AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Her sister looked at her with curiosity. “Why—aren’t they your friends?”
“They are. However, Mios is also looking for a god stone. While I want to trust him, new as that is for me, I don’t need him to get any ideas to take it from you.”
They both tracked Gavin as he made his way over to their table, holding a tray with three clay cups. He placed them down and handed Thalea the one full of water, then gave Violet her own, filled to the brim with tea. “There are a lot of people here, given the time of the day.”
Violet reached for her cup, bringing it to her lips. She took a big gulp as she turned toward the entrance to count the group. Five—no, six—men. They were locals, to judge by their old clothes, dressed like people who lived by the sea.
The leader of the gang was strangely familiar. Blond ringlets fell over his golden skin, right over bright blue eyes. He was the tallest of the group, and looked out over the patrons with a haughty air. Until he found her.
A grin split his face in two, revealing the yellowing teeth of someone who chewed too much tobacco. He appeared to have discovered a prize, and that made her stomach sink. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sister tense—another bad sign.
The man strolled toward their table with the confidence of a person who had five other men tailing after him.
“What do we have here? Crazy Lea. I thought I’d told you not to come back.”
“Watch what you’re saying, boy,” Gavin said, as Violet shifted uneasily in her chair. The group drew closer, their hands on their belts.
How trained were they to attempt to tackle two magic-wielders? Did they even know they were sorcerers? Did they have weapons? Should she be worried—or were they just stupid?
“Imagine my surprise when I heard you are here, sheltering you deserter sister.” The man smirked in a cocky way that reminded her of Julius. He lifted a piece of parchment. The black ink on it painted a portrait with Violet’s features. The bold letters read, Runaway bride. Wanted for deserting the Crown. Thankfully, Gavin wasn't there.
“Go away, Theo,” Thalea said, her hands balling into fists. Violet’s blood ignited, sending her power surging through her veins. This was the one who was to blame for her father’s demise. Her sister’s fear and anger only confirmed it.
“Oh, fuck,” Gavin said, and she registered the screech of his chair as he stood.
Theodore opened his mouth, unquestionably to threaten them further, but the words died on his lips as Violet threw her mug across the space. It shattered in his face, slashing skin, brows, and everything that had made him kind of pretty. She bolted from her seat like a madwoman hunting for vengeance, and the gasps of fear from his group only fueled her. Her magic gathered inside her, aiding her quick movements as she pulled two knives from her belt.
She kicked the man closest to her across the chest and threw a blade at another. Without pause, she danced away from one of their fists. They were too slow, all brawn and no brain, where she was magic and power.
Yes, she had told Gavin she would not seek out the bastard. But she’d made no promises about what she would do if he found her. They were fucked either way. The whole city now knew she was an outlaw. These small-town people needed to see what it meant to confront a trained soldier.
She jumped on the fourth man and plunged her blade into the place where his shoulder met his arm. His scream vibrated through the chaos in the tavern. Gavin’s spell hit the fifth and last man, sending him flying across the room and into a mess of tables and chairs.
Their moans of pain filled the air. The bartender was hiding behind the counter, along with his waiter and a few terrified patrons. Violet’s harsh breaths burned her throat as she looked down at the fallen men. Theodore was holding his face, crying like a babe while he rolled around on the ground.
Over by the table, Thalea stood frozen, pale, and with wide eyes. Was she afraid?
Gavin rushed to her sister’s side, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the back door. “Violet, let’s go!”
Violet crouched next to Theo, plucking the bloodied wanted sign from his hands. “Judgment day came for you,” she whispered in his ear. She pulled his knife from his belt and smiled as he curled into a ball, begging for forgiveness.
Let him think this would be the end of him—even if she wouldn’t hurt him further. When it came to it, she was not as wicked as he had been with her family.
“Violet,” Gavin urged, already near the door. He raised his hand, and his coat flew over from its hook on the wall. Magic was a novelty here, and any sense of fear could buy them time.
They left through the back door. Thankfully, most taverns were designed similarly, and she had trained herself to sit by the exit ever since she’d escaped the Iron City. Unlike that night in Scoria, Gavin was no longer her enemy.
She looked at her sister when the alleyway spilled them out onto the city’s main street. Her heart hammered in her throat. Thalea being here with her was dangerous. What had happened inside would come back to haunt her, without a doubt.
“Go home and get any gold you have saved. Pack a bag for both you and mother. You can take my mare out of this place. We will meet you later. If anything seems weird at all, you leave the house and find us at the piers.” She pressed Theodore’s knife to Thalea’s chest. Her sister’s eyes were still wide with fear.
“But, you already gave me a knife.”
“That one is not the same. With this one you aim to hurt them enough, so you can escape.”
“What about you?” she asked.
Another group of people turned the corner, more patrons on their way to the tavern. A suspiciously large group. Pushing Thalea in the opposite direction, Violet lowered her face to her ear. “I will be fine. I’m trained to survive, I promise. Now go.”
