Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

Lilith pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully. “Which explains the trip to Oddfrid Vandobarre’s place. You need a wayfarer.” She looked up and tapped her lips in thought. “Risten inside has always wanted to visit the empire.” But after a momentary pause, she shook her head dismissing the idea. “Better not. Business first.”

The charm around my wrist suddenly began to warm considerably. I folded my arms across my chest to hide my discomfort.

Lilith leaned over and pulled Floria against her, giving her a hug. The woman smiled. “Enough of this. Give me the item you salvaged.”

My face must have betrayed me again.

“I know you’ve got it.” She gazed up at me smugly. “Of course, you’ll need to tell me how to use it and explain how it relates to the Forever Nexus Shadow.”

The charm on my wrist continued to heat up. I could almost smell it smoldering, and I couldn’t let Abe burn through the bracelet. It would kill the three of us.

I glanced around the room. On the far end of the table were two buckets of water, likely carried in that morning. They were still mostly full.

I held up a finger. “Can you give me a moment?”

Lilith watched with interest as I eased over to the buckets, pulled up my sleeve, and submerged my hand into it up to the wrist. There was a hissing sound and instant relief from the pain. Lilith blinked in surprise and then broke out laughing. “Your curse is trying to break free of that charm by pulling an excessive amount of myst through it. Amazing! We’ve definitely got to examine him closer.”

I leaned over the bucket. What was I going to do? I couldn’t let Lilith kill my family. And if she got the Griffin’s Key, it could give the Dark Avenyts access to a most powerful ancient artifact.

I glanced into the unused bucket and saw how it reflected the light from the open door, mirroring the view of the wall and rafters.

My eyes went wide. Scowling back at me was a dimly lit face in the shadows of the room. Fumiko! I tried not to let my excitement show. I slowly raised up and used my body to conceal my other hand. I pointed to the hostages in the room. Fumiko nodded.

I sighed. It was time to bring out my deadliest weapon. Sometimes it worked well, and others, it just made things worse. But I had to try it.

My big mouth.

I turned to Lilith, keeping my wrist in the water. It was starting to bubble around the charm. “If I give you the key, what do I get out of it in exchange?” I asked.

Lilith snorted. “How about the lives of your family.” She grinned. “And maybe a kiss.”

I felt the heat on my wrist suddenly stop. It hit me that Abe hadn’t been trying to break free, so much as trying to change my luck. And he must have been waiting for something. But what?

Cabrina huddled in her corner just beyond Lilith, staring at the floor. At Lilith’s mention of a kiss, the youth’s eyes came up in surprise. An idea began to form. Cabrina was fascinated with human courting. Could it be a characteristic shared with other Dark Avenyts? Something they didn’t understand and were intensely curious about?

Only one way to find out.

I wiped off my hand on a nearby towel and then stepped over to Lilith. I gently nudged Floria toward her mother before sitting in her spot. Lilith’s knife appeared in her hand as I leaned closer. I heard Wort shuffle a step in our direction, but she waved him back. He pointed the crossbow in my direction, signaling he was watching.

“All right. The lives of my family and a kiss. But...” I brought my face within an inch of hers. “How about you give me my kiss now to seal our deal.”

Lilith’s face grew red. “You would do such a thing in front of Zofie? Isn’t that referred to as cheating?”

“I’ve always cared for you, or at least I have the Risten inside. You’re a very beautiful woman.”

She seemed unsure.

I reached forward and played with one of the ties on her shirt. She looked down at my hand and seemed unable to take her eyes off it.

“Don’t believe me?” I asked. “Look into Risten’s memories of our time on Mount Eternal. We shared a blanket, didn’t we? She told me a man and a woman have to wed if they share a blanket.”

Lilith gave a tiny shake of her head. “It was only talk. Nothing more.”

I moved a fraction closer. Our noses were almost touching. “Really?”

I closed the distance, slowly pressing my lips to hers. Momentarily, she froze in shock, then violently pushed me away. I fell backward, landing hard on my butt. She glared at me and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You humans are so disgusting! It’s no wonder we had to assume control.”

“Hey!” shouted Wort. “Where did they go?”

Lilith leaped to her feet. As I picked myself up, I looked along with her. Cabrina still huddled in the corner, but Spraggel, Floria, and my mother were gone.

Lilith cursed and glared at me, knowing I had provided the distraction. Her fury turned to Wort. “Go look for them!”

Wort started for the door but drew up short as a goat kid appeared in the entrance. It gave a bleat in protest and leaned forward to nibble on his pants. Wort shoved past it and trotted out to search. The kid, undeterred, sauntered into the room. It gave another bleat and then stepped over toward us.

Having become familiar with goats from my time on the farm, something about its walk just didn’t seem natural. Also, I would surely have