding their breath. Everyone except David, who was watching the scene play out with a mixture of hatred and interest on his face.
“Please, we just want to stay in Malgrave for a while,” I said. “We can pay you for the privilege. Anything you want.”
“Pay me, huh?” Levi shifted the sword to me and arched an eyebrow. “Now that is an interesting suggestion.”
“How much do you want? Just tell me what you want.”
A wolfish smile spread across his lips. “You want to stay in Malgrave? Fine. Then I want the same amount that you bought your life for.”
I let an expression of shock descend on my features. “But… But that’s an insane amount of money.”
“Yes, it is.”
Silence fell across the now messy tavern as I made it look like I was considering my options. Another subtle glance towards David informed me that he was waiting with bated breath.
“Alright,” I said, and blew out a dejected sigh. “I’ll get you the money.”
“Good.” Metal dinged against stone as Levi used the point of the sword to tap the ground before his feet. “Aren’t you going to thank me for my generosity?”
Hell damn it all, I fucking hated this guy. He sure hadn’t mentioned this part of our staged fight when we planned it last night. But it would undermine our entire scheme if I refused now, so I shoved aside the impulse to cut Levi’s head off his shoulders and instead blew out a breath. Bending forward, I placed my palms and my forehead on the ground. Since Audrey and I were locked in the same metal pole, it forced her to bow down too.
“Thank you for your generosity,” I pressed out.
A smug laugh drifted into the air above me.
When I straightened again, Levi shifted his sword to Audrey and placed the tip of it under her chin. She glared up at him but said nothing.
“And you,” Levi began. “Beg my forgiveness for attacking me.”
Audrey ground her teeth. Levi pressed the blade harder against her skin, forcing her to tilt her head farther back. Lightning flashed in her eyes, but she drew in a breath and then spoke up.
“I’m deeply sorry for attacking you. Please forgive me.”
Levi let out that smug laugh again that made me want to kick his teeth down his throat. With a flick of his wrist, the sword disappeared from her neck, and he slid it back into its sheath. After dragging his gaze over our kneeling forms one last time, he dissolved the metal pole that had been keeping our wrists trapped.
“Harry,” he said without taking his eyes off us.
“Y-yes?” the owner of the tavern answered from behind a table at the back.
“Send the bill for everything that got destroyed to my Court.”
“Y-yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
Without bothering to reply, Levi spun on his heel and strode towards the street beyond.
“Get me that money, Callan,” he called over his shoulder. “You have two weeks.”
I pushed myself to my feet while the King of Metal disappeared back into the night. Pain still pulsed through my body when I rolled my shoulders. Raking a hand through my hair, I looked over at Audrey.
Well, that had gone more or less according to plan.
