Imposter

Chapter 26

Eddie heard them coming before Mason ever did, and by the time he was alerted of their presence, it was too late.

They had them surrounded on all sides.

"You should have let me go," Karel said as Mason untied his wrists.

"It's too late for that now," he muttered. "If you'd cooperated more, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Oh, so it's my fault I'm about to die?"

Mason looked into Karel's eyes, noticing for the first time they were a golden-green.

"You're not going to die," he whispered, drawing himself to his full length to meet the first man that stepped out of the shadows of the trees around them.

"Step away from him now and we won't have reason to execute you, too," the man told him, his hands resting on the handles of the daggers at his hips.

"Yeah, see, that's not going to happen," Mason said, folding his arms over his chest. "How about we make a different deal?"

The man smiled, tipping his head. "Really now?"

"How about. . ." Mason stepped closer. "You fuck off with your little posse and I'll let you live. You all stay. . .and you all die."

"You are rather cocky for a man who just got caught." The man snorted a laugh. "You're outnumbered."

Mason smiled at him, sighing. "I don't think you quite understand what you've gotten yourself into," he said, "so I'll word it differently. Fuck off, or I'll rip your face off."

The man's smile slipped, irritation flashing in his eyes. "I don't think you understand—"

"I understand that there's only an ounce of intelligence among your entire group, and that's being rather generous," Mason interrupted.

"He has a dog, Reynold," a familiar voice called out. "Where's the dog?"

Mason motioned for Karel to stay behind him. "I sent him away, Jericho," he said stiffly. "I wouldn't want him to get caught in the crossfire."

"There doesn't have to be any crossfire," Reynold said, his eyes glittering. "You can just hand him over and we'll forget about you."

"The biggest problem is I don't like being forgotten." Mason watched as the rest of Reynold's group stepped out from the trees, all of them poised and ready.

He did a careful count; there were ten in total. Just like there had been in Kor when he went back to fetch the horses.

Reynold pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, it looks like we'll be doing this the hard way."

"Wait! No!"

Karel's cry made Mason spin around in time to see two people clasp an iron collar around the sorcerer's neck.

He turned back to Reynold, his lips parting.

Reynold gave him a mock grimace. "Oops," he said. "You see, I don't make the true number of my group known. If there is only an ounce of intelligence amongst us all, it's safe to say I'm in possession of it."

Mason growled, stalking forward.

"Someone restrain him before he does something stupid," Reynold ordered, turning his back to him.

A girl approached him with an iron collar, one of her friends pointing a sword at his chest to prevent him from walking further.

"I'm not a fucking dog," he snarled, pushing the sword aside. "Reynold, if you want me restrained, you'd better do it yourself."