Poison Dance Proofreading Epub by Livia Blackburne Read Free Book Online Page A

their routines the same, doing their best not to push Gerred to action.
    In the meantime, James inspected Thalia’s jewelry. He picked a pair of two matched silver pins as long as her hand. He filed one to a sharp point and left the other one blunt.
    “Coat the blunted one with poison and leave the sharp one clean,” he said. “This way, you won’t poison yourself if your hairpin grazes your scalp. When you’re ready to use them, pull them out together. Get used to holding them like this.” He pressed them into her palm so that the sharpened pin protruded slightly farther than the poisoned one. “From here, aim for the throat, just as you did with the dagger.”
    She did as he instructed, slowly angling the hairpins toward his neck. With the fluid motion of habit, James intercepted her hand and grasped the base of her palm, slowing and guiding her motion until the sides of the hairpins pressed cool against his throat. Their eyes met.
    “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. “You could forget about Hamel. Come with us when we leave.”
    Indecision flashed across her face, but then she shook her head. “I can’t.” When she saw his frustration, she gave a wan smile. “Who knows? Perhaps I can kill him and escape.”
    He stayed silent, biting back words. “Perhaps,” he said finally.
    She looked into his eyes, silently acknowledging the doubts he hadn’t said. Then she took his face in her hands, drawing it down toward her own. Tentatively, almost shyly, she kissed him on the edge of his jawline, his lower lip, the corners of his eyes. Then she stepped back.
    He allowed his gaze to roam over her, from her pleading eyes to the curve of her cheeks. He saw her collarbone, the hollow at the base of her throat, her breasts beneath her gown. She was completely still except for the rising and falling of her chest. There was no calculation in her expression, just an acceptance of whatever he would give.
    James let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and pulled her close.
         
    *     *     *

    The night before the handoff, James, Rand, and Bacchus ate at the Scorned Maiden. Hamel was there as well, with Thalia at his side. James sat with Rand and Bacchus at their usual table, keeping his back to Hamel and Thalia so he wouldn’t see them together. His friends must have noticed Thalia’s comings and goings from James’s quarters by now, just as they had noticed her growing favor with Lord Hamel. They didn’t ask any questions, and James offered no explanation.
    Gerred came in after the dancing finished, flanked by two of his men. James saw him first and signaled to Rand and Bacchus. The guildmaster planted his feet just inside the door, face dark, and swept his gaze over the room. Then he took a meandering path, first dropping by Hamel’s table to say his greetings before approaching the three of them.
    “It’s the trade caravans, is it?” said Gerred. There was no pretense of friendliness this time.
    “Fixing to pick up some extra coin? Buy yourself some allies?”
    So Gerred’s spies earned their pay after all. “Nothing like that, Gerred,” James told him. “The extra coin, yes, but it’s for our own purposes. Nothing to do with you.”
    Bacchus spat on the ground. “If we wanted to give you trouble, we wouldn’t have to buy help to get it done.”
    Gerred’s face reddened. Bacchus shifted his weight imperceptibly, and Gerred’s eyes flickered toward the movement.
    “You really want to bring out weapons, Bacchus?” Gerred’s voice was dangerously low.
    Bacchus shrugged. “I in’t doing anything if you don’t.” All around them was the buzz of the crowd. The tavern’s other patrons were oblivious to their conversation.
    “I told you, Gerred,” said James. “We’ve no interest in taking what’s yours. We’re taking the coin and leaving the city. You can have the Guild.”
    Gerred fell silent, and James loosened his dagger from his bindings. Out of the corner