me in with a bedtime story. Try again.”
He stutters. “Her eyes.”
I admit I do like her eyes. Those are a rarity worthy of mention.
But I could continue this charade all night long, and he still wouldn’t be able to verbalize exactly what is so special about her. I don’t think he knows himself. I see it clearly, though. I’ve seen enough women who are either dead shells behind the eyes or faking their sickly sweet enthusiasm to know that my little spitfire isn’t one of them. She’s alive and she is present, which is the rarest thing in the world these days.
“Hmm.” I shrug. “You might be right, but I still don’t see how that makes her value equal to one-hundred identically paired eyes.”
“There is something else,” he says, lowering his voice until it’s almost a whisper. “There is a reason she is worth one-hundred pairs of eyes. I cannot say until she is bought and paid for, but I assure you on my honor, you will not be disappointed.”
“You want me to pay an extortionate amount of money based on an entirely unknown factor and goodwill? I think not, Maxim.”
Panic flashes in his eyes when he realizes this deal is about to fold. I don’t give the slightest shit about what makes her special. I already know why she is special to me—and that’s all that matters. But he will never know that. “D-do you have a price in mind?”
I smile beneath my mask. The man should never play poker—I could take his eyes and he’d still welcome me back for the sockets. “Not a price. But I will make you an offer.”
“Please,” he says, gesturing into nothing with his hand.
“We’re about to redevelop the electricity grid. We’ll pull it from the old North Sea turbines, directly to the island. When that happens, I’ll have full control over who does and does not have reliable energy. Give me the girl, and I will ensure you have unlimited resources at no cost to you.”
I watch his reaction carefully, pleased to see his eyes go wide. Maxim suffers, like we all do, with the constant power cuts. I can only imagine that living in a cave—however large—and relying on fire becomes more than a little irritating after a while.
“Deal,” he says, holding out his hand.
For the second time tonight, I stare at it.
“Not so fast. I would have something else from you before we shake.”
He lets his hand fall to the table, and I sit back casually in my chair. “When I take her with me, I will not have her thinking of this place as some giant, garish, luminous-bulbed beacon in the darkness. She must not want to return here. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Maxim sits back in his chair, his expression blank. He deliberates for a moment and then turns back toward me. “I understand. Do we have a deal?”
This time when he holds out his hand, I shake it.
I give the looming black tent a passing glance as I head toward the exit. The stalls have mostly put the shutters down for the night. Judging by how dry my mouth is, it’s probably only a few hours until dawn.
But there is one still open.
The fortune-teller eyes me as I walk around the tent, like she has some big secret in her keeping. I stop a few meters away and stare at her.
I admit this woman has piqued my interest—not as much as my little spitfire, but then I can’t remember the last time someone has sparked such curiosity in me as Sapphire has. The woman in front of me is more like a locked door. What is hiding behind it?
I’ve always liked puzzles. My grandmother says it will be my ruin.
And what could be more puzzling than a fortune-teller staring at you like the cat who got the cream?
“Do you have something for me, Crone?”
The woman’s thin lips curve into a smile and she holds a single card up between two fingers, offering it to me. “This one is free, on account that you will not like what is written on it.”
I raise my eyebrows, though she won’t be able to see them. Habit. “You see my death in front of me?”
She laughs. “I thought you already knew exactly what was in front of you?”
“I didn’t say I’d believe the death you were foreshadowing,” I say, snatching the card out of her hand.
A planet sits in the center of the sky, or maybe it is a sun