The Darkest Magic (A Book of Spirits and Thieves) Read Free Page A

am.I love you for that—I’ll always love you for that.”
    Damaris drew in a shaky breath, her eyes brimming with tears as she pulled him close and stroked the hair on the back of his head. “I wanted to tell you, Maddox, but it was never the right time. I wanted to assure you that your . . . abilities . . . came from a good place. Not from evil. Never evil.” Maddox didn’t want to let her go, but when he finally released her, she sniffed and rubbed her hand under her nose. “When Livius arrived, I thought that if he knew at least part of the truth, then perhaps he could help me protect you. I trusted him, foolishly. I was so stupid. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all the misery that man caused both of us.”
    Maddox grasped her hands and squeezed them. “It’s all in the past. Really. That part of our lives is over. But I must urge you to come with us now.”
    There was no time to tell her everything. That Livius was dead, killed from a poisonous bite from Valoria’s pet cobra. That Maddox and Barnabas had attempted to exile Valoria to another world but had only met with failure and the promise of a goddess’s wrath. That now the plan was to capture and interrogate Valoria’s scribe.
    Damaris’s brows drew together. “What is this? Barnabas, what’s going on?”
    Grim lines had settled into Barnabas’s expression. “Maddox isn’t the only one who knows the truth now, Dam.”
    She stifled her gasp with the back of her hand. “Valoria.”
    He nodded. “We need to get you somewhere safe. It’s no secret that Maddox has been with you all these years. Now that she knows who he is, it’s not beyond her to use your safety against him. She wants his magic for herself. For him to be at her disposal at all times.”
    “She can’t have it,” Maddox gritted out.
    Damaris was quiet for a long moment, until finally she nodded firmly. “Very well,” she said. “Let’s go.”
    Without another word, the three of them made their way through the crowd toward the exit. Thanks to his good boots and knowledge that his mother was safe, Maddox now walked without any pain in either his feet or his heart.
    “Not staying for another round?” The man in red who’d toasted to the goddess on top of the table now stood between them and the door.
    “Afraid not, friend,” Barnabas said. “I guess that means more for the rest of you.”
    “For the rest of
them
,” he said, gesturing at the drunken crowd with a jerk of his chin. “I stay away from inebriants myself. They cloud the mind. Don’t you agree, Barnabas?”
    Barnabas drew the dagger from the sheath at his belt. “Who are you?”
    “My name is Goran.”
    “How do you know my name, Goran?”
    Goran glanced at Maddox, whose heart had started racing in his chest. “And you’re Maddox, are you? I wasn’t expecting more than a mere boy, but look at you. Practically a man.”
    “Let us pass,” Maddox growled as Damaris gripped his arm.
    Goran glanced at the weapon in Barnabas’s hand. “Not a good idea to wave that about, Barnabas. Some innocent person in here could get hurt.”
    “I’m not planning to hurt any of them,” Barnabas said. “Only the person who prevents us from leaving.”
    “Perhaps you wouldn’t like to hurt anyone. I, on the other hand, would kill everyone in here without blinking an eye.”
    Barnabas narrowed his eyes. “What are you? An assassin?”
    “I was. But I’ve recently been specially chosen to follow a worthier path.”
    Barnabas cocked his head. “Let me guess. By Valoria?”
    Goran smiled. “Her Radiance told me what happened. Did you really think this could end any other way? The boy comes with me tonight. If you try to stop me, I will kill you and everyone else in here.”
    “That would be a mighty feat for even the most skilled assassin.”
    “You thought this would be that easy?” Maddox snarled at the bald man. “That you’d just take me out of here and walk away and all is well?”
    Goran raised a