Page 22 of Hexbound
"Bishop," Verity whispered, catching his sleeve.
His head swiveled toward her and she forced herself to hold firm in the face of that stark expression. This was not the man she knew. Then he blinked, as if realizing who stood in front of him and dared to touch him.
"Please, stop," she whispered.
Dark lashes fluttered over his eyes. "Because you asked," he murmured, and his fingers flung wide, releasing whatever kind of hold he had on the pair of them.
Guthrie sucked in a huge breath, staggering back into his chair and collapsing. Betsy managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees, her back heaving as she sucked in mouthfuls of precious air. Her thin arms were shaking.
Mercy watched on with an almost anticipatory air to her expression.
"Heed this warning," Bishop suggested, once again slipping Verity's hand into the crook of his elbow. "The only reason you're still alive is by her good graces and sense of sentimentality. If it were up to me... well." His thin smile said it all, really, as he turned toward the door.
Verity met Guthrie's furious eyes, and saw there her future.Oh, sweet Jesus. He'd ruined everything.
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Chapter 5
VERITY GASPEDFAINTLY as they exited the building. "You j-just.... Do you have any idea what you've just done to me?"
"Rescued you from this filth," Bishop replied with a faint snarl. His temples were throbbing and he desperately, madly wanted to kill something. What a vile cesspool of people. This place ought to be burned to the ground. No wonder the Order despised the Hex Society.
"Rescuedme?" Verity darted in front of him, stabbing a finger into his chest. "I sold my soul to the One-Eyed Crows when I was twelve and it wasn't because I had some hankering to join a curse-workers gang! It was because it was theonlyoption for a girl like me in these streets. Without the Crows I'm nothing but prey, and there are people here who would enjoy repaying certain debts, thanks to the Crows!" She looked as though she’d just realized something. "You just signed my death warrant. I can't come back here. I'll have to... flee the country."
Bishop's temper flared. "You weren't coming back here in the first place."
"And who made that decision?" The finger stabbed him in the middle of the chest again. "You? Let me guess, you have a little side offer you're willing to offer me... as long as Ientertainyou. A little way to help pay off the debt I now oweyou."
He was growing quite tired of that finger. It kept jabbing into the one spot. Grabbing her wrist, Adrian glared at her. "If you're referring to what I think you're referring, then you're quite wrong—"
"Oh? So you don't want to get me flat on my back?"
"No—"
"Because you certainly don't look at me as though you're devouring me with your eyes," she scoffed. "And you've taken me under your wing out of the sheer goodness of your heart. Why, one would think that you give these things freely, wouldn't they? If one was a blind, naïve little waif without a thought in one's head—"
"Are you quite done?"
Verity's lips thinned and she regarded him with suspicious green eyes. "Tell me that you haven't thought about it."
He'd thought about it. There was something about her that drove him crazy, something that reminded him of the way he'd felt about Mya.And you know how well that worked out."I am not the type of man who preys on young women. Whilst we might have started out on the wrong foot, let me assure you that you owe me no debt for the nights you spend under my roof, or even the money that I just paid to the Crows. Work it off at your own leisure for all I care. After today, I understand that all you have known is the greedy, conniving side of life, so I'm not surprised to be greeted with this suspicion, but honestly, Verity, I have no intentions to use you, dupe you, or harm you. Now come. Let's get out of this warren." Turning around, he made for the mouth of the alley.
"You don't understand, you fool," she whispered after him. "I don't have anywhere to go."
"You're coming with me."
"Yes, I know." Skirts swished after him, her voice growing bitter. "I have to get your bloody Chalice back."
He turned and looked at her. Verity staggered to a halt, looking far too young, though there was a light of defiance in her eyes, the glint of someone who would and could survive anything this world could throw at her. He was suddenly furiously angry again, and half tempted to march back inside, but she needed more than that.
"I'm sorry if I haven't explained myself properly. You're no longer beholden to the Hex. I'm not going to let you come back to this... ruin of hovels, regardless of whether we find the Chalice or not." Reaching out, he pressed his thumb against her forehead and gathered in his energy. "Ladaskhe fortuna," he spat, the power word flaring through his veins, hitting his thumb, and then leaping into her skin as he traced an invisible rune there. "I claim you for the Order, Verity Hawkins. By this mark, shall all sorcerers know who you belong to."
The sigil burned brightly against her skin, eliciting a gasp from her, and then faded. Bishop lowered his hand. "You belong to the Order now, as a free sorcerer of her own will. No sorcerer shall harm you, but only seek to guide you, and you have the offer of the Order's resources, including the offer of an apprenticeship in sorcery, should you will it. Until you have chosen your master and settled into your apprenticeship, you are welcome in my home and owe me no debt. If you choose to depart of your own terms and seek your own life in this world, then I shall not stop you. The choice," his voice lowered, "is yours. All I ask is that if you ever encounter a person in such need as yours was today, that you repay this kindness on to them."
Verity's mouth dropped open. Noises came out of it, but nothing coherent.
Grabbing her by the arm, he helped her to sit on the step. "Breathe. I know it's a shock."
