Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
How she’d known the dead man was in the training tunnel even though no one else had for decades. How she’d clutched her throat and blurted out Hemmen’s name even as she was on my knot. It explains why she had me touch her in the tunnels. Granted, she could have known that whoever was responsible for the killings was going to cut his throat…but that doesn’t explain why she gleefully jumped into bed with me that day in the hospital. She had no reason to touch me if she was simply some criminal mastermind hiding her tracks.
And if she was, why would she claim something so terrible? A criminal gets a trial. The last mancer in the kingdom was burned at the stake, no trial at all.
Am I just inclined to believe her because I’m in love with her?
If what she’s saying is the truth…I don’t know what direction we go from here. She was the closest lead we had to finding the thief, and now we’ve got nothing. If we tell the guild that she’s a mancer, what happens if they decide she should be put to death?
The thought enrages me. I won’t let that happen.
I move to Gwenna’s side and squat beside the table. She’s crying again, tears falling silently down her cheeks, and I realize just how much stress she’s been under. What would I do if I thought I was a mancer? I wouldn’t tell a soul, either. I’d protect myself, just as she’s been doing.
And here I’ve made the situation worse, assuming she was the thief I’ve been looking for. I’m just as much to blame for this situation.
“Hey.” I reach for her hand. “What do they call a Taurian who falls for a mancer?”
“A fool.” She sniffs and won’t look me in the eye. “Mancers are outlawed.”
“Lots of things are outlawed. Doesn’t mean people don’t do them. I know a potion broker in the city, and they aren’t supposed to be creating them, but that’s never stopped anyone before.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Gwenna confesses, her fingers trembling in my grip. Her other hand covers her eyes. “All I ever wanted was a job that could afford me enough money to not have to worry about going hungry. To be able to send some home to my mother and help her out. I never wanted any of this.”
I’m a monster for making her so worried. All this time, I should have been telling her how I feel about her. How my day is instantly better when she smiles. How it ties me up in knots when she’s stressed. “I’m sorry I accused you.”
“I guess I have been acting a mite suspiciously.” She manages a small smile. “But I’d rather be a thief than a mancer. A thief is just seen as desperate. A mancer is seen as evil.”
“You’re not evil,” I reassure her. “You’re the least evil person I’ve ever met. You’re just differently endowed.”
She peeks out at me from under her fingers. “Like you?”
I bark a laugh. “Exactly like. And just like me, we’ll figure out a way to keep things under control.”
Gwenna clutches my fingers tightly. “What do we do now?”
I consider this. Gwenna’s secret will only be secret for so long. She’s already under scrutiny for the thieving ring, so I need to get her name cleared in some fashion, but that means letting more people know what she’s capable of. “We need allies.”
“Who?”
“Hawk for sure.” I hesitate over the next name. “Possibly Head Guild Master Rooster, since he’s in charge, but we’ll need to see if Hawk thinks that’s wise.”
“We can’t tell the guild leader! He’ll kick me out of the fledglings, and I’ll never pass my tests.”
“Little bantam, we’re down to four,” I tell her gently. “There’s no way we’d pass this year regardless.”
I hate the crushed expression on her face. There must be a way we can fix this somehow. “I’ll keep you safe,” I reassure her. “You don’t have to worry.”
“I can’t help but worry.” She twines her fingers with mine.
“Who else knows about your power? The fewer the better.”
She winces, thinking, and rubs her fingertips over my knuckles. “Sparrow has known all this time. Mereden and Lark guessed it from my experiences with the dowsing rod. And you.”
As far as I’m concerned, that’s three too many people. “No one else.”
“Gods, you think I would tell anyone if I could help it? It took me this long just to confess to you.” Gwenna shakes her head. “You have my life in your hands, and you didn’t trust me until five minutes ago.”
“If I could reassure you somehow, I would.”
She arches a brow at me. “Give me one of your secrets, then. We’ll be even.”
I smile at that. “I’m in love with you.”
“Wh-what?” Her eyes go wide, and for once, she seems to be speechless.