Midnight Kisses (Shifter Island #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,76

do we do this?” I glanced down at Kaja and then to her sisters. “Should two of us go and one of us stay here with Kaja? Or should we bring her with?”

I didn’t know how this worked. I just wanted to make sure we got a good potion, and Rue and Nell were both a little too quick to say their sister was dying. My attention drifted to the fleeing crowd, still confused that they would all bolt.

Every single one of them ran … except one.

Nell said, “I’m not sure—”

“What are you doing here, wolves?” the lone man asked, his deep voice coming from within the folds of his cloak.

Chills ran the length of my arms, and dread sank deep into my gut.

“We are here to do business.” I gulped. “Same as any.” My voice was firm, a relief because on the inside, I was a mess.

Still several steps away from us, he raised his head and took a deep inhale. “Are you here buying?”

He stepped closer, and my wolf squirmed. Yeah, I had a bad feeling too.

“Or selling?” he asked.

Selling? Selling what?

Before I could protest the absurdity of his question, Rue—quiet, studious Rue—replied, “A bit of both.”

“I’ll give you five gold coins for her liver.” The man pulled his hood back and licked his lips, looking at Kaja’s limp form. His face was covered with thin white scars draped over a network of black veins.

Eww! Also, hell to the NO!

Nell pulled her sword. “We’re not here to sell her, you foul creature!”

The man lunged for the boat then and, in the next moment, froze midair.

What the…?

My jaw dropped, and Nell jabbed her elbow into my side.

“Oww,” I muttered. Glancing up, I locked gazes with the swirly eyes of a high mage, his irises practically glowing from within his hood. He stepped up to the man frozen in midair and flicked his wrist, sending the now petrified body flying. Like a boulder, it crashed into an open tent stall fifty feet away.

Whoa.

He pushed his cloak back, and my jaw dropped with recognition. This was the high mage who’d asked me to choose my elements, the nice gray-haired one with the silver robes.

Crap. We were busted.

My mouth dried, and I waited for him to ream us for being here, only it never came. Still, my heart pounded against my ribs in a desperate attempt to flee. Maybe it wasn’t us who’d caused the bedlam. Maybe it was the creepy, swirly-eyed mage.

He looked down his nose at us. “Welcome to Dark Row, ladies. I trust you have good reason to be here?”

I gulped. “Our friend is dying. We need help saving her.” After swallowing again, I added, “Also, thanks for saving us.”

Probably should’ve started with that.

He nodded, which I chose to take as approval. As soon as I disembarked the boat and stood on the dock, he spoke again.

“Let me offer you one bit of warning.”

Legit, I’d take all the help I could get. Shifting uneasily from foot to foot, I asked, “Yes? What is it?”

I had no idea what he was doing here, and I probably didn’t want to know. The high mages were the rulers of our society, and Dark Row was where all of the illegal activities of the magic world took place. Why would he be here? Unless he was here procuring something illegal as well…

He took a deep breath then cocked his head and continued. “Take your injured wolf with you if you mean to keep her intact.”

Oh, Mother Mage. I shook my head. He did not just say that.

“Thank you,” Rue said, inclining her head. “And what do we owe you for this?”

Wait … why would we owe him?

The sinking sensation of what-the-hell-is-going-on settled over me, and I realized just how out of my element I was.

“You never saw me here,” he replied and turned to leave.

Pausing, he looked back over his shoulder at us and said, “If you want your friend to be healed, there is only one mage strong enough to do this: Madam Surlama.”

He spun around, and we all muttered our thanks to the dude.

I looked down at Kaja. My chest tightened as I thought of us carrying her on a stretcher through a market.

“What I wouldn’t give for a wheelbarrow,” I muttered.

Nell gasped, drawing my attention, but when I looked at her, she pointed toward shore.

The cloaked high mage was gone, but at the end of the dock sat a wheelbarrow.

Shaking my head, I blew out a long breath. “I have