The Pact by Brantwijn Serrah

Author:Brantwijn Serrah [Serrah, Brantwijn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: strong female lead, Bounty Hunter, pagan, dark kingdom, dark awakening, magic spellslinger, Warlock, Cowboys, magic, occult, runes, Epic Journey, demons, fantasy world, wild west, warden of the west, Paranormal, witch, gunslinger, heroine, urban fantasy, weird west, supernatural
ISBN: 9781386366089
Publisher: Brantwijn Serrah
Published: 2019-04-26T22:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

THE PACT

Humanity...

It's au revoir to your insanity...

You sold your soul to feed your vanity,

Your fantasy

And lies.

~ The Scorpions

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Serenity's accidental rescuers had brought her to Dao, the last city between the Geiralian Desert and the harvest lands of the east. A busy city, not her favorite kind of place, but of course a busy town made it easier for a woman like her to go unnoticed. It also boasted quite a healthy list of taverns, saloons, and hotels. Choosing one far from the city center—in a little quieter area, she hoped—Serenity pulled her borrowed traveling cloak close, making sure her ruined clothing and her scar were safely hidden, ducked the crowds, and retired for a drink.

The swinging wooden sign above the batwing doors read Aces High. She took a quick assessment of the place from the entryway—a wide floor, perhaps two dozen tables, most of them taken up by knots of gamblers. The bar ran the span of the eastern wall, with a brawny, mustachioed barkeep behind it, scrubbing a glass and keeping a keen eye over the action. A few saloon girls—the kind of girls Magda declined to have in the Wolf's Den—sauntered the floor, looking for marks among the men. The place smelled of heavily salted meat and fragrant cigars, and a piano player tapped out a lively tune for the occasional coin tossed his way. Yes, it looked busy. The mouth-watering scent of roasting pig from the kitchens caught her attention, though, and made up her mind.

"Amber whiskey, please," she said to the man behind the bar as she approached and leaned on the counter.

She extended her hand, and in her mind, she and D'aej clicked to create the runic illusion of bills in it. She'd gotten used to this trick in hard times, flicking the wrist of her other hand into the signs under the bar where the man couldn't see them. He gave her a careful, assessing once-over—the prerogative of saloon folk the world over—but he nodded, taking the proffered "coin" and serving her up a mug.

"You offer dinner?" she asked, and he gave her the affirmative. "Then I'll have a plate of that, too, if you will."

He nodded and then disappeared to find her a plate. While he did, she gave her attention back to the dining room and watched it, scrutinizing the patrons bustling about. She took a long sip of her amber whiskey—Rook's drink of choice, she'd never forgotten—and pondered the people before her. D'aej would have mentioned it if they'd gotten close to the man they hunted, but she checked out the gamblers and drinkers anyway. Sometimes even prey could be clever, and sneaky enough to fool a darkling. Not often...but then, this prey was special.

No sign of her quarry, but D'aej sent a nagging little pinprick across to her all the sudden: it meant he sensed something, or maybe someone, worth keeping an eye on in here.

Her eyes were drawn to one of the saloon girls. A heartlander, it looked like, and definitely a doxy, probably a few years younger than Serenity.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.