Esh’s voice was mocking. “But of course, out of all the Guild, you are the only one who could come, and the fact that the woman I loved needs my help isn’t a manipulation to get me to agree.”
Loved broke through her, her body flinching at the past tense. Unbidden, images rushed through her – a first kiss when it had been pouring rain, Esh’s mouth so soft on hers when nothing else of him could ever be described as soft. Looking up from a book only to find his face inches away, and his smile saying he’d been there for some time, only she hadn’t noticed. A ten-year-old boy glaring at a gang of bullies as he stood over a seven-year-old girl, protecting her and making her safe in a way her brother could never quite manage.
She shoved them away, brought her mind to the present. That was over, and only what happened next mattered. “We both know it is, though given our history, I told them not to count on it being an effective one.” She held up her hand to stop the words he began to voice. “No, let’s not go over it again. Let me tell you the job, and we go from there.”
He spun on his heel and went to the kitchen, finding her stash of whiskey in an upper cabinet on the first try. Much as she wanted a drink herself, she said nothing as he belted back a shot. Once done, he licked his lips, and she could almost feel those lips on her neck, traveling downward as his teeth came and nipped along the path.
Nalah turned away before he caught her staring. Not good to give him any ammunition. From behind her, he spoke. “Okay, clear your conscience.”
She did her best to keep any emotion out of her voice. “The Guild has discovered Beylor has purchased a very important magical artifact, one the Guild wants to get into our possession. Word is he doesn’t realize what it is or the power it possesses, so the main focus is to get it back before Beylor finds out what it does.”
“The Underground Tour. You want me to get you in,” Esh said, grim humor in his voice.
Grateful she didn’t have to explain further, Nalah fell silent to allow Esh to work it out in his own head. In the underworld of cage fighting, the Underground Tour was legend, the match all fighters dreamed of. Only a few ever made it, and Beylor, the operator of the Tour, was by turns revered and feared by most.
Except Esh didn’t have any interest, though he received an invite for each Tour. I’m not a dog to bark on command. He never trusted it, and as he once told her, he wouldn’t be part of anything where he couldn’t see all the pieces in play. And if anything was shrouded, it was the Tour.
The fact that his continued refusal made him a legend and had people coming from all over to both fight him and see him was an unexpected side effect.
After long moments he spoke again. “Why can’t the Guild show up and force the return?”
She turned to face him. He was still holding the glass, giving it the occasional slow spin so the liquid arced and rolled within the cup. “Too many things are in play. Politics, for one. The Tour draws a lot of important people. Beyond that, Beylor is slippery. The Guild has bits and pieces of information, but they’ve never been able to get enough to pin a location down until after the Tour has moved.”
“No wizards can magically find him? That much power in one place – don’t know how it could be missed.”
“Not that simple. The theory is Beylor operates the Tour in what are known as blackout zones. No magic works in or escapes those areas.”
He cocked his head in question, ready to learn more, like always. While Esh had never read on his own, he’d brought her every book he got his hands on – though how he got them she never asked. And at night, he’d listen for hours as she discussed whatever she’d learned that day. “He protects himself by sticking to areas where magic is useless and he’s surrounded by fighters and warriors. Man’s not stupid.” He drained the glass and set it on the counter before coming to stand in front of her. Anew, desire shaped itself low in her stomach as the scent of sweat and leather and that something that came to be labeled Esh in her mind hit her, but Nalah dug deep and refused to back away. She wouldn’t concede any ground to him. “Why are they sending you, outside of the very important reason they’re hoping you’ll convince me to get you to the Tour? Did you turn into a master thief while you were away? Because if you aren’t, can’t see how you going matters.”
And here it was, the moment she’d been dreading. Laying herself bare in front of the one man she wanted to be shielded from. “Remember when I was a kid and always talked about feeling things? We thought maybe I had some magic in me but I never passed any tests and we decided that wasn’t the case.”