Page 38 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

“Yes. While you’re at the inn, please find him and send him to the manor. He’ll protest the decision less with you. I will not break my promise to his grandfather. If exploding magic wasn’t horrendous enough, I knew this was too dangerous the instant I saw the Duke’s necklace. As long as we don’t wear the necklace, we’re safe.” Dulce peered down at the sword in her lap and murmured, “You can… You can leave as well, if you want to. My home is always welcome to you, uh, that is, at least until you can return to your brother, and you’ll be paid handsomely for the trials this venture has put you through…” She fell silent.

“Is your soliloquy quite over, Highness?”

Dulce glanced up at him, surprise almost comical on her terrifying face.

“I’m not leaving you on your own,” Reed promised, crouching before her. “What sort of man do you take me for? Do I strike you as one who would miss out on a grand adventure? Do not mistake me for that cowardly lout you married.”

“I meant no offense.” Dulce smiled softly.

“None taken.” Reed winked. “Now, wait for me here. I’ll return in less than twenty minutes.”

Reed arrived at the stables within five minutes, the sight of a man in costume running being nothing unusual on this festival night. The town’s main avenue was still overflowing with a wide variety of creatures, injured and otherwise, each frantic to reach the safety of their homes, the panic ignited at the Duke’s party not yet subsided. Reed still couldn’t believe everything he’d learned about the magic of alchemy since meeting Dulce, but he was becoming accustomed to it much quicker than expected.

He found Lucas sitting on a stool outside Toffee’s stall, nursing a singed arm, his legs outstretched, his boots unlaced. His ridiculous costume of red and purple velvet and lace was a burned and tattered mess. When his gaze settled on Reed, his face lit up with a wide smile.

“Did you see that, Reed?” he whisper-shouted. “Me and the other grooms snuck into the Duke’s party just in time to see the entire place go absolutely fobbing full-gorged mad! Magicexplodingall about, everything destroyed. One woman got her costume singed off, and I offered her my cape. It was a thing to behold, I tell you, the embroidery of a giant stag just—” He made a sound very like an explosion. “And I saw a man covered in spotted fur get a leg ripped clear off! Shame about all that food though…”

“What happened to your arm?”

“Oh, this?” Lucas shrugged. “A lantern fell on me—it’s nothing.”

Dulce would certainly not find that to be nothing.

“How much do you think you can get for thecarriage?” Reed asked, jerking a chin toward the vehicle in question.

Lucas stilled, narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

“Because you go home on the next caravan to Moonglade now.”

“What?” Lucas stood, indignant. “It wasn’t me who sent the enforcers to your room, if that’s what you’re thinking. You gotta believe me, Reed. They swarmed the whole place, searching for visitors from out of town, looking for a young couple, a woman with golden hair accompanied by a man with brown hair. They know you’re with awitch. They must’ve seen the two of you together at the festival. By the time I went to retrieve Dulce’s things, it was too late. There were at least five of those spongy louts already there, riffling through everything, and another two guarding the entrance.”

If they knew he was with a witch, then it wouldn’t take long for the Duke to figure out Dulce altered her looks to pretend to be Leski.

“You’re still going home,” Reed pointed out. “Sell the carriage for passage. We won’t be needing it.”

There was no way to return to their room at the inn. Even if he could get in through a window, Reed was sure their belongings would be gone by now. Dulce hadn’t left everything she needed in one place, so there could be something of use in the carriage. They didn’t have that much time to waste.

Crossing the stables to the alleyway, Reed reached beneath the carriage passenger seat to retrieve Dulce’s second bag of alchemist supplies, hoping there was some of the elixir to disguise them within. Next, he placed Toffee’s bridle over the sleepy Clydesdale’s head and ledthe horse from the stall, ignoring Lucas’s glare as he passed the boy.

“What should I tell Grandfather and Vesta?” he called.

“Tell them we know where to find La Bisou Morte,” Reed said, halting. “Tell them not to worry, that Dulce has a plan. That this will all be over soon. Tell them whatever you want to help them sleep in peace at night.”

“Is any of that the truth?”

“Of course!” He slapped the lad on the shoulder. “Safe travels, Lucas. I envy the meals you will soon enjoy.”

By midday, Reed and Dulce came across an empty and dilapidated cottage in the forest beyond Lake Elara, and while Toffee grazed, he built a fire and Dulce read her spell book. An extra elixir hadn’t been in the satchel he’d taken from the carriage, but at least she’d returned to herself from the vision of terror that she was. Unfortunately, his brown hair had also returned to white shortly after.

Dulce needed to get the location spell right soon or their travels might end up in failure. Reed watched her in the firelight as she pored over her book, her dark hair falling across her forehead in shimmering waves, her lips slightly pursed in concentration. Her skin perfect and smooth.

To think he’d almost kissed her at the Duke’s party. His heart pounded at the memory.

Dulce’s eyes met his, and Reed’s blood turned hot. He rolled his shirt sleeve to his elbow before poking at the fire, avoiding her gaze.

“It’s not the location spell, but I’ve found something quite useful.” She slammed the book closed with a triumphant smile and jumped to her feet. “Stand here.”

“What?”

---