“Esteban,” I breathed.
There was no need to confirm. I could see the truth of it in his haunted eyes. I nodded. “Let’s go. I’ve got your back. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Even though I’m still mad at you, no one gets to throw you around except me.”
I got a chuckle for my comment and a cute little grin.
“Let’s get this over with then.”
He grasped my hand in his and turned me toward the waving tent flap.
Since there was no way of Hawk seeing the inside of the Night Market, we had to wander the stalls and booths, all laid out in somewhat of a grid. The inside of the tent had expanded when we entered.
Stalls of goods, magical and otherwise, crowded narrow walkways already packed full of people. Magical people. I found myself watching them more than the stalls.
Fin leaned down to whisper in my ear. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Metalsmithing of any kind, we’re looking for sign of Sol, remember? Weapons, jewelry, the like. Magical of course.”
We reached a stall lined with daggers and swords. I stopped to admire, but then remembered we were on a mission.
I made a show of looking at the knives until a rough vendor poked his head out from behind the display. “Can I help you, bounty hunter?’
Interesting that he knew about my hunting abilities, but I didn’t have time to go into that right now. I held up a small set of throwing knives singing sweetly in my hand. “How much for these?”
The vendor turned his attention to Fin and I smoothly stepped in front of him. “You’re not here for weapons, girl. What do you want?”
I smiled. “I’m always in the market for weapons.” I handed Fin the knives and closed the distance between the vendor and myself.
The vendor didn’t so much as flinch. He must be decent at defense, or he didn’t expect a fight from little ol’ me.
I tugged the necklace from my shirt and held it up. “Do you know anyone who might make jewelry similar to this?”
He didn’t reach out to take the necklace, simply scanned it and shook his head. “No.”
“What if I can offer a reward for information? I’m just looking for the artist to talk. Only talk.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s what all mages say.”
Fin shoved out from behind me, his muscles tense.
I held out my arm to block him across the chest. “I may be part mage, but if you can see my magic, you know that’s not all I am.”
When he didn’t respond, only stood there staring me down, I dug one of my old business cards from my back pocket and handed it to him. We stood in a stalemate, until he snatched the card from my fingers with a nod.
I turned to walk away, and he called back. “Where are you going with my knives?”
Fin stopped, between me and the stall, staring between us.
I jerked my thumb at Fin and kept walking. “They’re on him.”
With a curse, and a shuffle I barely caught through the crowd, Fin took care of my purchase.
He came up beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Why was I buying you knives?”
I took my new set of throwing knives and carefully placed them in the front pocket of my zip up hoodie. “Because you have a lot of groveling to do if you ever want back in my bed again.”
We continued around the tent but didn’t find another vendor that fit what we needed. Several of them were jewelry sellers, but none that appeared magical. I didn’t know if they were trying to scam folks, or maybe the goods they sold didn’t have to be magical. Either way, it didn’t matter.
When we exited the tent, it was full dark—but not dark enough to obscure the five hulking men standing around our black SUV.