My brows furrowed at his choice of words. Wasn't fairy considered an insult-
An audible gasp escaped my lips as an invisible force had Jarvis lurched forward, the smile slipping from his lips. His head slammed into the table with such force that it rattled our drinks, causing the contents to slosh onto the table. His friends looked as surprised as his shout, which had shifted into a yelp of pain, had sounded.
Though Silas hadn't moved, the breeze that blew my hair back told me everything I needed to know. Apparently, it conveyed the same to the other two men who were now watching him with wide-eyed caution as they helped their friend straighten and steady himself.
"Care to repeat yourself? Or would you rather walk away while you still have the ability to?" Silas calmly asked, his tone adding to the threat his words carried.
"Let's just go. I don't want to cause trouble with a High Fae," the shortest one, Quinn, whispered into his dazed friend's ear. But he didn't seem ready to leave.
Jarvis, whose forehead was now red, seemed ready to argue, but before he could, the other fae, Elion, placed a hand on his shoulder. With a firm grip, he leaned towards him, speaking into his ear words only he could hear over the noise surrounding us. Using his hold, he steered him away from us as he spoke, wanting to get him away before he could provoke Silas further.
Still, Jarvis wasn't one to leave without a fight, even if it wasn't with the man he wanted to lash out at. He began to argue with the larger fae as he led him towards the door, deciding to find a different establishment given that half the patrons in the tavern had seen what had happened and were still watching. As they were stepping out, the dark-haired leader turned to send us a pointed glare that had me feeling uneasy before the door shut to cut it off.
"Was that necessary?" I asked as Silas took another sip.
"Yes," he stated, not caring to elaborate.
I let out a sigh and picked my glass up from the puddle of mead it now sat in. I hated violence, but sadly, I was far too used to it. At least this time it worked in my favour.
* * *
My leg bounced under the table, the sticky floor sticking to the bottom of my boot at the restless movement. Though my stomach was no longer growling, filled with the delicious lentil soup Silas had ordered for us when it had begun to sound its hunger, it was now turning with impatience. It had been hours since we had first sat down, and although we had seen countless faces enter and exit, there was still no sign of Nolik in the growing crowd.
"What if he doesn't show?" I asked brusquely, not liking the thought that had been plaguing my mind.
"Then we extend our stay. We're not going back until we find him," Silas said, the answer already prepared.
My brows furrowed. "And you think sitting here day after day watching everyone who enters wouldn't draw suspicions?" I asked dragging my eyes away from the lively room to look at him.
"Our glamours have anyone who looks our way seeing new faces each time they do. The only ones who can see through it are High Fae and there are none to be found here," Silas assured, not sounding the least bit worried.
"Except you," I couldn't help but point out. Despite being a half-blood.
His eyes narrowed. "Except me," he ground out, reaching for his nearly empty glass as he focused his eyes back on the door. It was a wonder how he was so unaffected by the drink that had me more than a little tipsy when I had finished my first pint. He had consistently been ordering and leisurely sipping one each hour or so.
Lowering my eyes to the table, I clenched them shut as I rubbed at my temple, feeling a headache brewing behind my eyes. Although the dwarf at the table near us had long left, others had taken his place and continued to smoke whatever was making the air around us hazy and sweet. And me lightheaded. I was positive I was feeling the secondhand effects of the saccharine smoke that in the past hour had thickened to saturate the air as more hookahs appeared on tables around the room. Every breath I took had me breathing it in, deepening its effects that had my head feeling light and airy while my body grew heavy.
"I need some air," I announced, pushing my chair back and rising to my feet. My hands clutched the edge of the table to keep me from swaying at the head rush that accompanied my movements.
I felt Silas's eyes on the side of my head. "Don't wander too far," he warned before taking another sip.
I gave a nod of acknowledgment, relieved he didn't protest like I had been worried he would.
Letting go of the table, I grabbed my coat from the back of my chair before weaving my way across the crowded floor to reach the door on the other side. When I pushed it open and stepped outside, crisp, clean air hit my chest as I took a deep breath that helped my spinning head clear a little. The sky had darkened as the sun lowered toward the horizon. It wouldn't be long until the sunset, but given that night fell earlier during the winter, there were plenty of hours remaining until the tavern would close.
Before the cold could seep through my clothes and into my bones, I shrugged my coat on as I stepped away from the music, laughter, and conversations that spilled onto the street from the building behind me. With night approaching, small flames danced on top of lamp posts and lit the torches hangings along storefronts. The warm glow gave the streets still milling with people a different kind of charm than earlier in the day.
The street that the Tavern was located on was just off the main street that led back to the inn. I was about to turn toward it, planning on sticking to the route I had memorized so when I turned back for the tavern my chances of getting lost were reduced, but as I walked down it, clapping and cheering coming from down the street in the opposite direction drew my curiosity. Through a short alley, a small crowd was partially visible, cheering at a sight I couldn't see from where I stood.
Planning to not deviate far from my path, only enough to see what the commotion was about, I turned down the narrow street that was empty save for a snoring man slumped by some trash cans. I hurried past him, making my way to the other side where it opened into a public square lined with vendor stalls selling food and various goods. A man judging flaming balls grabbed my attention until another uproar had my eyes returning to the far end where a group that consisted mostly of men was surrounding a large tree.
My cheeks heated as I realized what they were cheering and hollering at. The fabric hanging from the branches of the tree held a naked body. The woman with green-tinted skin effortlessly moved her body along the material that barely hid her skin from view. It was wrapped around her just enough to tease her audience with flashes of what they were hoping to catch an eye full of.
The unexpected sight had me looking around the lively square again, spotting what I had missed the first time. The scantily clad women that stood outside buildings, beckoning drunk men over with seductive eyes that their smiles didn't reach. Brothels.
Discomfort had my body growing stiff as I realized where I was. I had wandered into the red light district.
Realizing I had made a mistake, I turned to make my way back onto the path I was familiar and comfortable with, but my retreat was interrupted by a sharp object being pressed into my side. I stilled, sucking in breath as I felt a body pressed up against me from behind.
"Hello again, beautiful," a familiar voice drawled into my ear, causing my breath to hitch. "Didn't expect to meet me again, did you? Why don't we go somewhere a little more private and have that chat we weren't able to earlier?"
Jarvis's suggestion was more so a demand. When my feet refused to cooperate, his hand rose to firmly band around my arm as he pressed the blade into my side until I felt a pinch of pain that had me moving. My eyes darted around wildly in search of his two friends as he dragged me off to the side of the busy square. The dread and fear twisting in my stomach only grew when I caught sight of them making their way through the crowd to follow us.
I never should have left the tavern.
My regret only grew along with the thoughts that reminded me how stupid I was. I never should have wandered off on my own in a world I hardly knew anything about.
My chest grew tighter the closer we got to the opening of the dark alley he was leading me toward. I knew that nothing good would come once I stepped foot into it, but I also knew what would happen if I tried to break his grip that I already knew I wouldn't be able to escape. It would be a useless struggle that would end with a knife buried into my side.
I had to decide if that was preferable to the alternative or not.
I tried to catch someone's eye, hoping they would notice something amiss, but to anyone looking in from the outside unaware of the concealed blade, we looked like a couple sneaking off like many others in the square were.
As we reached the alley, my feet couldn't help but stall in fear. Jarvis didn't like that. Tightening his grip painfully, he forced me to keep moving. Pushing me to match his longer strides, he didn't stop until we turned down another adjoining alley that opened into an isolated space behind the establishments that had lined the square.
The moment he released me, I stepped away, turning to face him. I barely caught a glimpse of his snarled features or his friends as they approached behind him before a backhand to the cheek had me staggering to the side.
Unable to keep from falling from the force of the blow, peddles dug into my palms that slammed onto the cobbled ground. I held in a pained groan as I raised my hand to my stinging and throbbing cheek. The warmth I felt blooming was only from the pain. My fingers met a warm wetness where the ring on his finger had cut my cheek.
A cry escaped my lips when a hand gripped my hair in a fist to pull me up to my knees. My hands reached up to try and claw myself free, but it only had Jarvis jerking me back, threatening to rip the hair from my scalp. Though, I was sure more than a few strands already had.
He crouched down, bringing his face close to mine while his friends moved to flank us. His brows furrowed as his eyes took my face in properly. "But I was sure you were her... You're wearing the same clothes..." His voice trailed off as he searched my face for recognition I hoped he wouldn't find.
For a moment my heart leaped into my throat with the hope that the glamour I wore would save me, but then his friend stepped closer, scanning me with scrutinizing eyes. "It is her," Quinn said, letting out an excited laugh as his eyes locked onto my hand. "The bitch must have gotten her hands on a glamour!" he said, pointing to my ring. He moved forward to grab at it, but I jerked my hand away. The action in itself admitted more than I wanted to.
The words had Jarvis's lips stretching into a greedy smile. "Poor little fae, having to deal with the aftermath of your man's loose tongue while also losing a glamour that must have cost a pretty coin. We could have had so much fun, but now... I think your fairy deserves a lesson. A costly one."
My jaw clenched, his words not surprising me. Frail men and their small egos. When they faced someone they couldn't beat, they redirected their anger towards weaker targets. Guess that wasn't only a human trait.
"Then why don't you go find him to teach it?" I bit out through my teeth.
Jarvis's smile slowly grew into a grin that had a shiver of unease traveling down my spine. "That wouldn't be as fun, now would it?" He said, his leering eyes making their way down to my chest that heaved with harsh breaths.
Despite my position, I couldn't help but scoff at him. "Are you sure it's not because you can't?"
My mocking words had his smile disappearing in a flash. I should have just kept my mouth shut. His fist tightened at his side before blurring with movement.
A moan of pain sounded from my lips when his knuckles struck me in the stomach. My body tried to fold over, my arms moving to wrap around my middle while the movement added to the pinpricks of pain enveloping my scalp. When he released my hair with a shove, sending me crashing onto my side, his foot was quick to follow.
A scream tore free from my lungs at the familiar sear of pain that tore through my side where the brunt of his kick had struck, signaling a broken rib or few. My hand moved to curl over the pain.
"Whoa, Jarvis," one of his friends intervened, stepping forward to stop him from kicking me again with the leg he had cocked back. "We want her in one piece until we're done with her. You can get all your anger out after-"
A tired sigh sounded, cutting him off. It had silence falling around us, only broken by my ragged breaths.
"Is there nowhere in this damn village that I can find a moment of peace?"
Taken is complete and available on Patreon.
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