Page 15 of The Iron Hex

“If I see your husband at the tavern tonight, I will give him a talking-to about how to treat a beautiful woman like you,” the guard called as Eira started walking away.

Shit.

“I’m sure he would enjoy that!” she answered cheerily, heading up the cobblestone path and back in the direction of the town center.

He wouldn’t. Hugo would hate that.

A few moments later she glanced back, seeing the guard step into the same bakery she’d just left. She exhaled a deep sigh in relief that she wouldn’t have to try to hide from him. Now she could safely get back to the tavern without him knowing where she was staying. Just in case, though, she would try to find somewhere else to walk or shop, hoping desperately that there was some sort of potions witch in town that could sell her some herbs so Eira could prepare some of her more dangerous potions. Just in case.

10

Hugo

Hugo woke up as the sun was setting in an empty room with a rabbit glaring daggers at him. How a rabbit was conveying that she was glaring daggers at him he wasn’t entirely sure, but he did know that he was alone in the room, and that the energy coming from the rabbit was malicious.

He was immediately furious.

“That damned woman,” he said, jumping up and desperately rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He hadn’t slept that long in... well, maybe ever. He sniffed the air, following the herbal scent to a bowl that had been set on the hearth of the fire.

Valerian. She’d made a tincture to keep him asleep.

Deep breaths, Hugo, he thought.You need information from her still, and she clearly isn’t willing to give up pretending like she doesn’t know who you are yet.It was unbelievably stupid of her to go out in a town she’d never been in without someone to protect her. The Iron Retinue could have recognized her—they could have taken her.

He looked at the rabbit. “How could you let her go out when I said she shouldn’t?” he said, as if the bunny could understand what he was saying.

She stomped her back legs in response.

“Don’t pretend like you know what I said,” he sniped back at the rabbit. Great,hewas talking to the rabbit now. How much more was his sanity going to devolve? Between arguing with this damned rabbit and dealing with Eira’s games, Hugo felt like he was truly losing his mind.

Hugo hadn’t even really had time to ponder the events of the days prior, or how the Iron Retinue had even found him. Between finding the conjured hand in Eira’s house yesterday afternoon when he’d sneaked into her home after meeting her in her shop, and the Iron Retinue barreling into the tavern that same evening, Hugo didn’t know what to think. How had Eira hidden her magic for all that time? And how had the Iron Retinue even found him?

It worried him. He’d left no discernible trail or hint of where he was going when he’d fled the capital. If the Iron Empire wanted to chase him down, they would, and he wasn’t going to aid them in their pursuit. The punishment for desertion was worse than death; he knew that much.

“I need to get out of my head,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head and strapping on his sword and then his cloak. “And I need to find Eira.”

Moments later he headed down the stairs and into the bustling, warm tavern. It was busy, but not as busy as he was sure it was going to be later this evening as the sun finished setting and the need to consume mead and unwind grew.

He scanned the room for the beautiful auburn hair and ample curves he’d felt pressed against him all night as they rode. She may have made him furious by risking her life in this town she didn’t know, but Hugo couldn’t deny the way that Eira made him feel, despite everything. He despised how easy it was for him to get flustered around her.

It didn’t take long for him to spot her, in the same outfit she’d been wearing the night before, at the bar with the barmaid fromearlier this morning. It took just as long for him to notice the leering eyes of the men at the tables in the busy tavern, watching her as they ate. Panic shot through him for the briefest of moments as he wondered if she had told the people in this town that he had kidnapped her. If she did that, though, he’d have been taken from his room. The Iron Retinue or the city guard would have taken him as he slept. No, Eira had kept the truth a secret for some reason. Even through all of the charades and pretending like she’d been kidnapped earlier. This had been the perfect opportunity to slip his grasp, which is what he’d half expected her to do. He’d found her once, though; he’d have been able to find her again.

Hugo walked down the stairs, heading straight for Eira where she sat at the bar. Snaking his arm around her waist, he felt a spark shimmer through his hand where he touched the soft, worn-in cotton of the dress that perfectly draped around her delicious curves. He had to stop thinking about her like that—like she was something for him to devour.

She jumped slightly at his touch, the pint of what smelled like a sweet, fruity mead in her hands nearly sloshing over the sides as she glanced over and realized it was him. Within seconds the jovial smile that had been on her face dropped to what he could only describe as a poorly hidden scowl.

“You should try to hide your feelings of disdain toward me a bit better, or the men in this tavern are going to try to take you home tonight,” he whispered in her ear before looking at the woman behind the bar and saying, “I’ll have what my wife is having.”

Eira’s eyes locked with Hugo’s and he saw rage and something else behind them. Something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Maybe I would rather go back to a room with one of these hardworking men,” she hissed, removing his hand from her waist.

“You know, I think you’ve actually decided to listen to whatI told you about the Iron Retinue coming for you too,” he said, grabbing her hand and rubbing his thumb over her soft knuckles, feigning married affection. It was about the ruse, not about making sure those men knew they couldn’t have her, of course.

“The devil you know,” was all she answered. Her scowl caused a crease to form between her brows and he realized that that crease had never been there before, a stark reminder of the time that had passed since he had last seen her.

“Here you go,” the barmaid said as she handed Hugo his drink. He watched her side-eye Eira in the way women always did when they were trying to make sure the other was okay.

“Thank you so much,” he said, grabbing it from her gently. “Thanks for watching over her while I slept.”