Chapter 5

“How did you get that mark?” he asked, running his finger along the ridge of his own left cheekbone. It was just the place Lucien wore a thin, barely noticeable scar.

“A job went sideways,” Lucien replied. “Brevyn took care of the other scars. She left this one for me to fix, a little incentive to follow her here and dedicate myself to the Orders.”

“A lot has gone sideways for you, hasn’t it?”

“Right now, I’m alive and eating, and nobody is actively trying to murder me. I’d call that a win.”

Karem nodded, his amber eyes still keenly trained on Lucien’s scar. He placed one hand on his hip while his other sleeve dangled loose—the ghostslayer had lost his left arm from the elbow down during an ill-fated hunt years ago. An undead ghoul had reared up out of a mud-filled gully and torn the appendage away. It was a story Karem had told them all over supper in the mess hall at least six times.

“That scar might be better work for Cree,” Karem finally said. “She’s become quite the capable blood healer.”

“Yes, she has,” Lucien responded, a little tartly. His gaze shifted to find Karem’s in the mirror. “Which is why I can’t understand you and Elias constantly underestimating her. She survived the Hunter’s Bane, didn’t she? She’s ready for a contract. A real one.”

[...]

Karem nodded and, off Lucien’s cold expression, turned and strode back to the doorway. There he paused and told him: “I doubt you’re interested in my opinion, but I think the scar suits you, Lucien. Consider keeping it.”

He wouldn’t. When Karem was gone and Lucien was alone again, he reached for a small knife in the vanity drawer and flicked the blade across his chest. Blood welled, and so did Lucien’s magic. He gathered the blood on his finger before it could drip down to stain his shirt, a flicker of light passing from the crimson smudge to his face. His skin warmed at the touch of blood and magic, and the scar faded somewhat but did not fully heal. He hissed as a droplet of the blood slid free of his finger, splattering on top of the letter stack.