“There was a war, and Graves lost it.” Knight didn’t sound as assured as before.
“I’m not here to discuss whether those homes belong to you, but if you’re clever enough to accept my help for a price.”
He didn’t turn towards his men to ask their opinions. “Is your wizard strong enough to produce a safe and effective remedy?”
“Mage.” Darius thrust his chest out, basking in the attention. “I’ll stake my reputation on the success of my potions. No pun intended, Alex.”
Silence thickened. Only the sound of the heartbeats of the people around me reached me.
Knight gave a brief nod. “I want to see if the remedy works. If it does, Graves will have his bloody home back.”
I returned the nod. “It sounds fair.”
He stretched out his arm towards me, and Darius intervened, shaking his hand.
“We have a deal, Knight.” Darius didn’t allow the werewolf to get close to me.
He deserved a raise.
“Another thing.” I distracted Knight from trying to shake my hand. “We’re searching for a wizard who curses people. He forces them to turn into animals during the day. They return to humans at night. His name is either Sean Lewis or Johnny Riley. Does that ring a bell?”
He regained his boldness. “No, it doesn’t.”
I didn’t insist. “We’ll see each other soon.”
Knight swept his sharp gaze over us before leaving with his two bodyguards.
Irene started to talk, but I stopped her and nodded towards the carriage.
When we were inside, I checked that Knight and his men were gone and waited for the coachman to drive us out of the square.
“Knight has exceptionally good hearing.”
“He was lying.” Irene sat next to me. “When you mentioned the wizard, his aura changed shape and colour. He was frightened.”
I regarded her with awe. “Brilliant.”
Graves grumbled. “I didn’t know about the rabies. We didn’t need to make a deal with Knight. We should have waited for the disease to spread and do the work, or we could have struck him when he was weak.”
“You disappoint me, Graves.” I moved away from him. “Would you let children die?”
He stared at his hands. “No.”
“Helping Knight in a moment of need will make him feel indebted to me,” I said. “A werewolf duke ready to repay his debt will be useful.”
“I don’t care about politics.” Graves clenched a fist. “I care about bringing Knight down.”
“Unfortunately for you, I’m the duke, and politics is part of my job. You should understand. Your father was the Duke of the Moon Court.”
“My father would never have made a deal with Knight,” he said.
“And look what happened.”
He shot forwards to grab me, and panic silenced me. Darius intervened with a shimmering protective shield he conjured in front of me. There was a thud when Graves smacked against it.
The mage definitely deserved a bloody raise.
“You tricked me!” Graves was shaking with rage.
