The Wicked Born

Chapter 9

"You're kidding," Dacre deadpanned to Tabitha. Besides the small frown that pulled down on her lips, her face was as serious as he'd ever seen it. Ellias shifted quietly in the background, coughing a little to mask his small laugh. Tabitha shot him a glare that shut him up quickly before turning back to Dacre. "Why go through all of the trouble to drag me here under the impression that I'm going to die soon if that wasn't your plan? You never considered just asking me for my help?"

Tabitha frowned and narrowed her cold blue stare at him. She sighed heavily and then plopped down into the chair next to his with so much force that she could have passed as a mere mortal, as she so often liked to tease him for being.

Dacre couldn't help but notice how uncharacteristically she was acting since she found out about her sister, but he knew that the situation certainly called for it. He had a million questions to ask her, but he bit his tongue and held them all in instead. Now didn't seem like the time to press her further for information. She was quite obviously on edge, ready to snap at either of the men in the room at a moment's notice.

"Answer me truthfully," she began after a few minutes of silence. She never lifted her eyes from her twiddling fingers as they seemed to draw patterns in the air that only she could see. "If a red witch that you'd been hearing horror stories of since you were younger approached you and asked you for your help in capturing her little sister that you'd never heard of from the father that you were running away from, you'd drop everything and help?" 

Dacre felt his face flush slightly under both her and Ellias' calculating stares. He knew that she was right, but he was still a little too embarrassed to admit to it. "Why me, though? What can I do to help you with getting your sister?"

"You said it yourself," she said with a bite in her tone, as if she was trying hard to keep from ripping his head off under the duress that she was facing. "You worked your way up high in the King's guard. You know the ins and outs of the castle like the back of your hand. And if it's any indication that it took me months to find you, then I know you'll do good with staying under the radar with Bexley once we get her back."

Dacre blanched at her candor. She tapped the heel of her boot impatiently on the floor, waiting for him to say something. He knew that she would be woefully unhappy once he finally worked up the nerve to voice his opinion, but he had to do it anyway.

"No," he said with as much forced calm as he could. Tabitha flinched, her mask of annoyance turning into a look of pure rage. 

"What do you mean 'no'? My sister is just a child--you would leave her there simply to spite me?" she seethed in the chair beside him, gripping the arms of the oak seat with enough strength that it began to splinter under her grasp.

"Hey," Ellias called, jumping out of his own seat and reaching across the desk to pry her hands from the already-ruined chair, "be careful with my things, dear. A life of luxury is also one of expense."

She turned her angry glare on him once his hands wrapped around her wrist, and he immediately withdrew back behind the safety of his side of the desk. He was muttering something to himself about pissy witch when Dacre continued with his explanation, stopping Tabitha dead in her tracks before she launched herself into a full-on assault at the warlock. Ellias frowned deeply but wisely shut up and listened. 

"I don't mean I flat-out refuse to help you," Dacre said. Tabitha visibly relaxed at his words, sinking back into the chair so fast that he was sure a physical weight had lifted off of her shoulders. It was truly disconcerting to see her being so emotional. It was so shockingly different  from the front of indifference and disinterest that she typically wore. "I simply want to know more about this before I pledge myself fully."