I loosened my fingers a fraction, and my gaze snapped to her. Charmers didn’t offer beasts lightly. “You’d trade your monsters? What Charmer would be willing to do such a thing?”
“Negotiate. Please.” Her vocal cords flared against the palm of my hand. I could end her right here…but beasts were a rare find.
Like the monster caging Kost. A beast like this could execute the more dangerous jobs, the ones that could get us captured and carted back to our door—or worse, dead. There were also tales whispered from drunken lips, rumors of a beast that could fulfill anyone’s deepest desires. I’d tested every manner of a cure except this one. Charmers were too hard to find, too hard to subdue. And they never parted with their beasts, no matter the price—or threat.
The toes of the Charmer’s feet skated above the floor, and her creature shuddered. Kost moaned again, and Calem inched closer. In less than a minute, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to bargain. He would strike to save Kost.
“Release him. As a show of good faith.”
She lifted her right hand to the side, and a soft light emanated from her Charmer’s emblem. Rosewood markings flared, and the grating of a heavy door scraping against floorboards cut the air. My eyes peeled away from the woman for a moment in search of the sound, but the hidden realm remained invisible.
“Iky, return,” she murmured. A soft hum droned as the beast exhaled. Dropping Kost to the floor, Iky disappeared in a flood of light, and her insignia returned to normal.
Unlatching my fingers, I released her neck. “Kost. Medical wing. Now.”
“Noc—”
“Now,” I said. He nodded once before taking his leave up the stairs. “Calem, stay with me and the Charmer. Everyone else, leave us. Immediately.”
Murmurs of discontent drifted down the stairs, but misty darkness curled around their ankles like the thick vines of the forest ensnaring its victims, and they left.
Calem’s muted-red eyes targeted the woman. “Hell of a show. You’ve got a brass set of balls, that’s for sure.”
I couldn’t fathom how he found it in his heart to compliment her. Not when she’d strung up Kost like a scarecrow and set him on display. “Calem.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Quick to anger, quicker to cool. His tense jaw relaxed, and his stare shifted from murderous to an intrigued, slow-moving appraisal. I fought the impulse to send him away. The gods only knew what she could summon, and I wouldn’t be caught off guard.
“What’s your name?” Boots clipping against the tile, I circled her in a slow walk.
Her voice cracked. “Leena.” Purplish bruises swelled in the shapes of fingerprints along the paper-thin skin of her neck. Guilt didn’t even bother to rear its head.
“Noc. Welcome to my home.” I nodded toward the other open armchair and stepped back, waiting for her to pass. The confident jerk of her chin threw me, and some of the anger stoking in my core snuffed out. I couldn’t help but admire the way she carried herself. Like an assassin unafraid of death. She arranged herself in the chair, her gaze slanting from me to Calem.
“Most Charmers would sooner die than part with their precious beasts,” I said, pulling her attention back to me.
Something dark flickered behind her eyes. “What beast do you want?”
“Before we discuss what you’ll be handing over, we should touch on the quantity. I require four.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Two beasts. Clearly you don’t understand the difficulty involved with managing more.”
“You manage more than one.”
Rotating the rose-gold ring around her pointer finger, she ground her words through clenched teeth. “Ensuring my beasts are happy and healthy is vital.”
“There’s the Charmer blood in you.” So not just a black-market scoundrel trading for bits. There were morals tucked away beneath that hardened expression. “I can assure you the beasts will be well cared for, but I still require four. One for myself and one for each of my closest votaries.” Kost’s stricken gaze played on repeat in my mind. Never again.
Her eyes shifted to Calem, and he winked. “Kost will be thrilled to have a permanent reminder of his unfortunate meeting with you.”
“Enough, Calem.” I waved him off, turning back to Leena. “B-Class or higher.”
She scoffed. “Fuck off.”
“Are you incapable of procuring B-Class beasts?” I finally took the seat opposite her and met her heated glare head-on.
“No.” She fingered a strand of hair the color of ancient oak trees—layered with rich browns that deepened in color at the crown of her head.