Page 86 of Curse of Darkness
“I think Finn would look rather dashing with an eyepatch,” Eris muses, sinking down opposite him.
“You presume you would beat me,” Finn replies.
“When have I not?”
Finn gives her a tight smile. “When have I ever truly unleashed myself? I let you win, E, because we’re playing. If you and I ever truly go to war, it won’t be as easy a victory as you presume.”
“If I have to disarm the pair of you,” Baylor warns, not even bothering to raise his voice, “then it’s going to hurt.”
“Big Daddy Baylor,” Finn says, pushing to his feet and heading back to the sideboard to fill his plate. “Always threatening to take the enjoyment out of things.”
“Who said it wouldn’t be fun?” The enormous warrior arches his brow. “I’d enjoy it.”
Thalia winks at me. “Are we taking bets?”
“Baylor takes all,” I offer.
“Pfft,” Thalia shoots back. “Where’s your loyalty to the sisterhood? Eris would wipe the floor with the pair of them.”
I point a finger at Eris. “Yes, but she likes Baylor, so she won’t want to hurt him. Eris surrenders her weapons to Baylor. Then they both take Finn. Therefore, Baylor wins.”
“What about me?” Finn protests.
“Annihilated,” I insist.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” he says gruffly, ruffling my hair as he returns to the table. “All that kissing does wonders for your smile.”
“Hey!” Thalia blurts. “The maids just spent a half hour making her look like a queen. You are not going to ruin all their good work!”
Finn holds his hands up in surrender.
Hard footsteps echo through the door.
Instantly, smiles die and my heart skips a beat.
The entire table stills.
Thiago slips inside, moving lightly on his feet. I left him to soak in the bath this morning, and his hair’s still wet. He walks right into that wall of silence, and only the most minute shift of muscle in his face reveals he feels it.
“Good morning,” I say swiftly, extending a hand toward him.
“What’s all the noise about?” He lifts a brow in a way that makes me realize just how often he plays a part. It’s as natural to him as breathing. “You would think someone let a herd of bawdy cattle into my dining room.”
“It was just getting interesting,” Thalia says. “Finn was about to bet a hundred horses that he could beat E in the dueling yard.”
Thiago blinks.
The room falls still.
Eris’s head whips toward her friend. There’s an old challenge that Eris once made: She will only ever yield her hand in marriage to the male who manages to defeat her in battle.
If she defeats them, then they will owe her a hundred horses.
I believe the current count is somewhere in the thousands. Eris owns so much horseflesh, she’s considered rich in many circles.
If they defeat her… well, marriages have been forged from less in the past.
“Awkward. Silence.” Baylor lifts his cup of peppermint tea to his lips and breathes in the sweet-scented fumes.
