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Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
C J Busby [Deep Amber 01] Deep Amber (retail) (epub)
Carl Ashmore [Time Hunters 01 The Time Hunters (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
Crystal Dawn [Frozen Origin Hades (epub)

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.“This doesn’t have to get ugly, Mr.Karell,” he said nasally with a half-hearted smirk on his exhausted, pale face.I couldn’t stop myself from giving Galius a lopsided grin.“Your face has ruined any chance of that,” I goaded, blinking away the blood that had run into my eyes.I received a painful kick to the ribs, one powerful enough to flip me onto my back.With a snort, Galius crouched beside me.“Just tell me where the gem is.My associates tell me it wasn’t on you, and that your little wizard friend was nowhere to be found.I can only assume that she has the gem.Simply tell me where she is, and this can all come to an end.”“Don’t listen to him, Korin!” Til’ called out as he strained against the binding ropes.I heard a sickening smack followed by a shrill grunt from Til’.My face began to heat in anger.“What’s the point in telling you?” I asked, my voice acid and gravel.“You’re not going to let us go.You don’t plan on letting us live.Just days ago, you planned on killing me just for knowing your secret about circumventing a Contract’s magic.”“What was that?” a rough, deep voice asked from behind Galius.I looked up to see Mess With Me And Die glaring sternly at Galius.His tone had been devoid of emotion, but his tattoo-underlined eyes flickered with a hint of concern.Galius shut his eyes and took a deep breath.“Nothing, Bill.Do not listen to this Loranis-forsaken thief.” Galius nodded to Crooked Nose, earning me another rib-cracking kick to my side.Through my pain, I found myself chuckling.“Bill, huh? Well, Bill, I guess Galius has roped himself another Holder.” As in an Activated Contract’s Holder.“Did he tell you that I was his last Holder? Just—” I was silenced by a booted foot to the face.I spit out some blood and ran my tongue across my teeth to make sure they were all still there.After assuring myself that they were, I closed my eyes to stop the room from spinning and decided that I was going to keep my big mouth shut.“As I said, Bill, do not listen to this wretch,” Galius continued, standing.“Your only concern is retrieving the gem from the thieves that took it from me.That’s all this man is: a thief.A damned, dirty, lying thief at that.” Hearing Galius’s voice was like having a sanding stone rubbed across the inside of my skull.I ventured a peek at Bill, my vision clear enough to see the wheels turning behind his eyes.Bill would know that Galius shouldn’t have been able to have the other men hurt me if I’d truthfully been his Holder before.He had to be wondering if Galius could do the same to him.I know I would’ve thought twice about using a Contract to fund my travels for so long if someone had told me that its magic could be worked around.Choosing to simply ignore the subject, Galius approached Til’.My heart started racing.Galius had to rely on his brutes to use their own judgment to hurt me.Til’, having no Contract magic binding him to Galius, was free game.I didn’t like where this was going.“So, if Mr.Karell does not wish to speak, we’ll leave it to the Kolarin here,” Galius sneered.Til’ spat at Galius, glaring at him with pure hatred.“I’ll never tell you anything.You took advantage of the Kolari, you—” Til’ was cut off as Lily Pants gave him a full-blown punch to the side of his face.Til’s head snapped sharply to the side, sending a spray of blood from his mouthThis was more than I could take.I started fighting my bonds, wildly thrashing on the floor.I never did take well to people hurting my friends.Crooked Nose dropped a foot on my chest, waving an admonitory finger.I stopped fighting and stared death into his eyes.He flashed me a wicked grin and pressed his foot down with even more force.Til’ looked up at Lily Pants, narrowing his silver eyes as blood dribbled down his chin.“Is that all you’ve got?” he snarled.There was something in his eyes and voice that I’d never seen or heard before.Something unnatural.Something primal.Something vicious.Something I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.“Ah, we have a fighter,” Galius remarked with a smirk.“Hullic, do whatever you must to get him to talk,” he commanded to Lily Pants, ruining my mental nickname for the brute.Hullic roughly lifted Til’s arms and dropped them over the back of the chair.He then crouched and tied Til’s feet together.Til’ fought the best he could, but in his weakened and battered condition, his best wasn’t enough.Next, Hullic crouched to retrieve a wooden block from beside the chair and wedged it between Til’s knees.Taking a step back, he pulled free a large iron hammer from a leather loop at his hip.My heartbeat stuttered as I realized what was about to happen.Hullic—no, I’m sticking to Lily Pants—tightened his grip on the hammer’s leather-wrapped haft, rotating his shoulder in preparation for knee-breaking blows intended for Til’.Til’, just gave Lily Pants a silent, murderous glare.Galius took in the scene with a self-satisfied grin firmly planted on his pallid face.I had to stop Lily Pants from hurting Til’.I only had moments to devise a plan.Thankfully, I’d always been great at winging plans like that.Chapter 2Good Timing by a Bad GuyDuring the years that my uncle, Chasus, trained me for my Amirand-wide search for my birth parents, he taught me countless invaluable lessons.One of those lessons was that nearly all nobles are stupid.Sure, many noblemen and noblewomen are subject to the highest standards of education.Heck, some may even have book smarts and a lick of common sense.But the majority of the upper echelon of society are self-centered, pride-hoarding, money-grubbing idiots.It’s not completely their fault.They’re raised with silk gloves and honey, taught to be pompous, and cradled from what I like to call the “real world.” They are taught the pride of their position and that they are entitled to all the money, power, and worship that go with it.According to Chasus, that’s why nobles don’t take insults to their pride very well.Chasus’s favorite story about such idiotic pride was from his days as a military captain for King Agolin’s army in Alandrin.Chasus was in charge of training a large regiment of cavalrymen and infantry in swordplay and hand-to-hand fighting.During one of Chasus’s typical training sessions, King Agolin came by on one of his weekly inspections, along with a visiting lord from some city in Watersdeep.The lord decided that since he was so well-trained in fencing, he would be a match for any swordsman in Chasus’s regiment.Agolin took the challenge and had Chasus bring forward whomever he deemed to be his most skilled swordsman.Chasus obliged, arming both his man and the lord with willow-switch swords, and a formal duel commenced.Less than a half dozen moves into the duel, the lord was on the ground with the tip of the soldier’s willow-switch sword pressed against the hollow of his throat, his own weapon laying several paces away.In a perfect world, the lord would’ve been reasonable and conceded defeat, taking the soldier’s hand in his and congratulating him for his victory.But no, nobles are stupid and prideful, and so the accusation was made that the soldier had cheated in order to make the lord look bad [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]