Page 19 of This Vicious Dream

I roll my eyes. “Clearly you survived. Who was the woman?”

“Her name is Prisca. And she’s the queen of the hybrid kingdom.”

Prisca.I mouth the name. “How did I know her?”

“I’m not entirely sure. You were with her when I met her, already unlikely friends.”

“Unlikely?”

He angles his head. “I don’t know Prisca well, but I know enough about her to know shelikespeople. And people tend to like her.”

His tone is pointed, and I curl my lip at him, ignoring the way his words slice into me.

Since neither of us are going to get any more sleep, I roll to my feet, stalking to the small stream to splash water on my face. I can feel Calysian’s eyes on me.

The strange power calls to me, rocking through my body and leaving my head ringing until I’m dizzy.

Calysian is suddenly standing in front of me. “What was that?”

I give him a withering look, and he clamps his huge hands on my shoulders. “Answer me.”

He tenses, and I know he can feel my blade at his balls. “Ask nicely,” I purr, shifting my knife closer. I found it in my mare’s saddlebag, along with a few rations and a change of clothes.

A glint of something I don’t recognize enters Calysian’s eyes. “Ah,” he says. “So you are in there after all, Madinia Farrow.”

His words remind me of the way he has kept silent about my past. About having met me before.

He leans close, ignoring my knife. His eyes burn into mine, and another memory explodes in my mind’s eye.

I open my eyes and jolt. A man has taken the empty seat in front of me, and I hadn’t even noticed. My hands warm, and the man grins at me. This is the man who’d escaped Regner’s dungeon with Prisca. Calysian.

He’s shaved his beard, and his eyes glint with wicked humor. He’s a handsome bastard, that’s for sure. Handsome and far too large. What exactly is he doing here?

“Tired?” he asks.

“What do you want?”

“I did a little research about you, Madinia Farrow,” he says.

“Did you? Then you know I could turn your insides to kindling.”

Calysian laughs. “Relax, beautiful woman. I’m here to help you.”

I force a bored expression onto my face. “And why would you do that?”

“I owe your friend a life debt. Since she didn’t seem inclined to let me pay it before we went our separate ways, and she told me to give it to you, it’s yours.”

“I don’t need a life debt.”

“Too bad. Where I come from, a man’s honor rests on his word. Who do you need killed? Or perhaps you have someone who wants to kill you? Name the time and the place, and I’ll be there to protect you.”

His expression is serious, his words solemn. But I don’t trust strange men.

“I can protect myself.”

“Something else, then.”

My hands cool, and I lean forward slightly. “What is it you think you could help me with?”

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