Dull pain pulsed from my lower back. I shifted my weight on the padded bench of the booth we were occupying. It did nothing to relieve the ache. I had only been flung into a cluster of chairs while Callan had gotten hit with I didn’t even know how many strikes. He had told me that it had looked worse than it felt, but I was pretty sure that he was a lot more hurt than I was, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“Ready for step two?” Callan asked in a quiet voice so that only I would hear.
After our staged fight at the outdoor tavern, Callan and I had stalked off and made our way to another restaurant. This one was conveniently placed in the part of Malgrave that Gale currently controlled. Just in case David didn’t follow us, we needed the right kind of people to overhear our conversation. Thankfully, though, David had followed us.
When we had arrived here, he had snuck into one of the back rooms. But given how closely our waiter always hovered, we were pretty sure that he was spying for the advisor.
I gave Callan a nod in confirmation.
Since we had barely spoken while we made sure that David’s spy was in place, we kept eating in silence until our plates were empty to make it seem like we had just been too hungry to talk. Once I had put my utensils down on the empty plate, I spoke up in a voice that was just a little bit louder than was strictly necessary.
“How’s your back?”
Callan pushed his empty plate away from the edge of the table and rolled his shoulders. “Honestly? Pretty sore.”
“Hell fucking damn it. Someone should take that asshole out.”
Our utensils clinked as Callan lurched forward, knocking his knee against the table leg in his hurry, and grabbed my wrist. “Keep your voice down!”
“I’m serious.” I yanked my wrist from his grip and leaned back in the chair before crossing my arms. “He’s a fucking bully and the world would be so much better off with him dead.”
His gaze darted around the room in a very convincing show of panic. “Don’t say shit like that.”
“As if you don’t feel the same way.”
“Of course I do. But Levi still controls half of Malgrave. The entire south side. Including this restaurant. So you can’t say things like that.”
“I didn’t take you for a coward.”
“I’m not a coward. But we need to stay in Malgrave, and to be able to do that, we need his permission. So we need to be smart about this.”
Before I could reply, that waiter that we knew had been eavesdropping on this whole conversation walked up to our table and stopped without even trying to pretend that he was coming to pick up our empty plates.
“The boss would like a word,” he said, his face a neutral mask.
Callan’s features transformed into a look of panic as he glanced between the waiter and me. “She was just blowing off steam. She didn’t mean any of that.”
“The boss would like a word,” the waiter just repeated.
“Well,” Audrey began. “You can tell Mr. Arden that we heard him loud and clear the first time and we don’t need another reminder.”
The waiter gave us a knowing look. “It’s not Mr. Arden who controls this restaurant.”
Callan and I exchanged a look of surprise. It took most of my self-control not to grin. He really had gotten better at lying. Or perhaps he had always been good at it, since he had managed to lie about his feelings for me for as long as he had.
“Please,” the waiter continued, and raised an arm to motion towards the back room that David had disappeared into. “This way.”
We slowly pushed to our feet and then followed the waiter across the room. The other guests paid us no mind as we weaved through the tables and approached the plain wooden door set into the back wall.
After knocking once, the waiter opened the door and stepped inside while motioning for us to do the same. We did.
The room beyond it was rather small. Only one table was framed by the dark wooden floorboards and wall panels. It was a table for four, and a rich red tablecloth lay draped over it. A thick candle burned in the middle of it, but other than that, the tabletop was empty. I shifted my attention to the person seated in one of the chairs.
David stroked a hand over his moustache while the waiter hurried over to him and bent down to whisper something in his ear. Probably a summary of what we had said out there in the restaurant. David’s sharp brown eyes stayed locked on us as we came to a halt a couple of steps from the table.
Once the waiter was done speaking, he straightened and disappeared back into the restaurant without another word.
The door shut with a soft snick behind us.
“You’re Callan Blackwell,” David said, his gaze fixed on the force mage’s face. “The only person to ever successfully double-cross Levi Arden.”
Callan narrowed his eyes. “And you are?”
“Someone who works for someone who wants to take Levi down.”
“That’s a very dangerous thing to say.”
“And yet, you share the sentiment.”
Silence fell as the two of them only watched each other for a while.
Then Callan said, “Do you have a name?”
We already knew his name, of course. But we couldn’t let him know that so we had to ask for it before we could use it.
“David.” His brown eyes slid to me. “And I didn’t quite catch your name.”
“Audrey Sable,” I replied.
“I see.”
I had no idea if that meant that he had heard of me or not, but it didn’t really matter. Since he had seen the fight in the tavern, he already knew that I was a poison mage. So there was nothing to hide.
Leaning back in his chair, he surveyed both of us again. “Why are you in Malgrave?”
“Because we can’t be in Eldar right now,” I replied.
“Why not?”
“Haven’t you heard?”
“Spell it out for me.”
“They have a Binder. And they’ve started a war to wipe out all the dark mages in the hills.”
He drew his thumb and forefinger down the sides of his moustache. “So I’ve heard. Must be terribly frustrating for you.”
“Is there a point to this meeting?” Callan cut in.
“Not one for small talk, huh?” A smile ghosted across his lips. “I respect that.” He uncrossed his arms and instead leaned forward on the table. “How would you feel about teaming up?”
“With who?”
“Me. And the person I work for.”
“And who is that?”
“Trevor Gale.”
“That name doesn’t mean anything to me.”
David studied us for a few seconds before replying. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t.” Sitting up straighter, he lifted one arm to gesture around the room. “He is the man who controls this part of Malgrave.”
Callan scrunched up his brows. “Levi has lost control of part of the city?”
“Yes.” Smug satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. “A lot has happened in the five years since you last shed blood on these streets.”
“Apparently.”
“So, how about teaming up?”
“To do what, exactly?”
“You two help us take down Levi, and we will let you stay in Malgrave as long as you like.”
We exchanged a glance as if we were considering it.
I slid my gaze back to David. “That sounds like a ticket to an early grave.”
“Does it? And what do you think Levi would do if word got back to him that you had been overheard saying that someone should, and I quote, take that asshole out.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all. I’m merely pointing out that your stay here is already dangerous. But if you help my boss, you at least have a powerful ally on your side.”
Callan and I shared another look.
“Can we have a moment?” Callan asked.
David waved a hand in the air. “Of course.”
We moved towards the corner of the room and then spent a minute or two pretending to discuss it. David was polite enough not to watch us while we talked. Instead, he studied the painting depicting a bowl of fruit that hung on one of the walls.
Once the appropriate amount of time had passed, we broke apart and turned to face Gale’s advisor again.
A hint of a smirk touched his lips as he turned to meet our eyes. “So, do we have a deal?”
We gave him matching sharp smiles in reply.
“We have a deal.”
