Bounty: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Solumancer Cycle Book 3) by J. C. Staudt

Author:J. C. Staudt [J. C. Staudt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 35495099
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2017-08-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I don’t try to call Quim back. I could pressure him for the name of the person he sold the star to. I could track that person down and offer to buy it back at any price. That won’t fix what I’ve destroyed. I’ve done some rude and inconsiderate things to my best friend over the years, but this one trumps them all.

Ersatz wasn’t wrong to suggest I pay Quim’s debt. My mistake was wussing out and not telling him about it. What makes me feel even worse is that selling the star probably yielded him less than a third of the quarter-million he owed Trezzo.

Back at the apartment, I find Ersatz pacing the top of the bookshelf. He’s knocked everything onto the floor and worn a footpath through the dust. His eyes are bloodshot, his countenance stark and grim. “They won’t leave me alone,” he says, without bothering a hello. “They haunt me every time I close my eyes.”

“Just a few more hours. Once I get the information the sidhe wants, we both get freed. That’s the deal. That’s what’s going to happen.”

“You didn’t make a deal,” he snaps. “There is no deal. We are at her mercy. She can do whatever she wants with us.”

“But she won’t. The hags are under her protection. If she doesn’t free us, my only recourse is to kill Lady Wygella and her sisters. Elona won’t risk that.”

“We’re going to die. We’re never going to sleep again, and our dreams will devour us.”

“I’ll fix this, Ersatz. I’ve screwed up everything else, but this, I can fix.”

The wait for nighttime takes forever. I’ve never been this tired in my life, yet I pace the living room the way Ersatz has been pacing the bookshelf, forcing myself to stay awake, refusing to sit or lie down. I have no idea how I’m going to make it through a late-night meeting; I can only hope the presence of so many vampires will keep the adrenaline pumping.

The details spin through my head. I can’t let myself forget a single one. Tonight has to go perfectly. I lay out my clothes on the bed with the Trillion of the Bloodless beside them. A hot shower makes me want to sleep, but I slap myself and rehearse everything again.

I’ll show up to the opera house in the Maserati wearing the Cade-sized suit I wore to Calyxto’s Fae Council hearing, with the Trillion around my neck. I don’t want to crutch on blood magic, but if there was ever a time when I needed it, that time is now. With Ersatz preoccupied inside his own head, I lock myself inside my office. I need a strong mixture; a powerful concoction with a stable base. I might sacrifice some versatility and resilience, but a blend of elf and werewolf blood tinged with one part centaur—because if I need to escape I’ll have to run fast—should do the trick. Durlan never did find me that vial of demon blood.

I find a bare spot on my right thigh, bring the needle close, and stop short.

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