Chapter Seven

  I rose from my bed slowly, my muscles still on fire from my overnight adventure. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but the pounding in my head and the raging ache of my entire body definitely proved I’d passed out at some point in the early hours after getting fresh clothes on. I groaned to myself as I rolled over and sat up. It’s been too long since I’ve used a sword. I am so out of shape. I squeezed my temples and closed my eyes, waiting for the throbbing to subside before I attempted to get up. And lack of sleep does not make matters any easier.

  “Something wrong, Runie?” a chipper voice called from across my bedroom. “Oh, don’t tell me, our newest cold-blooded mercenary’s weakness is a little headache? That’s a bloody shame.” I opened my eyes and glared at the man who sat in one of my chairs in front of the fireplace. He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as could be, no evidence of our escapades only a few hours earlier. His lanky legs dangled over the arm, and he casually read one of the books from my shelves. I growled at him in response.

  “Fuck off, Finnegan. And don’t call me that. How in the Hells did you get in here? And second question, WHY are you here?”

  He feigned heartache as he pressed his hand over his chest with a scoff. “I’m terribly offended, sir. I’ll have you know I knocked first. You didn’t answer. I was concerned for your wellbeing, of course, so naturally I checked on you. And here I found you still in bed, out like a light. I’d started to think I’d have to drag you from your bed myself. Was that your plan the whole time? I’m sorry to say, Runie, but you’re not my type. Surely we can still be friends, though?”

  “Finn, honestly, shut up.” I groaned and threw the nearest pillow at him. It bounced off his body with a satisfying whump and a grunt escaped from his lips. “I think I liked you better when you didn’t say much.” He hopped up and threw the pillow back at me, which I dodged and let hit the frame behind me.

  “Fine, fine!” He raised his hands in surrender. “I’m just trying to save your skin from the wrath of Valen, but by all means, if you DON’T want this cure-all that I brought to you out of the goodness of my own heart…” He sauntered towards the door, shaking the glass flask full of a shimmery white liquid. “I’ll just be going to the morning check-in alone, then.”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.” I grumbled, rising from the bed. My clothes I’d thrown on after my bath were a bit disheveled, but otherwise clean. I stomped into my boots at the foot of my bed and grabbed my leather belt from where it was hanging off my bedpost. White-blue eyes stared back at me in the long mirror hanging on the closet door as I threaded the belt through my pants. It was still such a strange feeling, just being out in my natural state, and people witnessing me at that without judgement. Finn’s reflection appeared next to mine while I finished with the buckle. He held the flask out to me without a word, not looking at me or my reflection. I wasn’t sure how to take that. Whether he was intimidated or being respectful at that moment, it was impossible for me to tell. With a small sigh, I pulled the cork stopper and gulped the milky substance.

  It was warm in my throat, like fresh milk with honey. My head lolled back as I savored the feeling of the potion seeping into every part of my body. At lightning speed, my muscles no longer ached, and my headache died away completely. It felt like I’d had a full night’s rest, too, as if I’d had the most peaceful sleep in my twenty-two years of life. Woah. I thought to myself, impressed. So THIS is how Finn manages to be so damned enthusiastic. I could almost feel an improvement in my magic, too, although it still wasn’t back to how it was before I’d left Sailor’s Rest to come to… well. Whatever this place was called. Right as I was about to speak, my neck started tingling. My gaze jerked to Finn’s in the mirror, and I noticed him straighten up and roll his shoulders. His smile dropped, and his eyes seemed to sink in a little.

  “Shit. Time to go, Rune. Quickly now.” All play now gone from his voice, he made like an arrow towards the door. I barely had time to react. I stuttered an incoherent question as I grabbed my coat and hurried after him, slamming the door behind me. He was already at the stairwell on the other end of the hall by the time I caught up to him.

  “Take it easy, Finn! Can you at least tell me what that was? Why are we rushing all of a sudden?” I called. Finnegan didn’t respond, however. He huffed and ran down the stairs, not waiting for me to catch up. I almost tripped on my own feet as I tried to keep pace with him. “Finnegan!” I barked as I caught up to him and matched his brisk stride across the courtyard. “What is going on?” My neck pulsed again, less of a tingle now and more of a muscle cramp. I grimaced and rubbed my neck. The muscles in Finn’s shoulders rippled under his shirt, but he didn’t stop moving.

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  “We’re late.” Finn snipped, his tone short and serious. “Valen’s upset.” It took me longer than I’d like to admit, but finally the pieces clicked into place. Valen is V. I concluded. It seemed stupid that I hadn’t put that together the first time Finn had mentioned that name. That was all the time I was allowed to contemplate the information, because we stood at the door to V’s study before I knew it. Finn straightened his posture and cleared his throat. The look of concern dissipated from his face, leaving nothing but a stoic mutual expression behind. He swallowed, then knocked on the solid oak surface.

  “Finnegan and Rune, please, come in.” The sound of Valen’s voice barely reached my ears, even with my advanced fae senses. Finn must’ve heard, or maybe generally sensed the authority’s command, because he opened the door and walked in without even glancing at me. He stepped aside and held the door for me as I followed close behind him. Valen stood behind his desk, his gaze locked onto our every move. The golden eyes that watched us so intently were narrowed slightly. His arms, which were crossed over his chest, flexed with tension. That was the only indication that V was upset, otherwise the man was completely stoic. Finn closed the door and silently caught up to stand beside me at the center of the room. He stood at attention, folding his hands behind his back and raising his chin. I assumed it would be a safe bet to follow suit, even though I had not been instructed to do so. I copied Finn’s pose, though I failed to master the neutral look of non-emotion Finn displayed.

  “Gentleman.” our commander finally spoke. His voice gave away nothing. “Thank you for joining me this morning. I’m so glad you could make it in. Rune, I trust you’ve settled in, then?” I gave a short nod for confirmation in response.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you for your concern. Finnegan has been quite the help.”

  For some reason I didn’t quite understand, Finn seemed to tense up upon his name being spoken. I glanced at him to my left, but he stared straight ahead at the brooding man in front of us. V made no comment on this if he did notice. His gaze was drilling holes into Finn as he spoke. “Good, good. So tell me why then, Finnegan, were you both out after hours AND late to your morning check-in?” Valen barked, and Finn visibly winced at his tone. His shoulders seemed incredibly tense, as if one wrong move would make him snap. It appeared almost painful, for some reason. V leaned forward onto his desk, pushing papers to the side where his hands rested. Okay, yeah. His eyes are DEFINITELY glowing. It was hard to miss at that point. His eyes, which were normally an eerie gold color, were now mixed with a blazing amber. It was as if there was truly a fire trapped within them.“You were assigned as his mentor to ASSIST and ADVISE, not to play GAMES like young boys. Is this assignment amusing to you, Mister Moore?”

  Well there’s a new name, I noted. Finn shook his head, averting his eyes to the floor. He was muttering apologies immediately, taking accountability for the mistakes we’d made in Valen’s eyes. They were all problems I had caused, obviously. I was the one who went out last night, and slept in the morning after. Finn was just trying to be nice, and I’d got him punished for it. I tried to interject, to say it was my own fault. I didn’t realize being my mentor meant taking the fall for my bullheaded actions. Before I could get a word out, my neck blazed with pain. I winced and covered the tattoo with my hand. Finn shot me a pointed look and shook his head slightly. He knew what I was getting at, or attempting to anyway. I furrowed my brow at him, but took the hint.

  “Now then,” V finally continued and slowly lowered himself into the chair behind him. His eyes faded back to their normal gold color, and I could’ve swore Finn let out a sigh of relief under his breath and dropped his shoulders. “As you’ve already had the opportunity to tour the grounds, I believe it is time for you two to go on an excursion together. We’ve tracked a drug-smuggling ring to a bar in Ravenwood.” He reached out and handed Finn a sketched photo. “This is your target. He’s been keeping his act clean above ground, so we’ve never had just cause to investigate further. However, our sources state that he is one of the three main traffickers of the substances.” I leaned over to peer at the photo, not quite understanding what the objective was supposed to be.

  “Forgive me, but, what exactly does this have to do with us? Isn’t your informant evidence enough?” I asked. When I looked back at V, he was smiling at me with that same deadly look he gave me when I first arrived.

  “It’s all about the long game, son.” Valen gestured to the photo. “He’s only one of three. I want all of them. That, my dear boy, is where you come in.” He whistled a short chirp, then the door opened and closed behind us. I whipped my head around to see a girl making quick strides towards Valen. She was young, barely older than Maria, the receptionist from Sailor’s Rest. She stopped when she stood at his side and dipped into a small curtsey in greeting. “This is Sahara, my inside source in the ring.” Valen took her hand and pressed it to his lips, which made her blush and give him a gorgeous smile. With pretty blonde hair and blue eyes, she looked more like a doll than an informant. I was skeptical to say the least, but I’d seen more surprising things in the last two days.

  “You two will go in with Sahara, undercover, and capture this man. You, Rune, will then take his place in the meantime and uncover the other two heads of the operation. Finn will transport the captive to our secured cells, and then act as your personal right-hand and bodyguard while you’re standing in. Any questions?” Valen folded his hands on his desk and watched us casually, as if he’d just asked us to go down to the market and buy apples and not break open an underground drug ring.

  Uh, YEAH, I wanted to say, tons of questions. About all of this. When I opened my mouth to speak, though, my neck throbbed and I couldn’t make the words come out. V smiled and stood up, then motioned to the door. It swung open on its hinges, as if someone had pushed it from the outside. I closed my gaping jaw and instead settled for a nice glower at Valen. Ah, more tricks. I grumbled to myself. Maybe I should’ve done more with my own magic instead of survival skills. Joined a traveling circus, perhaps. I ALMOST rolled my eyes, but quickly stopped myself. That probably would’ve been a good way to earn a knife to the eye.

  “Wonderful!” He purred, and gave Sahara a gentle push at her back. We followed after her, turning our backs to V. “Off you go then, Sahara will take you to her safehouse when you’re ready. Oh, and Rune,” He added at the last second, as we started toward the door. I pivoted on my heel to face him, and his presence itself seemed to echo in my mind more than the words he spoke out loud.

  “Don’t disappoint me.”