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His fingers brushed against the side of her face as if it was the first time he had touched her. They had never kissed outside the heat of the moment. If he kissed her now, it would cross a line. One they hadn’t crossed before. She lifted her chin as he slowly inched his head toward her.
But before their lips could touch, the coin on the counter started to glow.
—
They climbed down uneven stairs, made even more difficult in her high heels. She silently cursed Amelia. Dawson took her hand to steady her descent.
The auction room was quiet aside from the bass in the distance and the whispered chatter from the people around them—a decidedly different atmosphere from the club upstairs. The mood was somber. Mira sat down on a black velvet chair next to Dawson.
The lectern at the front of the room stood empty. This could all be a waste of their time if whatever was up for auction wasn’t what the council was after.
Dawson’s jacket easily covered her arms even when just draped over her shoulders. Down here she was also thankful for its additional warmth.
He sat quietly next to her, pulling on the cuffs of his shirt, his eyes dancing over the audience in silent assessment.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” a middle-aged man with a puffy face announced as he walked up onto the stage. “Thank you for attending tonight’s auction, highlighting some of the most exquisite artifacts Dark Magic has to offer. I will remind you of the rules: At no point is magic allowed to be used during or after the auction.”
As if in protest, Dawson’s Shadowflame flickered across his hand.
“Let us begin,” the auctioneer said, and the curtain rose.
One item after another was auctioned off. Hexed necklaces. A poisoned dagger. Powerful crystals. A possessed statue. But none of them fit what they were looking for—none of them would enhance Dark Magic.
Dawson raised his auction paddle several times. Was he genuinely interested in acquiring these objects, or did he simply want to blend in? The room was packed, and she was sure it wasn’t for any of the items that had been called so far. Anxiously, she shifted, crossing one leg over the other.
“Now to tonight’s highlight,” the auctioneer said. An assistant carried in another box, hidden by a black satin cloth.
The auctioneer removed the cloth, and a gasp went through the room. Dawson straightened with a jolt next to her.
“May I present to you, the ancient Relic of Death,” the auctioneer said with excitement. “It was discovered in the first millennium.”
Mira stared at the unusual bracelet, made of bones and silver. One end depicted a dying man, the other a scorpion.
“What does it do?” she whispered to Dawson.
“It summons Inseeli.”
She froze. In the drawings she’d seen of the demons, they looked like a mix between a praying mantis and a spider but were double the size of a human.
As thoughts swirled in her head, every auction paddle in the room went up, including Dawson’s. The auctioneer yelled out prices, which jumped higher and higher.
Surrounded by a glass case, the bracelet looked so small and unassuming. But it must be powerful because a Wielder needed large amounts of Dark Magic to be able to summon Inseeli.
“It’s an amplifier,” she concluded.
Dawson nodded and raised his paddle again. “Enhances Dark Magic.”
This had to be what the council was after. The auctioneer called for a higher and higher price, and the number of paddles raised dwindled until only three remained: a man at the front left; two in the middle, who seemed to be bidding together; and Dawson.
“What’s your plan?” she whispered.
“I’m going to buy it.”
Funny how that hadn’t even occurred to her. She had expected them to steal it from whoever got it in the auction.
“I guess that’s the more civilized approach.”
He smirked. “And I’m nothing but civilized.”
