Dead air stretched between us as we ate. I hadn’t realized how much I’d enjoyed Leena’s banter until I was met by a stone wall of silence. Her sharp wit and eagerness to try to outsmart me. She could’ve, had she only known what to ask. If she had dared to question who I had been before, the kind of life I used to lead, I would have been forced to lie.
Nothing you’re not used to. I ran a hand through my black hair, half expecting smudges of ink to cover the pads of my fingers. Of course, they were clean. Kost and Talmage had worked together to find the best mage in Lendria for my disguise. Anything to keep my past hidden so I could have some semblance of a normal life. A normal life for an assassin, anyway.
Calem cleared his throat, snaring my attention. “So, Leena, let’s talk about beasts.”
Sitting in front of the dying embers, Leena’s gaze flickered to him. “What about beasts?” Her inked hand flew to her locket, toying with the book-shaped charm dangling above her cleavage. Clenching my jaw, I kept my gaze level. I never knew where to look with her. Every potential option was really just a trap, and I’d never been one to take the bait.
“What choices do we have?” Calem’s eyes tracked Leena’s fingers.
Kost looked up from scratching notes in his notebook. “I, too, would be curious to know what is available to us.”
“Must you always talk like that?” Calem let out a quick laugh. “Join our century, buddy.”
“Proper speech should not be dictated by time.” Kost barely spared him a look. “Now, as we were, Leena?”
She shifted, pulling one knee to her chest and kicking the other leg out toward the fire. “I can show you what I’ve documented.”
Ozias set his empty dinner plate down and scooted closer to her. His broad grin smoothed the worry lines touching her eyes, and a soft smile graced her lips. My temple throbbed. I shouldn’t be bothered by Leena. By the way Ozias assuaged her fears and brought a smile to her face. I shouldn’t focus on the way she rotated her ring when she was anxious. How I wanted to reach out and stop her every time.
“Noc.” Kost’s voice shattered my thoughts.
“What?” Tilting my head in his direction, I raised an eyebrow.
A flare from the fire glinted across his specs. “What do you think?”
“Yes. The information would be helpful.”
Leena’s hazel eyes scoured my face. I didn’t know what she was searching for, but that look was damning. Not because she condemned me with her gaze, but because it was too warm. Too intent. Sometimes she reminded me of Amira, of the person responsible for my hidden identity, and that was a memory I could never let surface.
I clasped my hands together. “Go on. Show us your bestiary.”
“All right.” With the barest touch, she brought her middle finger to her pendant. “Open.”
Faint rosewood light exploded from her sternum, showering the air with thousands of glittering dust particles. As the magic settled, the projection of a book floated above the fire. Inscriptions in loopy gold lettering dripped down the binding of the tome, but the language was foreign to me. The only thing I recognized was the tree branded on the worn leather cover. The Charmer’s symbol. A deep, antique pink on Leena’s hand, but here? Molten gold, freshly heated with an underlay of fiery orange.
Power pulsed from the bestiary’s pages, and Leena offered it a smile I’d only ever seen on mothers’ lips. The projection had expanded to the size of a large history tome, and when her fingers met its cover, ripples of magic pulsed from her touch. The book floated in the space before her chest, waiting. She flipped it open and angled it toward her body. It held steady as if propped on a stand.
“What would you like to know?” She ran her hand above the text. Magic reacted to the motion, turning pages, and the whisper of parchment scraping together kissed the air.
Riveted by the sight of the tome, Kost spoke first. “Demonstrate a B-Class monster, please.” It was the first time he’d shown Leena even a morsel of respect.
Leena noticed, too. Her smile deepened. “Sure.” As she swiped her hand from right to left, pages flicked before her. The tome creaked when she came to a stop, and she bent her nose to the pages. A wondrous mixture of papyrus and ink perfumed the