Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,80
eavesdropping. You just didn’t notice I was there.’
Crap. He heard? ‘I’m pretty sure that is the definition of eavesdropping.’
He gave me a wolfish grin. ‘I think your solution is for the best. If Rage or Justice were to…’
My breath came out in a rush. ‘Oh good.’
He agreed, which would make this so much easier.
He stepped closer and nuzzled my leg. ‘But I want to stay with you. Let Noble, Justice, and Rage go, but keep me. Please?’
My heart pinched at his words. Three shields? I mean, I had four currently, so three was still downsizing, but … I crouched and pulled his face into my hands, looking into his hazel eyes.
‘Why?’ I asked.
He dropped his chin, looking down. ‘I … I don’t fit in with my brothers, not now. If I can still be your shield, it will bring me … honor.’ He raised his chin, but there was no humor with the pun. ‘I need a purpose. Please? This will make me useful.’
Oh, Honor.
I pulled him to me, holding him to my chest, and squeezed tightly.
“Honor, you will always be useful.” My voice broke, and tears spilled from my eyes as I embraced him.
‘Is that a yes? Please tell me that’s a yes, and then let me go. I can’t breathe.’ He croaked into my head.
I chuckled, the sound equal parts laughter and sorrow, and let him go. ‘It’s a yes. You want to be with me when I tell Rage and the others?’
He backed away, his eyes wide. ‘No way. Rage will spit fire. Best if I’m not there.’
“All right. Well, I still need to go find Jakko. Want to come?”
He nodded, and together, we went on a mage hunt.
I found the young male mage in a little workshop inside the selkie king’s castle. I was surprised because King Ozark had said the mage would be in the hole for a month after he’d tried to kill the selkie king, but apparently, the king had shown the dude yet another kindness. Hopefully, this would mean he’d be humble and helpful.
Whistling away, he ground pungent dried herbs in a stone bowl.
“Hey, Jakko.” I knocked on the doorframe and waited for him to notice.
He looked up at me with those same red, glassy eyes he’d had before. Dude either had permanent allergies or was constantly high.
“Miss Trouble,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Har har,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “I need your help so that all of our people don’t become blood slaves.”
He froze, his gaze narrowing. “I’m listening.”
Good.
“I want some bombs of that powder that takes away our powers.”
He grinned like a young wolf who’d just learned to shift. “You know, I discovered that.”
Okay, so he wanted an ego stroke too. “Yeah, I heard. It’s very cool.” Unless you’re on the receiving end—then it sucks. “This time, I’d like to be the one dishing it out.”
His eyes lit up as I spoke. “Thanks. How many do you need?”
“That depends. Will it work on a blood mage?”
He shrugged. “It won’t keep them from sucking your blood as that’s not really a power, but it’ll subdue their magic. Strength, speed, and whatever else those creepy bastards have.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Yep,” he said. “Magic is magic.”
That was good enough for me. If we were going to take out the queen and Kalama, we needed to level the playing field. “I’ll take as many as you can make in the next ten hours.”
His eyes widened. “That’s going to cost you.”
I crossed my arms. “Really, Jakko? I’m about to fight to the death later and save you from future blood slavery, and you want to charge me!”
He sighed. “Fine! You can pay me after … if you survive.”
Oh, that was nice. “Fine.” I growled. “I need one more thing.”
“You’re really piling on the favors here, Nai.” He gave me a sobering look.
Maybe his weed was wearing off.
“I’d like you to spread the word throughout Mageville that we need fighters. Tell the mages what we’re going to do, and ask them to join us. We want as many mages as we can get … from Dark Row, the villages, even in the outlands. I thought maybe your mom and siblings could help.”
He studied me, seemingly considering me or my plea.
“It’s bad, okay? They’re way more powerful than we ever could have realized.”
“I was there in Ozzie’s throne room yesterday. I heard.”
I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes. “Then you know we need everyone if we’re going to defeat them.”