7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Gray thought about venting his core. That would fling Froggy out of his way, and then he could move past her and back into the party. He had to say hello to Miss Hama or at least go with Rynn to talk to the dwarfess.

Froggy was just the same—big, somewhat- green skinned from being a half-orc, black hair, and a wide mouth, which made her name a very accurate description of her. Her dark eyes, though, had a certain beauty to them.

She saw his disgust and for once didn’t try and flirt with him. “Wait, Gray, I know I usually fuck with you, but not this time. Give me a chance.”

“Fine. You have until I finish my charbrew. I’ll get another.”

“Can we stand next to a brazier? I’m cold as fuck.”

It was a simple request, and she seemed to be desperate to talk to him, and so he relented. “Fine. Let’s go talk over there.”

They went to where lust rocks burned in a metal tray.

Froggy had a glass of wine, manafied probably. She sipped it and made a face. “I’m not used to the good stuff. It’s too dry. But anyway. I have to say I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Gray sighed. “Sure. Okay. This ought to be fun. For what?”

Froggy winced. “Well, we’re sorry. The whole squad. Steffy is back. She says hi.”

If there had been any better alternative to talking with Froggy, he would’ve taken it. But his only other option was to go back into the party. People had wanted to talk to him, but he hadn’t felt like being social. Part of him was worried about the Reckoning. What in the fuck would they be facing in two days?

“I don’t know who Steffy is,” Gray admitted.

“We dropped her to get Grist, which was a fucking mistake. Steffy was crushed we dropped her, but we got paid, and Grist seemed like he would fucking wreck you all. Turns out, he was really good at getting himself killed.”

Suddenly, Gray was intensely interested in the conversation. “Wait. What did you say?”

Froggy then was all smiles. “Which party? Steffy? Or Grist dying. I mean, he died while trying to kill your new girl, another angel head. Do you have a thing for blondes?”

Gray was determined to cut through the chatter. “Fuck all that. Who paid you?”

She frowned. “Well, Grist paid us, but he got the money from…I probably shouldn’t say.”

“You don’t have to,” Gray said. “But let me try and guess. Was it anyone from the Winners?”

That made Froggy laugh. “Fuck no. Duskdrop fucking hates us, as does Blythe, though I have shit on her. From Grist. He was fucking crazy, but he also sucked at keeping secrets. Did you know he could see mana?”

“I doubt that. No one can.” The lie came easy to him. “Let’s talk about what you heard about Blythe in a second. Was it Blythe who paid you?”

“Close,” Froggy said with a little giggle. She leaned in close. “It was her old squad’s sponsor, Fangfarr. But not him, someone who worked for him, ssome old broken-down dragon named Rumblegut. I kid you not. It was his actual name. He let it slip that Fangfarr had these orcs who wanted in. I’m pretty sure that’s where Blonko came from as well, though Blonko isn’t from around her. Grist was.”

“He used to work for the city guard,” Gray said.

Froggy nodded. “He was bad there. He was worse with us. We’re sorry, we all are. We couldn’t believe that Crewel didn’t stop things. The orcs, though, the orcs would’ve gotten pissed. It’s all so fucked. But if we had another choice, we’d have taken. First Field is only for desperate people. Don’t know about your squad, but we’re desperate. As a half-orc, the only way I’m getting on a kill squad is if I can make this work. Which is why we need to come in second during the Reckoning. This year, coming in second is as good as coming in first.”

“How does that work?”

Froggy snorted. “Well, you’re coming in first, especially since you have seven recruits. You even got Pinch working for you. Are you fucking her? She needs a good fucking.”

There it was. Froggy’s lust resonance was alive and well, and she was getting mana thinking about Gray having sex with the fae woman.

“I’m not.” He didn’t say a word about Rynn and Ames. No use given away information. “Tell me about Blythe.”

“She fucking hates your sponsor. According to Grist, who spent a lot of time with Rumblegut, who in turn is the fixer for General Fangfarr, who has direct ties to Julies Suprema himself, Blythe’s parents died when your sponsor destroyed the Wrath Tower. I guess there was some kind of civil war in Pride City back then, only it wasn’t called Pride City. It was the Seventh District of Septua or some shit. I don’t know. But the dragons basically ruled the Seventh District, around the Seventh Tower, and they wanted more territory. Your sponsor went to kill the orcs, and Blythes parents went to kill her, and she killed them back, and fucking Blythe was sent north to live. And to train.”

“She can’t be that old,” Gray said. “The dates don’t match up.”

“Come on, guy!” Froggy shoved him playfully but spilled her wine on her blouse. He wasn’t going to tell her, and it seemed she had no idea. “Don’t be dumb. Dragons don’t age like you and I, right? Yeah, it was two hundred years ago, sure. But the dragons age slow, and she was sent away, and she was young, like under ten. But them dragons are also patient. Maybe they wanted Blythe to come back sooner, but the way I hear it, your sponsor was doing well for herself for a long time. She would’ve been hard to get at. Besides, she was super respected for a long time. No one really knows what caused the Wrath Tower to fall. Maybe it was a bunch of demon droppings, but maybe not. Doesn’t matter. Your sponsor then murders a couple of her squads, people hate her, and she goes all over Midmere looking for the best, for a brand-new squad. Blythe is brought in, changes sides at the last minute to fuck her up, and then changes sides again. Blythe is in with the dragons, who are paying a shit-ton of shekels to fuck with us all. Those fae were paid to bully us, and you’d think the money came from Lust City, but it didn’t. It came from the dragons in Pride City. All of this shit is fucked.”

All the pieces came sliding together from Blythe’s betray to the murder of the dwarf to Sindara’s murder by Freek. Sindara knew who was paying for all the fucked-up things happening at First Field, and it was the dragons, which is why the Fire Flyers had Varonnna and Deedaena Magnifica with them now.

Did Crewel know?

Gray laughed inwardly. Even if the magistrate knew, he wouldn’t do a thing to stop it. It was all the Testing and all the Test. The fact that outside forces as powerful as the dragons of Pride City would probably only make him wish he was on the take.

Going to Crewel wouldn’t do a thing, and really, nothing had changed.

They still had to be careful, and like always, they couldn’t trust anyone.

Settie was right—there were three squads who wanted them dead, the fae, the orcs, Squad 49, the Fire Flyers. Those were also the top three squads.

A plan was forming in Gray’s head, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right play.

“You okay, Gray?” Froggy asked. “Did you go dumb on me? What’s in that cup anyway?”

“Froggy! I could kiss you!”

She brightened. “Now we’re talking. Which lips do you want? The sunny ones or the funny ones? I’m frog-mouthed all over, Gray. Ha. You’re curious now, aren’t you?”

“Not that curious.” He did have to laugh. Sunny or funny? He’d have to remember that.

He was about to ask her sometehinge lse when he heard Pinch scream. “Get the fuck away from me?”

“You come back here!”

Pinch stormed out of the party, her face red, her core lit up like a second sun. It was obvious she was livid.

Behind her came another fae dressed in green and silver. On his hands were rings, and again, they were magical. He had the angular features of a fae, but he was older, with silver in his hair. The resemblance was striking.

It was her father, the Dukeling Egalis Thornpinch.

Pinch whirled. “You have nothing I want!”

“I’m still your father. And you will talk to me!”

Pinch stood with her hands balled into fists. “You cut me off. You took away all my money. You said I was a fucking idiot for leaving the Winners. You said that I was destroying my life. Well, I destroyed it. So there’s nothing to talk about!”

The father tried to lower his voice. “I want to know about your mother. I still have feeling for both of you.”

Mana filled Pinch’s hands. She was about to start hurling shuriken at any minute.

Gray left Froggy and sped over.

He didn’t want to see Pinch’s estranged father die, but maybe suffering a little wouldn’t be too much to ask. Thanks to his pain touch ability, he could do just that.

Gray walked between pinch and her father. He addressed her first. “Stop, Pamalee. Don’t do what I think you want to do.”

“So the nully is here to make everything okay,” the dukeling hissed.

Gray glanced at the fae man’s face and then looked at his core. It was a spinning ball of golden mana, collecting more with each rotation. Gray didn’t know what resonance he had, and he didn’t care. “No, Mr. Thornpinch. I can’t make it okay. I can stop you from talking to your daughter, when she clearly doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“I don’t think you can,” the dukeling said. “Would you really jeopardize your standing at First Field, your entire reputation in the entire Belly by attacking me?”

Gray hated how smug the man was, as if he had so much power. “Mr. Thornpinch? I’m easy. I understand that a father deserves his daughter’s respect. But my stick? My stick really doesn’t like you. I’d leave before you find out how much.”

Mr. Thornpinch threw himself forward, moving far faster than Gray was expecting.

But a second later, Lilian was there, coming out of nowhere.

She shoved the man into a table, which made him trip.

He turned around, furious, mana channeled into his meridians.

Gray felt stupid. Of course Pinch’s father would be powerful, since she was.

The fae man snarled and went to strike Lilian, but the mana mark on her face gleamed with a blood-red light before she burst into flames.

Pinch’s father was flown back. The sleeve of his fine coat was burning, and he had to slap it to put out the flames.

Lilian continued to burn even as some of the cushions in the chairs ignited. Luckily, the floor was made of marble. Her hair, clothes, and face were fine.

“Leave,” she said to the surprised fae man. “She doesn’t want to talk to you. Perhaps a letter is in order.” She paused. “But make it a nice letter. Believe me, you don’t want to send her something you’ll regret.”

Egalis Thornpinch stood up and slunk away.

Lilian continued to burn. She laughed. “Are you seeing this? I’m on fire, but I feel…I feel fine.”

Her flames grew bigger, lighting more cushions on fire.

“Lilian, stop it,” Gray said. The heat was almost overwhelming. He could smell his hair start to burn.

Pinch retreated, eyes wide.

Lilian looked equally as panicked. “I can’t, Gray. I can’t...I can only add mana. It feels too good. It feels…perfect.”

The flames were creeping toward him as more cushions ignited. Some of the metal of the tables and chairs around her were glowing red-hot. If she didn’t stop, she might melt them down into slag. She was scorching the marble something terrible.

Gray reached out and found her core, and it was emptying, but they couldn’t wait. She might destroy the entire palace before she ran out of mana. “Hold on, Lil. Let me trying something.”

“Take the magic, Gray, please. I don’t…I can’t stop. It’s so…it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

That concerned him but he let it go. He wasn’t gentle as he used his adept ability for the first time. He took mana out of her, ripping it from her core, and along with it came her power.

With it came fire.

He burst into flames. Only, the fire was under his uniform. Flames spat out of the collar of his jacket, his sleeves, and out of his pant leg.

He pulled the last of mana out, extinguishing her flames and sending her to floor. She was on her hands and knees, gasping, and the stone must’ve been lethally hot, and yet, she was okay. Smoke billowed from the flames still on the cushions, but there was only so much for them to burn.

Gray wasn’t as fireproof. He immediately flung off his coat and his shirt. He stood, pounding on his pants to put the flames out.

Lilian stood managed to stand up, stagger away from the blast zone, but then started to fall.

Pinch rushed to catch her. No, the fae girl didn’t just stop her from falling, she hugged the princess hard.

Lilian was crying now, and Pinch petted her soft blond hair. ‘It’s all okay now, Lilian. It will be okay. You…you kept him from me. You drove him away. I can’t thank you enough.”

Gray got the flames out, and as he approached the two women, Pinch reached out and pulled him into the hug. “And you, you precious, precious man, couldn’t have helped me more with him. With my father.” She said that last word as if it were a curse.

Suddenly, he was shirtless and had two women in his arms, and both had tears on their faces but for very different reasons.

“Thank you both,” Pinch whispered. “I wasn’t ready to talk to him.”

“And you didn’t have to, Pamalee” Gray murmured.

Lilian started crying again, her voice ragged. “What was that, Gray? What in the hell was that?”

Pinch looked up at him. “Yes. I have the same question as Lil. What was that?”

He didn’t have an answer for them, not about Lilian.

But for him? It was from his envy resonance. From his conversations with Settie, she had said one of the skills available to him would allow him to steal the abilities of other manamancers. Gray had been trying to just mimic the spells of his squad without much luck. But pulling the mana from Pinch had given him both mana and her fire aura ability.

Already, it had been an eventful night—from his conversation with Froggy, to the revelation that it was the Pride City dragons behind the conspiracy at First Field, to Lilian’s inferno ability to his power steal ability.

A second later, a chill wind blow across the terrace, bringing snow and ice with it.

One of the Heartbreakers, from the elvish kill squad, and thrown the spell to extinguish the last of the flames.

Suddenly, the entire party was out on the veranda, all gaping at Gray, Pinch, and Lilian.

And he didn’t have his shirt on.

It was embarrassing, but all he could do was laugh. “With Squad 23 here, did you think this party wouldn’t have some unexpected excitement?”

It made people laugh, but Gray was anxious.

If Lilian couldn’t control her fire aura, she wouldn’t be able to use it during the Reckoning.

There was only one person he trusted to look at the princess’s core, and it was high-time they paid her a visit.