Malek kept an eye on Bane as Sabine headed out of the room. The experience of sharing wine with her had been beyond anything he'd expected, and he was still a little disconcerted. As soon as the door closed behind Sabine, Malek got to his feet.

"You didn't tell her," Bane said with a low growl in his voice. He stormed over to the table and snatched up the goblet of wine. Putting it to his lips, he downed the rest of it. A moment later, shock colored his expression and his gaze flew to Malek. "Of all places, she took you there?"

Malek frowned, irritated Bane had been able to intrude on a private moment between them. He didn't know enough about how such magic worked or he would have stopped Bane before he'd touched the goblet.

When Malek didn't say anything, Bane shook his head and stared at the empty cup. "Sabine doesn't share such things lightly, but for some foolish reason, she trusts a dragon. She offered you a piece of herself and you took it, yet you continue to deceive her."

A cold hand gripped Malek's heart. Bane was right, but Malek couldn't regret sharing the experience with her. "It's not my intention to hurt her."

"You will." Bane walked over to a sack in the corner. He grabbed a handful of salt and dumped it in the goblet to break the magic completely. Leaving the salted cup on the counter, he picked up the bottle of wine and put it away. When he was finished, Bane pressed his hands against the counter and lowered his chin to his chest. His voice was quiet when he spoke, and it lacked his earlier anger. "Tell her soon, ship captain. Before she falls in love with you. If it isn't too late already."

Malek didn't respond. There wasn't anything he could say, especially when Bane was right. When Sabine found out who he was, she might not forgive him. He hadn't intended to mislead her, and the longer he waited, the worse it would be when she learned the truth.

Leaving Bane to his thoughts, Malek headed out of the room in the same direction Sabine had gone. The game of chance Dax's crew had been playing was more muted, with each of the players darting surreptitious glances at Dax and Sabine standing in the corner of the room. They were speaking too low for him to hear what they were saying, but their body language made it apparent Sabine had calmed the worst of Dax's anger.

Her hands were pressed against Dax's chest, and she was giving him a teasing smile. In return, Dax gazed down at her with an expression that spoke of a long-shared history and intimacy. The sight, especially after what Malek had shared with her in the kitchen, elicited a sharp pang of jealousy. The dragon within him wanted to yank her out of Dax's grasp.

The warding medallion heated around his neck, warning him to get control of his emotions. Unmindful of Malek's presence or his internal conflict, the demon lifted his clawed hand and trailed the back of it across Sabine's cheek. Such a move could be considered a threat if it weren't for Dax's teasing expression and Sabine's laughter. She wrapped her hand around the demon's wrist, leaning into him and saying something that made the demon chuckle.

The sight was a sharp cry from Dax's response after Malek had revived Sabine. The demon had been furious and out of control, lashing out at everyone and anyone who happened to be nearby. Javyn had suggested Dax might want to take out his aggression on Riven, the man who had betrayed Sabine by selling her location. The resulting screams had lasted for hours and could be heard throughout the tavern and even into the streets. The distraction had offered a brief reprieve for Dax's other men, though, and Malek had tried to keep some distance between himself and Dax since then.

"You joining us for the next game?" Javyn gestured to the empty seat Malek had occupied earlier.

"Very well," he agreed, sitting down while Javyn dealt him in.

They were playing a variation of Skulls and Crossbones he'd never seen before, as evidenced by how quickly he lost the last round. That's how he'd ended up running into Sabine in the kitchen.

"You can deal me in too," Dax said from the corner. Wrapping his arm around Sabine's waist, he led her toward the table.

The young man sitting next to Malek jumped up. "You can take my seat, Dax. I'll sit out this round."

Dax didn't respond but slid into the seat, pulling Sabine down with him and onto his lap. He didn't spare Malek a glance, and instead, put his hand on Sabine's bare leg. She rested her head against Dax's shoulder while Javyn collected the thin, flat wooden disks and shuffled them. Each wooden disk was painstakingly illustrated with images of different races. It was essentially a makeshift battle, where each player decided what moves and countermoves they should make, depending on the makeup of the disks in their hand. At the end of the round, the person with the most well-balanced group usually won. A bit of luck didn't hurt either.

Bane emerged from the kitchen area carrying a bowl of stew and put it on the table in front of Dax. "She needs to eat something."

Sabine frowned. "I had a few bites."

"Not enough." Bane's tone brooked no argument, and he turned away and walked back into the kitchen.

"Eat, Sabine," Dax ordered, nodding toward the bowl.

Sabine shrugged and pulled the bowl closer to her. Everyone else at the table gave the bowl covetous looks. She arched her brow. "Martha made a huge pot in there. I can't eat all of it."

Javyn chuckled as two of their players jumped up and ran to the kitchen. He started dealing out the cards. "Same rules as before. The last player standing wins, unless you get the crossbones. Then you have an automatic death throw at the person of your choice."

While Sabine ate, Dax nuzzled her neck and murmured, "I want you staying here until Balkin leaves the city. He should be here no later than morning, unless something comes up."

Sabine made a small noise of agreement. "All right. I'd like him to look at the chalice too. I'm not sure how the lich ward was embedded over it, and he might have an idea. What did you do with it?"

"It's in the vault," Dax said, reaching for the wooden disks Javyn passed to him. "If you stay longer, I could be persuaded to give you another silver dagger."

Sabine paused. "Dwarven?"

"If you'd like," Dax agreed, studying the wooden disks in his hand. "What did you think of the other one I sent over to you?"

"It's very pretty," she said, going back to her stew. "You knew I wouldn't be able to resist it."

Dax chuckled and tossed a few coins on the table to place his bet. Malek studied his wooden disks, debating how much to wager.

Sabine glanced at him. "You know how to play?"

"It's a bit different from the versions I've played before, but I'll catch on."

"Show me what you have," Sabine said, leaning toward him.

He held out his hand enough so she could see them, and she pointed to two of them—a troll and a goblin. Picking up a few of the coins they used for betting, she tossed them onto the table and winked at him. Dax didn't appear pleased with her offer to help him, but the demon could get over it. Malek wasn't in a mood to consider Dax's wishes when Sabine was curled up on his lap.

"You're not eating," Dax reminded her. He selected one of the playing disks in his hand and tossed it onto the table. Sabine huffed, but she resumed eating. Javyn slid Dax a replacement disk and looked at Malek expectantly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Malek studied his hand, curious about the two disks she'd pointed out to him. If he'd been playing the way he usually did, he'd have selected to discard different ones, probably the human and the dwarf. Trusting Sabine, he picked up the two she indicated, and she gave him a brilliant smile, her eyes twinkling with humor. Passing them over to Javyn, he decided it would be worth it for that look in her eyes even if he lost.

Javyn handed him two more illustrated disks. He got a witch and another troll, but this troll had a higher number of bones on the card, indicating its power level. Sabine pushed aside her nearly empty bowl and leaned toward him again to see his pieces. Her eyes lit up, and she gave him a nod of approval.

Dax scowled and put his hand on her leg again. "If you want to play, we can deal you in."

"I'm probably going back to bed after this," Sabine said with a yawn and stretched. Her shirt slid upward, exposing more of her bare legs. Malek's gaze lowered to them, wondering if the glamour also hid markings on other parts of her body. He swallowed, trying to pay attention to what was happening as each player went around the table playing their game pieces.

She leaned against Dax's shoulder again, positioning herself so she could watch the game unfold and see Malek's playing pieces. On Malek's turn, Javyn tossed down a witch marker. He started to pull out his higher-level troll, identified by the number of bones on the card, but Sabine shook her head and pointed to the witch in his hand. He arched his brow but went ahead and played it, curious about her reasoning.

Javyn paused, darting a look at Sabine who smiled sweetly at him. He chuckled and passed both disks to Malek, indicating he'd won that round. "If Sabine's helping you, maybe we should just hand you the winnings now."

"I have no idea why that hand won," Malek admitted.

Sabine laughed and flipped over the wooden pieces they'd just played. She pointed to an area he hadn't noticed. "See the etchings on here that indicate a wind is blowing? Javyn played an air witch. Yours had flames around the edges, which indicates a fire witch. Even though your game piece was lower level, wind will only enhance the fire witch's ability by causing the fire to spread. Your witch won by default."

Malek leaned back in surprise, taking the opportunity to study the details on each wooden piece, including the ones still in his hand. Sabine was right. Their version of the game was more multi-faceted than he had expected. In addition to the bones on the card indicating their level of power, each race also had other subtle variations on it denoting the type of magical ability or strength of that game piece.

"This deck is extraordinary. It adds more nuances to a relatively simplistic game," Malek said, the realization only elevating his opinion of Dax's crew. They might operate on the shadowed side of the law, but they had proven themselves to be extraordinarily clever.

With much more confidence now, Malek played the troll marker. Sabine settled back against Dax again, and the demon tossed out another game piece. Javyn passed both of them to Dax. The game proceeded for another few rounds until Bane emerged from the kitchen. He looked down at Sabine, whose eyes had closed at some point. "Good. She's sleeping again. I'll take her."

Dax nodded and leaned back to allow Bane to pick her up. "Put her in my room."

"Not a chance," Bane retorted and headed back out of the room with Sabine in his arms.

Dax chuckled as though unsurprised by his brother's reply and organized his remaining game pieces. Javyn glanced over at the closed kitchen door where Bane had disappeared. "Did you tell her we found Terrance?"

"No. Not until she recovers completely."

Malek straightened. He hadn't realized they'd located him. "Did Terrance say anything about the attack?"

Javyn frowned and tossed another game piece on the table. "Nothing to say. One of our people found him floating in the harbor with his throat cut. Looked like it may have been done by someone from the assassins' guild."

"It wasn't." Dax took the wooden disks Javyn passed to him. "They would have weighed down the body better, not left it for us to find. Someone wanted us to believe it was one of Bane's people."

Javyn's brows furrowed, and he muttered a curse under his breath. "They're trying to pit us against Bane's crew?"

"Appears that way," Dax said with a shrug.

Malek frowned, selected one of his remaining game pieces, and pushed it toward the center of the table. His mind wasn't really on playing anymore. Instead, he was considering the ledger Sabine had discovered in Terrance's home. He'd started trying to decipher it, but there were a lot of things that didn't make sense.

He'd planned on sharing his thoughts with Sabine first. Given the news of Terrance's death and Sabine's weakened state, he needed to reveal the information to Dax now.

"Sabine and I went back to Terrance's home the other night. She discovered a ledger under one of the floorboards. It was written in some kind of code."

Dax's eyes narrowed. "You did what?"

Javyn winced and slid a little lower in his seat.

Malek held Dax's gaze. "She wanted to search his home. I accompanied her so she wouldn't go alone, especially since someone is seeking to harm her. It's a good thing she went, since she managed to discover a ledger everyone else missed. At her request, I've been working on unlocking the code. We originally assumed it was a list of debts and winnings from his gambling hall, but I no longer believe that's the case."

"Show me this ledger." Dax pushed away from the table.

Malek handed Javyn his game pieces and stood. Dax followed him back out to the main tavern room, which was in full swing and would be for several more hours. A few people he'd begun to recognize nodded at Malek in greeting, but at the sight of Dax, they didn't call out or interrupt. Although, Dax's thunderous expression might have had something to do with that.

Malek climbed the stairs and pushed open the door to his empty room. He'd sent Levin back to the ship after he'd infused Sabine with his dragonfire. Malek hadn't shared his reasons for asking Levin to leave the tavern. His oath prevented him from telling Levin what happened, but Malek didn't want to put his first mate and closest friend at risk.

Levin was a wyvern, one of the lesser dragons. In a battle between a demon and wyvern, Dax would likely be the winner. Levin was crafty and quick, but he wouldn't be a match for such a formidable opponent. Besides, if Malek failed or fell for any reason, someone needed to send word back to the Sky Cities that his efforts hadn't been successful.

Walking over to the desk, he unlocked the box containing some of his maps and pulled out the ledger he'd hidden underneath them. He handed it to Dax, who flipped it open and glanced through the pages with a frown.

"You've deciphered some of this?"

"Not exactly," Malek began and pointed to the various columns. "I originally thought these were dates, client names, and then corresponding amounts. I tried to figure out the symbols I assumed represented the coin amounts, but they weren't adding up."

"How so?"

Malek pointed to the last column. "There's no method for tracking the overall wins or losses. Too many of the center columns were duplicates, which is why I originally thought they were names. I still think they're names, but the last column are locations, not amounts."

Dax studied the ledger for a long time. He placed it on the desk and grabbed a blank parchment. Malek handed him a piece of charcoal and the demon started sketching some symbols. It was similar to what Malek had been doing, looking for crossover between them. Three sets of symbols were repeated regularly.

"If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him again," Dax said with a scowl and tossed the charcoal down. "Terrance was tracking Sabine, Bane, and me."

Malek frowned and studied the parchment. "How do you figure? The symbols don't match up with the letters in each person's name."

"I've seen codes like this before. You were close, but you didn't have all the information. Sabine used to be called Sabinthea. She'd been in Akros almost two years before Esmelle suggested she shorten her name to Sabine. She thought Sabinthea sounded a little too Fae."

"But the name Sabine would be more acceptable for a human with Fae ancestry," Malek murmured, taking another look at the symbols. Dax was right. They matched up perfectly if you knew the alternative form of Sabine's name. "How many people knew she used to go by Sabinthea?"

Dax rubbed his chin, staring at the flickering light in the lamp. "Too many to reliably track. At the time she shortened her name, Bane hadn't yet split off on his own. When he left, a handful of my crew decided to follow him. All of them knew her original name, and Bane still calls her that on occasion."

"Bane mentioned he thought someone was targeting you," Malek said, recalling what Bane had told him about the lich ward on the chalice. "He said you've been causing problems for the city leaders."

"Yes, and it's likely they're responsible," Dax admitted. "After what happened at the councilman's home, the iron dagger used during the ambush, and Terrance paying one of my men for information, it's obvious someone with deep pockets is behind this. If all three of us were being tracked, there are some common threads we can use to flush out anyone else who may be involved."

Malek nodded, suspecting Dax and Bane were going to be cleaning house very soon. "What are the chances this is an attack on Sabine instead of you? Why is she hiding in Akros?"

Dax picked up the ledger. "You may return to your ship. You're free to remain in the harbor until we've determined the ward on the chalice has been fully removed. After that, we'll conduct the trade as originally agreed and you can depart from the city."

Malek straightened and narrowed his eyes on Dax. He folded his arms across his chest, deliberately using the motion to display Sabine's mark on his wrist. "Sabine and I still have unfinished business. I won't leave until it's concluded."

Dax clenched his jaw and didn't respond. Instead, the demon turned and headed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Malek frowned and shook his head. Time was running out very quickly. When she woke up next, he'd need to speak with Sabine privately and tell her the truth. He just hoped he didn't lose her in the process.