Page 12 of Seas the Reckoning

What if they hate you? What if they’re lovely people and you endanger them?

Maybe. Maybe not.

“Yes, let’s go there. We just need to signal the others,” I say.

Another warlock rushes by, and while he’s one of those we didn’t speak to, I can spot him by the subtle way his eyes flash. He doesn’t really give our small alley a thorough glance. Jackal grabs my hand, leading us back out to a main street. We duck into a store, where we find Ji-hwan pretending to shop. He’s actually purchased a few things, and the bulky bag he’s carrying also conveniently hides Pickles from view for anyone trying to look in the front window.

“Are dogs even allowed in here?” I ask him.

He flashes me a smile.

“Please.”

Jackal laughs.

“You flirted.”

“I may or may not have turned on the charm enough to woo the employees. But honestly, the basset hound did half the work himself. I think they’d have been happy to pet him and offer him a few chips from one of their snacks even if I hadn’t been here.”

His statement is confirmed when we leave the shop and all three workers behind the counter shout their goodbyes to Pickles and tell him to come back any time, because he is “the cutest wee thing” they’ve ever seen.

We run into the others in the town square. Exos has hidden himself among the crowd, sitting with a newspaper over his face. He’s hunched and has his legs bent so he’ll look a bit smaller, and Starla has fully committed and taken refuge in a bush. She climbs out, and I help pluck a few leaves from her hair.

“My father’s plans always did have flair. Not in the same way as me, of course. He’d say his methods have elegance, but he is used to getting his way. I’m a rare exception. I guess with me so close, he didn’t want to risk us slipping through his fingers.” She tries to laugh it off, but I can see the tension in her face and the crackling that dances across her fingertips for just a moment as she loses control of her key.

I grab her hand, ignoring the small jolts of pain that surge through me.

Starla jumps, then squeezes my hand. The sparks die down.

“Thank you,” she says. “We’ll still have to attend the event. Grammy Pearl said it was a non-negotiable. But I’ll feel a lot better if I’m there on my terms—and ready to face him. Not to mention he’s just lost any high ground in the situation he might have mistakenly thought he had. Who sends men to kidnap his own child?”

She laughs again, but she’s shaking.

Back in Carolina Beach, Leon’s men grabbed her when she was purposefully trying to go after one of them. Since the incident, she’s claimed that it didn’t leave much of an impact.

“Some men don’t, you know,” she’d teased about the incident.

But it’s clear this is bringing up bad memories.

Exos speaks, voice low and gentle.

“I spotted a coffee shop a few blocks away. We can head there for now. Hide in a corner table?”

“We need to leave,” she protests, but she accepts his hand as we begin to make our way out of the town center.

Jackal waves a hand, getting the witch’s attention.

“Already on it. I’m calling Zyra. Once I speak to my sister and give her a heads-up, we can stay there for the night. She won’t turn us away.”

“And a family member of Jackal’s isn’t likely to be bribed or monitored by any of Councilman Taylor’s men. He may go that route for local hotels to try and catch you,” Ji-hwan adds.

Jackal gapes at him for a moment.

“Sometimes I forget you’re a skilled investigator as well,” Jackal says.

Ji-hwan flashes a smile with just a hint of fang.

“That’s the idea. People are much more likely to reveal their secrets to someone they don’t find suspicious. A big part of why I’m so good at my job.”