Page 23 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

That’s right. Rowan had mentioned a trip to the barrier after finding me and Lake during our covert operation to track down Onyx. But he hadn’t said anything more about it.

“The bastard who nearly killed you that day at the castle was perched in the tree outside the entrance.” Rowan’s biting tone matched the lethal spark in his topaz eyes. It took a lot to piss him off so much that he lost his cocky attitude.

“Stryder?” I asked, catching a blur of orange from the corner of my eye. Pumpkin was slowly inching along the branch above us.

Reign nodded. “Akito was nearby as well. He was using air magic to conceal his presence, but I detected the mana particles.”

Akito was the leader of the mercenaries. Or, at least, I assumed he was the leader. For such a small and dainty guy, he was incredibly powerful. He could manipulate air and use it to throw foes around as if they weighed nothing. Constrict them too, much like Rowan could use his shadows for the Bone Crusher—the name I’d given his supercharged ability that allowed him to crush people into dust.

“What are they doing out there?” I asked, pushing from the tree. And stumbled with the action. Clumsy feet.

Lake caught me around the arm and pressed his lips together.

“Waiting for us, I assume,” Reign answered.

“Like a trap?” Uneasiness churned in my gut.

“That’s what we believe.” Rowan crossed his arms and dug his nails into his opposite bicep. “They’re just waiting for someone to pass through the barrier and either capture them to torture for intel… or to use as a hostage.”

“To lure me out?” I asked, brimming with nervous energy.

“Aye,” Reign confirmed, his brow set into a hard furrow. “I found their pursuit of you strange before. Even mercenaries have their limits, yet they’ve been unrelenting. Now I see why. You’re no ordinary target for them. They’ll never stop hunting you.”

Damn mercenaries. If only my saintly powers could turn muffins into gold, like Rumpelstiltskin did with that straw for the miller’s daughter to save her from the king’s wrath. Then I could pay them off, giving them more than whatever King Silas had offered them to capture me, and live happily ever after with my men.

“Any idea how much Nocturne charges for their services?” I asked, anxious about what lay in store for us when it came to resolving this mess with King Silas. “Surely, there’s a way for me to raise enough money to get them off my back. If not money, maybe a lifetime supply of coffee, pastries, and my undying gratitude?”

Rowan snorted.

“If only it were that simple,” Reign said. “The power you wield is immeasurable. I doubt there’s any price you can offer that will persuade them. King Silas will have made damn sure of that.”

I sighed.

How was this the hand I’d been dealt in life? What I wouldn’t give to be the ordinary, coffee-addicted bookworm I used to believe I was. One with no grand destiny or freaky powers.

Draven and Reign said their goodbyes and started toward the dirt path leading to the warrior’s encampment. They stopped after a few feet and glanced over their shoulders.

“My cue to join them.” Rowan gently bopped me on the chin. “Don’t miss me too much.”

“Too late,” I said in our familiar goodbye before brushing our lips together.

“Do I get a kiss as well?” Reign pointed to his cheek. “I’d love one right here.”

“Yeah, I’m not falling for that,” I told the flirtatious spy. “You’ll move your head last second and kiss me on the lips.”

“Cloth would be between our mouths.” Reign patted his mask. “So, it wouldn’t be a real kiss.”

“But your death would be real,” Lake interjected. “Maddox would gut you like a fish and string you up by your toes.”

Reign scoffed. “The demon lord can kiss him but I can’t?”

Draven grabbed Reign by the shoulder and pushed him farther along the path. I laughed at the sight. Rowan smirked at me, tweaked my chin again, then left with them.

Oreo stepped after him, ears perked, and then paused after a few feet, releasing a small whine. Seemed like someone else would miss our thief-turned-spy too.

“Worry not,” Lake told the puppy, bending down to rub his back. “You’ll see him again soon. Then you can bite him all you want.”

I snorted. Something tickled the top of my head, and I looked up right before toe beans thudded against my forehead.