Page 98 of Tethered In Blood

The half-elf folded his arms while he studied her. “You believe all that?”

A low whistle escaped Garrick’s lips as he rocked back on his heels. “So, we’re ghost hunting.”

“Not ghosts,” I corrected, sharper than I had intended.

Garrick’s smirk widened, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Right.Monsters.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Are you coming or not?”

The half-elf tilted his head while he considered her. The corners of his mouth tipped up into a creeping smile. A smooth, deliberate expression. “You should be careful,” he said, voice edged with a tone that peeved me. “The sea doesn’t like outsiders poking around where they don’t belong.”

I don’t like people poking around where they don’t belong.

His eyes rested on Quinn, trailing over her to the point my blood hummed with irritation. He gave her the look he had earlier, which held far too much interest. He stepped back, turned without another word, and disappeared into the shifting crowd of the docks.

My hands flexed at my sides, my fingers clenching in and out of fists as he left. He knew more than he let show. He understood the significance of his warning, but didn’t intend to share it.

Garrick, of course, wasted no time making himself a nuisance. He slung an arm around Quinn’s shoulder, pulling her in with an exaggerated scoff. “Please,” he said, unimpressed. “I wouldn’t miss a romantic moonlit walk with my two favorite people.”

Quinn elbowed him off. He emitted a sharpoofwhile she stepped out of reach. “Try that again,” she warned, “and you won’t make it to sundown.”

Garrick clutched his chest as though she had just run him through. “Sinclaire, your lady is mean to me.”

I glared at him. “She’s not my lady.”

Garrick looked between us, his grin stretching wider, eyes twinkling with mischief. “Sure, sure.” He clapped his hands together. “So, docks at sundown. Until then, I’ll be at the tavern, securing my place as the most charming man in Ruvenmere.”

Quinn muttered under her breath as he strolled off, hands tucked in his coat, plotting his next round of debauchery.

I rolled my shoulders. “The docks. Be ready.”

Her expression hardened. “I know.”

The half-elf’s words continued to stir in my mind when I stepped away.The sea doesn’t like outsiders poking around where they don’t belong.

MYKNUCKLESRAPPEDagainstQuinn’s door.

No answer.

I stood there for a beat, sighed harshly, and pushed the door open.

Empty.

A slow, simmering irritation turned in my gut. Saints, help me if she had headed to those damned docks alone.

She better have Garrick with her.

The cool salt-laced breeze rushed over me, carrying the smell of brine and damp wood. The air felt heavier. Beyond the dim glow of lanterns swaying on their rusted hooks, Ruvenmoths drifted in slow-moving embers, their pale wings pulsing with a ghostly luminescence as they flitted between the shadows, drawn to the light yet never quite touching it.

The streets were quiet, but not empty. A few stray cats prowled between crates and barrels, their eyes flashing when they caught the flicker of movement. A mangy dog stretched out beneath the awning of a market stall, lifting its head just enough to watch me with wary, half-lidded eyes before settling again. A rat scurried past down an alley as its nails clicked against the worn wooden planks of the dockside paths.

I swept my gaze over the street.

A movement in the market caught my eye.

Garrick was stretched out like a well-fed cat, his usual smug grin plastered across his face as a woman trailed her fingers down his chest. Garrick murmured something low, and his fingers brushed her arm. She leaned in, whispering against his jaw, her laughter a breathy lilt before she slipped back inside.

I groaned under my breath, regretting approaching him.

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