Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“Did ya get lost or what?” Niamh demanded when we entered.
“Nah.” Drex took my glass. “I took a page out of your book and poured myself a drink.”
Niamh’s brow lowered, but amusement lit her eyes. “Sure, ye need a cooler. Do two things at once, like.”
“Okay, Jessie.” Nessa bounded over, her ponytail bobbing. “Everyone in this room knows the sordid history of Miss Tilda here. You know a little, and that is plenty. You don’t need to hear the rest. Just trust us that it is bad.”
“Yup.” I took a seat next to Austin. He draped his arm over my shoulders.
“We also know when and how she left the Guild,” Nessa said. “Basically, she poisoned a bunch of people and snuck out.”
Tilda lifted her chin slightly and pursed her lips. She didn’t feel badly about those deeds, not that I would, either.
“Why’d she take people with her?” I asked.
Nessa paused before looking at Sebastian. “I didn’t even think to ask that, did you?”
“Yes. Usually Guild employees, especially those of higher status, think it is everyone for themselves. I wondered what they had that she needed.”
Now Tilda’s eyes narrowed, not liking that comment. We wouldn’t even need Broken Sue or Aurora in here. Even I could read this mage’s body language.
“Okay, we’ll get to that in a while.” Nessa bit her nail as she moved to stand directly in front of Tilda, who was not tied down. Her hands were free. She could use magic if she was quick enough, and Sebastian was making a statement that she wasn’t. “Tilda, my darling, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”
Drex came back in, his glass filled. He’d correctly surmised that I didn’t want one. He sat down on the couch opposite Austin and me where he had a full view of the room and the front door beyond. He’d be a spectator, trusting in our mages to handle things.
“Just so everyone here knows what you are,” Tilda said, “what is the hard way?”
Nessa laughed, swishing her stained cream romper. “They know exactly what we are, Tilda. They helped us with your past work associates, though you probably didn’t know them. The Guild members were in the extraction department and much lower in the hierarchy than you. I know how the Guild likes to keep up the status quo.”
Her lips thinned.
Nessa lifted her eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to ask what the easy way is?”
“I’m not an idiot,” Tilda spat. “I know how these things work.”
“Because you’ve participated in these things,” Sebastian said, using a knife to clean dirt out from under one of his nails. “We know. I guess it isn’t just what we are, is it, Tilda?”
“Well…it is,” Nessa said. The two of them were always amazing at playing off each other in these things. “We, as in all of us, her included.”
“Oh, yes, right.” Sebastian ticked the air in Tilda’s direction with the knife. “By your definition, Tilda, we are all scum.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she replied angrily. “I created and administered the potions, or I was punished.”
“Ah.” Sebastian ticked the air again. “But you did have a choice. You either created and administered the potions, or you got punished. Tortured, if we want to put a name on it. I know this because I had a choice once. Pay an exorbitant amount of money for the privilege of being let go or continue to get tortured. Given that you saw me dragged to and from that room, I don’t have to tell you which one I chose.”
Her jaw clenched. She didn’t respond.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Nessa asked.
Tilda rolled her eyes. “I have nothing to hide. I told Alpha the truth.”
“And now you can tell us the truth.” Sebastian smiled pleasantly, a predator sighted in on its prey.
Tilda huffed out a breath. I could see her body trembling. “Look, I know”—she grit her teeth, apparently deciding not to start there— “I started in the Guild when I was eighteen. I had talent with potions but not a lot of power. The Guild was where you could earn some real money, so I started there near the bottom, and learned all I could so that I could advance. All I saw was that ladder, I’ll admit it. I learned the culture, fell in step and stole, lied, and bought myself better and better potion recipes. Better know-how.”
“By breaking into other people’s labs?” Nessa asked, walking around Tilda.
“Yes.”
“By killing anyone that got in your way?”
Tilda’s jaw clenched. Her eyes flicked to Drex and away again. “Yes. That’s the way it was done.”
“I realize that,” Sebastian said. “I killed a—“
“No, you didn’t,” Nessa cut in. “You don’t need to take the rap for me anymore, remember? I killed the mage that broke into your lab. I killed him from behind as he was about to deliver a killing blow to you.”