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"Thank you," Jewel said, but she removed the ite back into place There was regret and longing in her voice, and she gazed at the ite her attention to a bloodred ruby headpiece
"Roasted fowl," someone called "Only half a drachasped, skipping to the vendor without a backward glance
Gray watched her go, then did a quick scan of the crowd and decided she was safe enough for thehis attention between his wo at the are flowed easily froue, as if he&039;d spoken it his entire life
"Forty drachmas"
He couldn&039;t ask what drachmas were or he&039;d look like an idiot who didn&039;t belong in Atlantis He merely nodded and pivoted As he closed the distance between himself and Jewel, the bull-man called, "Thirty-five I&039;ll let you have it for thirty-five"
Gray pulled Jewel to the side, away from the roasted fowl peddler, a thickly muscled, one-eyed Cyclops Jewel held two pie tins ofthem wearily, as if he half expected the her lip, staring down at the food
His gaze returned to the Cyclops, and he noticed the s, and had hollowed cheeks despite his oddly muscled appearance He was dirt poor, and Gray didn&039;t have the heart to steal from him, either
"What are drachmas?" he asked Jewel quietly
"Money" She sniffed the food with a rapturous expression, completely absorbed in her task "Like your dollars"
"How can I earn soroup of the freakiest of all the things he&039;d seen so far One ar fros on their backs kept the circle
Each whatever the hell they were held a good-sized lizard, and each lizard wore a jeweled collar, a different jewel for each different owner They placed the squir their only hand to hold onto the lizard&039;s tail
One of the men shouted, "Go," and everyone released their lizards
Gray expected the cursed things - he hated lizards, e - to bite their handlers, but they surprised hireen-collared lizard crossed the finish line first and its handler fluttered up and doith excite pouch was thrown at the thing, and he caught it, opening the burlap sack with his teeth and withdrawing a dull rock Gray would bet his substantial savings account that dull rock was a drachhtened "Never htened on the blade he held It was good-sized with a marble handle and worth a small fortune His brother-in-law, Jorlan, a prince of soa to be your day of firsts Come with me"
"Wait" She replaced the food on the table, and he ushered her through the crowd darting along the street When she noticed the only possible destination for them, she said, "Uh, Gray, perhaps we should turn around now" He ignored her, never slowing Soon the things &039;low voices drifted to the he wanted to ask Jewel "Would you e?"
Her radiant sapphire eyes rounded "You can understand?"
He nodded and cast her a glance He could see wheels turning and watched her eyes widen as the answer hit her, but she e, really?"
"With hard work and a lot of studying"
"You could have learned it siood, he&039;d give her that She never lied, but when she didn&039;t want to answer a question she had ways of trying to throw him off the scent "I didn&039;t work at this and I didn&039;t listen closely to others How did I learn it?" he persisted
She paused, gulped, then offered, "I have heard soic His brother-in-law dealt init A man could be turned to stone, while still able to see, hear and feel everything around hie only when his female master had need of his services He shuddered
No, thank you
"Did you use a spell on me?" Before she replied, he realized she&039;d never actually said with one hundred percent surety that he&039;d learned the language through ested it In fact, she hadn&039;t answered his question in any way
He gritted his teeth together, stopped, and stared down at her for a long while, ic, indeed When we&039;re safe in our roo talk"
Our roo to alleviate the sudden dryness of her e because she&039;d been inside his head and , surreal, but there it was Had she, then, taken pieces of him with her?
She didn&039;t kno he&039;d take to that nehen he didn&039;t seem to remember she&039;d been inside his head at all, so she said nothing, letting hiht now, she had other things to worry about The Formorians&039; skin was as pale as a vampire&039;s but looked more like dry paper with thin blue lines They had just finished another lizard race when she and Gray reached their circle Gray stopped, not saying a word, just watching curiously; she re faces, ready to warn him if anyone attempted to hurt him The Formorians had blades strapped all over their bodies She didn&039;t knohy they were here in the Inner City when For Outer City They were a danger-loving race who didn&039;ton flesh, preferably while the bodies were still alive and screa
"I want to play," Gray finally announced to the surrounding crowd, as if he hadn&039;t a care in the world
The For "Do you have drachmas?" one of theave it, hilt first, to the creature closest to hi it in his only hand "Iwith first," he said
"You see enough ofdark and
"I will see all of you" He motioned with a tilt of his chin, and another of the For out to push back Gray&039;s hood
Gray shoved the creature, hard, rowled low in their throats "You stink of human," one of them spat "We will see your face"
"And you stink of shit," Gray snapped "All you&039;ll see is another of et out of ame"
"You will leave or die That is your only choice"
Gray stepped forward quickly, shadows covering lowing bright, a eyes - deer to please Forer counterpart
Jewel stilled a horrified gasp The red light in Gray&039;s eyes had already died down, leaving only the silver irises The changes were happening, then Gray wouldn&039;t be spared as she&039;d hoped Over the co days, he would acquire traits of both the vauess Hoould react when he discovered as happening to him, she could only dread
The leader sheathed Gray&039;s knife at his belt and handed hiroup Gray didn&039;t coin First lizard to cross, wins"
Gray nodded and lined up beside the other usted expression he ould have made her chuckle in any other circumstance As it was, she didn&039;t trust the Formorians to act honorably, so
retained a watchful eye on them
"Go!" the leader shouted
The lizards were released and bolted into action Well, all but Gray&039;s lizard bolted Gray&039;s began a slow, leisurely stroll "Go, daers
It turned and ambled in the opposite direction
All too soon, a lizard crossed the finish line, ending the race Gray cursed loud and long, then turned to the Forain," he said
"Show me payment"
He reathered around it oohing and aahing, and Gray picked up his lizard "Let&039;s get this done"
Eager, everyone lined up
"Go!"
Gray&039;s lizard did a repeat performance, as did Gray He cursed the entire race, expletives that near burned her ears Afterward, he dehter, she kneas called The Forreed
The men lined up Gray&039;s lips were taut Hard lines bracketed his eyes and mouth Determination radiated fro sack of shit," he " He handed over an energy bar, and the creatures sniffed, nodded
"Ready go!"
The lizards scrambled forward
Jewel had never entered an animal&039;s head before, but she did this one She didn&039;t know if it would work, but she gave it a try, anyway Anything to help Gray Go, da her sharp co faster than the others, and it inched into the lead An odd sense of excite this ti up and down by the ti first place
Heated silencein shock at the amethyst-collared lizard "My prize," Gray prompted
All of the Fors of drachs Jewel clapped her hands and laughed, her hood al, she reached up and secured it in place
Gray clasped his ar business with you, boys If you&039;ll excuse us " He led her away, h With your help," he added with a grin "How s with his free hand
"Two hundred drach how he knehat she&039;d done "We have money!"
He tossed her a wickedly sensual wink "Let&039;s have us a celebration"