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The flames from fading oil lamps flickered against the wood walls, the shadows of slow-moving vampires stretching out over the creaking floorboards, as most sat alone with wine, ale or blood. A man mumbled to himself over a book, another at the back transfixed on the fireplace, where embers burned out between hollowed logs. Low, murmured pleas of a woman caught my attention as she sat to the side, her knees to her chest as she stared out over the inn, her feet rubbing over the velvet cushions of the bench beneath her. Her wide eyes focused on us, before drifting away, as if she was lost in a place we couldn’t see. Candelabras stood on the tables, their shine dulled as they were draped with cobwebs and dust, lost to a time where I was sure this inn was once filled with life. From inside a room upstairs, echoed groans carried down the steep steps, as those on the fringes of society found home in this small inn at the end of the city.
A chill carried through the crevices in the walls and around the windows, making the place somehow feel colder inside than it did outside.
Avyanna smiled at the man behind the counter. “I’ll be at my usual table,” she said.
A faded armchair faced the fireplace, its brown cushions worn and moth bitten. Zach scraped a wooden chair across the boards, taking a seat at the oak table, where Avyanna sat across from him.
I stared at oil paintings of those long-forgotten hanging from the paneled walls, then slid my eyes to an old piano, shoved into a corner, its ivory keys warped and dusty. I could almost hear the silent music, as if for a moment I was transported back to a time when this part of the city was different.
Zach’s gaze surveyed the room, as he examined the three guests and the owner, then relaxed a little as they paid no attention to us.
“Nice place,” I said, deadpan, then occupied the chair next to Zach. His lips curved slightly, and Avyanna’s eyelashes grazed the bottom of her brows as she shot me a look.
“It’s out of the way,” she explained, reining back the bitterness in her tone. “It was once very beautiful.”
“Once,” Zach mimicked, as the owner stopped at our table, three glasses in his hands. I breathed in the spiced scent of liquor from Avyanna’s glass, mixing with the intoxicating scent of blood from ours.
My stomach churned, not wanting to know how they got them here. With all the aniccipere, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just killed the mortals in this part of the city, instead of taking just enough so they could heal.
The owner lit the candles on the candelabra, emitting a warm glow over Avyanna, softening her pointed features. He quickly left, leaving us alone. She took a sip of her drink, then drummed her nails against the tabletop, the melodic tapping echoing in the wood. “So,” she said, her gaze drifting over us. “Let’s talk about your wife.”
“Are we safe to talk here?” I questioned, glancing around.
She arched a perfectly groomed brow. “Now you’re being cautious? Yes, we are. They don’t care about our problems.”
“I’m not taking any chances.”
She huffed, but let out an agreeable sigh after.
As she murmured an incantation in a language I didn’t know, magic thrummed over the table, thickening the surrounding air as if I’d suddenly fallen underwater. Her eyes flung open as the spell finished, and she smiled. “There,” she said. “Now our words will be distorted to anyone else’s ears.”
Zach shook his head, swinging his silver ponytail, the ends brushing between his shoulder blades. “Why bring us here if you can just do that?”
“I have my reasons,” she replied, then focused on me. “So, let’s talk about your wife. The one everyone thinks is dead.”
“But you don’t?” I answered without really answering.
“I know she’s not.”
Zach nodded. “Azia told you.”
“No.”
I rolled my eyes to the cracked ceiling, praying for patience that I no longer had. “Don’t be elusive.”
“There are many of us who know about Olivia. I trust a few. Azia trusts less than that. Our circles are small, but word travels amongst us sorcerers. We want Olivia to succeed in her mission as much as you do.”
My mood shifted, my chest heating as I thought about her, face to face with Salenia, blood covering her like before.
Avyanna wrinkled her nose. “Oh, maybe you don’t. I understand. She’s your soulmate, so you want her to yourself instead of allowing her to fulfill her purpose.”
A growl reverberated in my chest, my instinct darkening.
She tutted, her eyes narrowing. “You have so much rage, Sebastian. You must temper it. I felt it from the moment we shook hands.”
Zach huffed out, “empaths,” with a roll of his eyes, then continued to sip from his glass.
Her gaze drifted to Zach’s lips, then slowly up to his eyes. After a moment, she blew out a long breath. “Oh, I see. You too have a soulmate too.”
