I could feel Audrey’s eyes burning holes in the side of my head. We had a lot to talk about, I knew that. But now was neither the time nor the place.
My entire body was tense and ready to counter an attack the second it happened. If it happened. I scanned the room around us.
Levi had led us to a medium-sized dining room that was located close to his throne room, and then left. The floor and walls were made of metal in here as well, but there was a thick red carpet covering most of the cold floor. Oil lamps burned brightly overhead and cast yellow light across the shining furniture. Both the table and the chairs were also made of metal, of course, but there were cushions in red and gold waiting on the seats.
I dragged my gaze over every inch of the room while memories swirled through my chest. How many times had I been in this room? Standing behind Levi’s shoulder while he conducted a business meeting that always contained a fair bit of threats. My presence certainly helped with that.
The door was yanked open.
It took all of my self-control not to call up any magic. I knew that Levi had done it on purpose to startle us. He knew how tightly wound I was right now, and was doing everything in his power to mess with me. Flexing my fingers, I just watched impassively as Levi strode back into the dining room after having been gone for a few minutes.
Amusement shone in his eyes when he found us still standing in the same spots as when he had left.
He jerked his chin towards the table. “Sit down.”
Not waiting for us to reply, he simply moved over to the lone chair at the head of the table and pulled it out. While he sat down, I finally slid my gaze to Audrey. She seemed to understand the position we were currently in, because she just brushed her hand discreetly against my arm before rounding the table and claiming the chair opposite mine. I suppressed the urge to give her a grateful nod while I lowered myself into my seat as well.
“So,” Levi began. Slouching back into his chair, he raised his eyebrows in a lazy expression. “You’ve come to beg for my help. To do what?”
Since I knew him well enough to understand that the word choice was very much intentional, I ignored his bait and instead said, “To destroy Eldar’s Blade of Equilibrium.”
“And to lend us some manpower for a fight,” Audrey added.
Levi let out a low whistle and shifted his gaze between the two of us. “That’s not a small favor.”
“No, it’s not,” I simply said.
Before Levi could reply, there was a knock on the door. Without taking his eyes off us, he called, “Come.”
The door was immediately pulled open to reveal a young man dressed in a crisp white shirt. There was a metal tray with three wine glasses and a pitcher balanced on it. The young man moved inside and silently set down a glass in front of each of us. Once he had filled them all, he inclined his head towards Levi and then disappeared back out the door.
“Why?” Levi asked, picking up the thread of conversation as soon as we were alone again.
“Because Eldar has a Binder,” I replied.
“So I heard. I also heard that someone managed to kidnap him.”
Audrey and I exchanged a glance. “We did. But we also ran into some unexpected issues.”
“I see.” Levi chuckled. “And now the whole city is about to rain hell down on you in retribution again, except with the Binder at their side this time.”
“Yes.”
“At least this explains why you were desperate enough to come crawling back to me and beg for my help. There aren’t a lot of you left in Eldar, are there?”
Neither Audrey nor I said anything.
Levi let out an amused breath, as if our silence confirmed it, and then picked up his glass before holding it out towards us. “Well, then. To desperate begging.”
Rage shot through me. Hell, what I wouldn’t give for a chance to bash that bastard’s face in. Or to watch Audrey torture him with that special move of hers. But we really needed the asshole’s help to destroy that blade, so instead of doing what I really wanted to do, I raised my own glass.
Across the table, Audrey did the same. The promise of vengeance danced over her beautiful features, but she followed Levi’s lead and dutifully moved the glass to her lips and drank some of the rich red wine. It didn’t taste very good, but I swallowed it anyway and then set the glass down with a thump.
“So that’s what we want,” I said as I dragged my gaze back to Levi. “Now, you brought us in here, which means that there is something that you—”
My words got cut off as my throat swelled shut. Alarm clanged through my head, and I snapped my gaze to the glass of wine in front of me. Don’t tell me he…?
A strange coldness was spreading quickly through my body, making my limbs numb. I gripped the edge of the table hard to keep myself upright as my gaze darted towards Audrey.
But she wasn’t looking at me.
Her piercing green eyes were locked on Levi. An imperious fury that could have leveled the whole city laced her cheekbones. Keeping her gaze on the King of Metal, she slowly touched her palms together.
Levi arched a nonchalant brow, but remained leaning back in his chair, the epitome of lazy arrogance.
Nothing happened. No green mist appeared. Which meant that either her magic didn’t work, or she had directed it inside her own body.
I choked as I fought to draw breath while the numbness spread down towards my fingers.
Without taking her eyes off Levi, Audrey touched her hands together again.
That time, a tendril of glittering green appeared and shot straight down into my throat. The cool silken feeling of Audrey’s poison swept through my body a second later. It chased away the numbness and opened up my airways again. I gasped in a breath as the final remnants disappeared.
Audrey didn’t even look winded.
A patronizing smile decorated her lips as she continued watching Levi. “Did no one ever tell you that you can’t poison a poisoner?”
His mouth twisted into a sharp smile. “I just wanted to see how good you really are.”
“If you would like a more thorough demonstration, I would be more than happy to oblige.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“Enough games, Levi,” I interrupted before this turned into another battle. “You brought us here because you’re open to making a deal. So, what do you want?”
For a few more seconds, he only continued holding Audrey’s stare. Then he let out a breath of amusement and turned to face me. “A stone mage called Trevor Gale has set up a rival house and is trying to take parts of my territory. Has taken parts of my territory. And wants to take it all eventually.”
Confusion blew through me. “So? Why don’t you just crush him like you do with everyone else who tries to challenge you?”
“Because large parts of my forces are otherwise occupied at the moment. And there are circumstances that make this a bad time for open war.”
“What circumstances?”
Levi swirled the wine in his glass before drinking from it again. Clearly his wasn’t poisoned like ours had been. After setting the glass down again, he lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Let’s just say that I can’t risk any large-scale battles being waged in the city for a few months.”
“Look, if we’re going to help you with this, we’ll need to know all the details. Otherwise, our ignorance will come back to bite us when we can least afford it, and then this whole mission will go to hell and you won’t get what you want either. So just tell us. What the hell is going on, Levi?”
Light from the oil lamps shifted over his face. For a while, he just studied us as if weighing the risks and potential gains in his head. He traced the bottom of the glass with his finger before drinking again. Audrey and I only watched him in silence.
Raking a hand through his hair, he heaved a sigh and then clicked his tongue.
“My wife is pregnant, and Trevor Gale has been trying to abduct her for a while now.”
Shock clanged through me like giant bells. For a few seconds, I could only stare at him in silence.
“You have a wife?” I managed to press out eventually.
Levi raised his eyebrows. “You sound surprised.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I, uhm…”
“That’s why no one is talking,” Audrey mercifully interrupted. “We tried to ask people if something interesting had happened in Malgrave in the past few months, but everyone refused to talk.”
A satisfied grin slid across Levi’s lips. “Good.”
“So, this Trevor Gale is trying to find your wife, but as long as no one shares information about her, it will be really difficult for him to do that.”
Leaning back in his chair, he shrugged again as if to confirm her words. “I put out a gag order. Anyone talks about my wife, doesn’t matter if it’s to discuss her last known location or simply to mention the color of her hair, and I’ll cut out their tongue.”
That didn’t surprise me at all. Though the fact that Levi had a wife at all ranked among the top five strangest things I’d heard this decade. It was right below that world-altering realization that I had also fallen in love.
“So that’s why so many of your people are occupied,” I said, trying to force my mind back on track. “They’re protecting your wife.”
“Correct.”
“It still doesn’t explain why you haven’t crushed this guy yet, Levi. You’re the fucking King of Metal. No one goes up against you and lives.”
A sharp glint crept into his eyes as he locked them on me. “Apart from you, apparently.”
“I never challenged your authority,” I said carefully.
He was silent for a while, those intelligent gray eyes boring into me. Then he let a sharp smile curl his lips. “No, you did not. One of the few smart decisions you made.”
“But this Trevor Gale apparently did,” Audrey said. “So why is he still alive?”
Gratitude washed over me. Hell, no one could read a room like Audrey Sable. With a few choice words, she had expertly pulled Levi’s attention away from me and our bloody history together, and instead redirected his rage back to the target we wanted him to focus on.
“Because he’s from Malgrave,” Levi began. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “He recognizes the faces of all of my people, so he never falls for any of the traps I’ve set. And I need a bloody trap to catch him because he never leaves his damn fortress. Unless it’s to personally abduct my wife, that is. I’ve tried to leak fake locations to him, but he has never fallen for it. And I can’t launch an all-out assault on his house because I can’t risk the conflict spilling into the city and endangering my wife.”
“So you need someone else,” I said.
“Some people whose faces Gale won’t recognize,” Audrey filled in.
Levi nodded, and then shifted his gaze back to me. “Our mutually… murderous feelings are well known, so no one would ever suspect that we were working together. And you’re very skilled and very lethal.”
I hated that his praise still made a small part of my soul soar.
“And you,” Levi continued as he turned to Audrey. “You’re a poisoner. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. And based on our battle back there, and the way you reacted to the poisoned wine, you are also incredibly skilled. A poison mage is difficult to deal with, because you don’t need to get very close in order to kill someone, which means that you might stand a chance at taking out Trevor.”
“Indeed.”
Anticipation thrummed through me. Even though she kept her face carefully neutral, I knew that Audrey was feeling the same thing. We were so close now. Killing one guy in exchange for Levi’s help with the ritual dagger, and the war would be a fucking piece of cake. How many assassinations did I already have under my belt? And with Audrey’s help, we really should have no trouble getting this done.
If only he would agree to the deal.
While making sure that none of those emotions showed on my features, I slid my gaze back to Levi. He drummed his fingers against the tabletop while considering.
My heart beat in tune with it.
Then he sat up straighter and clicked his tongue. “Alright.”
Since I didn’t want to ruin anything, I only raised my eyebrows in silent question. From across the table, Audrey did the same.
The King of Metal gave us a nod while a confident grin spread across his mouth.
“It’s a deal. Bring me Trevor Gale’s head, and I will lend you manpower and destroy the Blade of Equilibrium for you.”
