Page 36 of The Heartless One
Jessamine seemed to hesitate before replying, “I don’t know what Fortuna is up to. But I do know that we need more allies in this district before I feel comfortable walking into the lion’s den. Elissa knows this woman well, and apparently she has connections we do not.”
With a soft shifting of weight, Elissa stood. She looked like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s maw when she glanced up to see his enraged features. “It’s just… Agnes Jessup has lived in the Pleasure District her entire life. She’s always been interested in magic, but more than that, she has her fingers in every person’s life. She knows everyone, everything, and every step people take in the district. Not to mention she hates Fortuna. Agnes wants to control the Pleasure District, and used to in the old days. Before Fortuna, that is. If you want someone on our side who will be more helpful than a woman who breeds birds, then Agnes is easy to get. Bring her into the coven. Give her real magic. She will stop at nothing to gain more power.”
Jessamine stepped closer to him and then placed her hand over his thundering heart. As though she knew the terror exploding in him. “The larger the coven, the stronger we all will be. I don’t care about the Pleasure District. But Agnes is a woman who wishes for power that she’s fought for her entire life. Give her whatever magic you can spare, and we will promise her this entire district if she helps us bring Fortuna down.”
He didn’t like it. He didn’t trust it. But moreover, he thought it was a risky decision for any of these women to make. The more people who knew they were witches, the worse the outcome for all of them.
He’d seen it. He’d watched countless of his coven scream as they were tied to a stake while flames licked their heels. He’d been forced to stand there, watching their features melt and slide off their faces because he was unable to kill those who worshipped his own siblings. There were rules, even for gods, and he couldn’t be the one to start a war between his family members.
Along the tail of that thought came a softness. An unraveling of who he had once been because there were no gods left.
Elric tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, lingering on the soft seashell of flesh. “I will build you a coven that will destroy this entire kingdom, as I promised. But there are no more gods to save them if they harm you, nightmare. Make sure they know this.”
His gaze slid toward Elissa, whose face had gone pale. He held it,hoping she could see that there would soon be a retribution for her as well. Elric was just biding his time with her.
But Jessamine was grinning. “Such a bloodthirsty god. I’m glad you’ve agreed, because we’re leaving now.”
“Now?”
“There’s no time like the present. I’m certain if Fortuna was expecting us at her home, then she would expect us to regroup, knowing that they should have caught us in a trap. The last thing she would expect would be for me to wander the streets of the Pleasure District immediately afterward.”
“You’re taking a risk.”
“Not really.” She batted those eyelashes at him. “I’m pretending to be dumb.”
This woman would be the death of him. And he was a deathless god.
Elric watched as the other women prepared themselves, and then they all left together. A dark witch with a bright yellow headscarf wrapped around her head. Another wearing a garish green dress and sporting a parrot on her shoulder. And lastly, his gravesinger. A haunting woman all in black velvet, with a slit up the side to show the knee-high boots that had seen more travel than most, her hair piled atop her head like a heathen.
Oh, people were going to stare, and he was certain that was Jessamine’s point.
Elric walked behind them the entire journey to Agnes’s home, and was surprised to see it was a rather utilitarian-looking building. There was little beauty here, only functionality. The home was built square, with sharp edges in sensible stone and a copper roof that gleamed in the sunlight. A black iron fence surrounded it, but there were no gardens on the other side. Just carefully laid stones that spiraled out from the home in swirling patterns.
Now this was a home that didn’t offend his senses. He already liked this Agnes more than the others.
Jessamine waltzed up the front steps and knocked on the door as if she couldn’t feel the spells woven into the stones around them. Whoever was inside that building already knew they were here. And they certainlyhad enough information on every single person who had stepped on a stone to give them pause.
The door opened quickly and a behemoth of a man stepped out. He had to exit sideways because his shoulders were so large, and when he straightened, he was easily a good foot and a half taller than all the women. He was taller than Elric—a fact that made Elric bristle.
“No solicitors.” The big man crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at them.
“We’re not solicitors. We’d like to speak with Agnes.” Jessamine didn’t back down. She glared right back at the big man, then crossed her arms over her chest, too. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
“She’s not in.”
“I have a feeling she is very much in and that she doesn’t want to see us. Unfortunately for her, that is not an option.”
To that, the big man did not reply. Instead, he just lifted his gaze over her head like she was no longer there, and remained silent.
A sharp tug of power nearly yanked Elric forward. Jessamine drew on their connection so hard, he knew whatever spell she was about to cast would likely turn the man to stone or blow him to smithereens. He just wasn’t certain which she would choose. Rather than make a scene none of them could come back from, he lurched forward and placed himself between her and the big man.
“How much is it going to cost us to see the witch?” he asked, stumbling over the words before he could come up with a better plan.
“There is no witch in this house.”
“There is a witch in that house, or if she isn’t yet, she soon will be. Now, everyone has a price. What is yours?”
Elric could feel the aggression wafting off the man like he was neck-deep in a brawl rather than standing in front of a rather nice home. The faintest growl echoed from the bodyguard, and Elric decided then and there he didn’t want to fight the man. This was a new body, and it was still in very good condition. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin it to get a witch he didn’t even want.
