He took two steps back, then turned and ran, leaving his sword in the dirt.
Steifan brandished his blade at the other three men, and they all turned tail and scurried away.
Once we were alone, Bastien ran toward me. “That was amazing! You saved my life!”
“No,” I said, my gaze on Jeramy’s broken door, “I nearly got you killed. I want you to go back to the duke’s estate. Do not approach us again.”
“But—”
“Go!” I shouted.
Bastien aimed the full weight of his hurt expression at me for a heartbeat, then turned and ran away.
Steifan moved to my side, watching him go. “You didn’t have to be so harsh.”
I sheathed my sword, then picked up my dagger from the dirt. “There have been two murders, and someone wants them to go unsolved enough to hire mercenaries to kill us. They could have killed Bastien before we even stepped outside. If anything, I was not harsh enough. He needs to stay away.”
Steifan sighed and sheathed his sword. “What do we do now?”
“We find anyone involved in Charlotte’s murder, and we cut off their heads.” I started walking. If I wasn’t on a warpath before, I most certainly was now.
Chapter Seven
We headed back toward the inn in silence. I wanted to make sure our few belongings and horses were safe before venturing back toward the White Quarter. If someone had been hired to kill us, someone else might have been hired to make off with our horses and goods to cover up our disappearance.
The Seeing Sword was steadily making my spine itch with its energy as we walked, but it was hard to tell who was pondering attacking me. Many eyes watched us from within hovels and out on the street. Word of our altercation had spread quickly.
I took another step, then nearly stumbled as a strange sensation passed over me, like walking through quicksand.
Steifan kept walking, not seeming to notice anything amiss. He didn’t even notice as he left me further and further behind. My steps slowed until I could no longer lift my feet. The eyes on either side of the street followed Steifan, none looking my way.
I felt oddly not real, and it was a sensation I recognized. It was broad daylight, so it wasn’t vampire mind tricks. It was glamour. Glamour so strong it made my mind believe I couldn’t move. Even though I knew it was happening, I couldn’t fight it.
I wasn’t surprised when I heard the Nattmara’s voice behind me. “Hello hunter, I did not expect to see you this far from Castle Helius.”
I turned to face Egar, the male Nattmara who’d escaped us in Charmant. He was also part Sidhe, which was why no one in the streets seemed able to see us. Now that Steifan was out of sight, many of them retreated to their homes.
“I saw you yesterday, didn’t I?” I asked. “I saw you beyond a fence in a garden.” The face I had seen was clear to me now, the short dark hair and large blue eyes. I hadn’t wanted to believe it was him.
Egar inclined his clean-shaven chin. He looked young and harmless, though I knew he was anything but. “I smelled a corpse. I wanted to collect it, but you beat me there.”
I nearly gagged at the thought of Egar eating Charlotte’s rotted corpse. “I thought Nattmara preferred fresh victims.”
He licked his lips. “Yes, but any will do. All I need is flesh and blood to sustain me. I like to get to know my environment before I start hunting, and I only just arrived here yesterday.”
I considered the possibility of Egar being Charlotte’s killer, and perhaps seeking out her corpse to finish feeding, but it didn’t add up. If he’d had her and maybe even Jeramy freshly dead, we would have found little more than bones and globs of flesh.
“What do you want from me, Egar? You know now that I’ve found you, I will have to kill you.”
He laughed, a young, charming sound that fit his exterior. The worst of monsters were usually just dark on the inside. “You are trying to solve a murder. I could tell you what you’re missing.”
He was standing so close he could reach out and strangle me, and I would be powerless to stop him. Every muscle in my body strained to move, but it was hopeless. “You claim to have just arrived yesterday. What could you possibly know?”
His satisfied grin told me he hadn’t just arrived, and he had lied about what he’d been doing among the wealthy estates. “I know a lot of things, hunter. I know that there is powerful blood within the city, far more delicious than yours. Help me find it, and I will help you solve your murder.”
“You know I would not sacrifice another human to you. Now free me from this glamour, I have much to do.”
He tilted his head. “I thought you wanted to kill me. Now you simply want to escape?”
I sucked my teeth. That, and moving my mouth was all I could manage. I was lucky he was allowing air into my lungs. I did want to kill him, he deserved to die, but I knew I wasn’t capable. I wanted to draw my sword, but my arms didn’t budge. If he wanted to kill me right now, he could probably just cloud my mind and I’d be dead before I realized what was happening.
He watched the thoughts play across my face. “I see you understand. My sister was powerful, but she inherited mostly my mother’s blood. I have the glamour of the Sidhe, and no mortal can stand against it. I believe you will be drawn to the powerful blood in this city like a moth to the flame,
