“The overthinking part, anyway.”Therewas something almost teasing in her voice, but her eyes were serious. “Youmay be chaotic, but it’s because you’ve got too much going on up there, not too little.”
She’d noticed that?Ishouldn’t have been surprised;I’dnoticed a lot, too.
“I’m working on it,”Isaid, and then, somehow, we were even closer; close enough thatIcould feel the warmth radiating from her skin.
We reached for the mead bottle at the same moment, and our fingers brushed.Thecontact sent sparks shooting up my arm, but instead of pulling away this time, our hands lingered, fingers intertwining almost without conscious thought.
I was frozen in place, unable to move, unable to think about anything except the wayTeddywas looking at me.Hereyes had gone dark, andIsaw her swallow hard, her throat tensing and contracting.Thespace between us felt charged, like the air before a thunderstorm.
Heat flooded through my entire body.WasIreally ready to let it burn…?
“Sorry, just need to?—”
Amy’s voice preceded her through the kitchen door, andTeddyandIsprang apart like we’d been electrocuted.Igrabbed my glass and held it like a shield, andTeddysuddenly became very interested in examining the labels onFatima’sspice rack.
“Everything alright in here?”Amyasked, glancing between us with obvious curiosity.
“Perfect,”Isaid, my voice pitched slightly too high. “Justgetting some mead.Teddywas telling me more about this particular batch.”
“Right,”Amysaid slowly; disbelievingly. “Well, we’re about to start an episode ofSchitt’sCreek,if you want to join us.”
I nodded, then practically fled back to the living room, darting pastTeddy, to the sofa, whereIcurled up on the far end likeIwas shielding myself, trying to process what had just happened.Orwhat had almost happened, anyway, becauseIwas pretty sureIknew what had been about to occur back there.Theplaces whereTeddy’sfingers had touched mine still felt warm, andIcouldn’t shake the image of her eyes in the dim light, dark with something that looked a lot like want.
By the time the first episode ended and the next began,Icouldn’t take it anymore.Iwas going to crawl out of my skin.
“I have a headache,”Iannounced to the room. “Amy, could we head out?”
Amy looked surprised but nodded, already getting up.She’dagreed to drive me back soIdidn’t have to walk home alone in the dark. “Ofcourse.Feelingokay?”
“Just tired,Ithink,”Ilied, already reaching for my jacket.
As we said our goodbyes, perhaps a little hastily,IcaughtTeddy’seye one last time.Forjust a moment, her carefully neutral expression slipped, andIcould swearIsaw disappointment flicker across her features.
But that had to be a trick of the candlelight.Didn’tit?
Chapter16
Calamity
Trying to be methodical was really fucking boring sometimes.
Calamity had been on her best behaviour as the party had scouredSouthhelmfor a lead intoJosse’swhereabouts, but she was losing patience quickly.They’dspoken to at least three people who clearly knew something, but who also knew better than to talk about a local contact to a random group asking questions about him.Liam’sdiplomatic approach andYorick’scharm offensive were getting them nowhere, especially sinceSouthhelmwas bustling with excitement over a tournament taking place over the coming days, and people had better things to do than help a rag-tag group of adventurers find one of their own.
Liam andMorganawere attempting to speak to the barkeep at a pub near the arena, nearly shouting questions over the din of dozens of patrons– questions like, “Doyou know whereEliesJosseis staying?” causing heads to turn.Theywere being both too relaxed and too obvious at the same time.Thebarkeepobviouslyknew something, too; the dwarf’s eyes had widened slightly when they asked if he knew whereJossewas staying, and again when they asked ifJosseever came to the pub.Butthey would never get answers this way, just taking his non-responses at face value.
When the dwarf finally grew weary– or perhaps wary– of their questions and turned to walk away, heading towards the storeroom,Calamity’spaper-thin patience finally wore through.Shefollowed him, waving off the hisses of concern from her friends, her palms already tingling with magic.
The moment the door swung shut, she slammed the dwarf into the wall, pinning him there with her forearm and tail so that his toes only just grazed the floor.Shewound back her free hand, poised to cast her readied spell, sparks swirling over her palm.Metaltankards fell from his hands and clattered to the ground, and his eyes went wide, flicking fromCalamity’shorns to the fiery motes and back again.
“My coffers are empty,” he said, desperation in his voice. “Ihave only what we’ve made today.Butyou can have it all.”
“I don’t want your money,”Calamitysaid, rolling her eyes. “Iwant you to tell me whereEliesJosseis staying.Whathis weaknesses are.”
“LikeItold your friends?—”
“Don’tlie to me,”Calamitygrowled down at him. “Iknow you have more insight than you’ve offered.Sospill, or this whole place is going down in flames.”Shefocused her attention on brightening the sparks in her hand, trying not to jump in surprise when a full-on flare erupted from her palm.Shewasn’t used to metering her magic, and it felt ready to leap from her body.But, despite what she’d said, she didn’t actually want to start a fire in the middle of the city; especially not when the guard presence was at a peak.
The dwarf didn’t know that, though, and the fear in his eyes grew.Therewas an acrid stench in the air all of a sudden, andCalamitylooked down to see a wet patch forming on the dwarf’s trousers.Shefelt a pang of regret, but she couldn’t back down now; he was clearly about to fold.
