Read Sorcerer Rising (A Virgil McDane Novel) for Free Online

gambling and I only gamble d if I could hedge my bet.
    I realized I hadn’t said anything for a while. I took another drink from my beer and shook my head. “I don’t like wasting my time, Mr. Aberland.”
    “Is your time so valuable these days?” he asked casually.
    I clenched my jaw, took a deep breath, and continued. “Most likely, I’ll just end up taking your money and giving back nothing in return. All you’ll get is a party of tired explorers sick from too much jerky.”
    Aberland leaned forward and I saw that thing in his eyes stir again. “Then why not take it up?” he whispered. “I offer you a small fortune to backpack around the world. If nothing comes of it, than you have still been paid, and if something does I assure you in full confidence that I have equipped you to deal with the situation.”              
    I was still pretty sure I was going to turn him down at this point. I mean, yeah, the guy was loaded, but how much was he willing to throw away at a pipe dream?
    No one paid a Sorcerer what they paid a Wizard. It just wasn’t done. Sorcerers had no organization, no standards, no policies. There was no one to go to if the customer screwed you, no one to vouch for you other than your own reputation. And the Wizards had been telling everyone we were, literally, the scourge of the Devil ever since the war.
    I leaned forward. “So how much are we talking? What number are you willing to throw at my common sense to make it scurry away?”
    Aberland squinted, looking at me intently. Then he drew out a leather checkbook and started writing. It took him a while, which kind of made me worry. I mean, I could imagine some pretty big numbers, but I was fairly confident he wasn’t going to throw them at me. Finally, he tore out the check and slid it over to me.
    Apprehensively, I took up the check, keeping my eyes on the man. After a moment , I let them fall to the number. My eyes went up. It was tempting. Very tempting. Ten times what I would have expected for something like this.
    My hand went to my face again, my fingers tracing the design that started right above my eyebrow, curved around my eye and then out again. I knew it wasn’t there, but I could still feel it.
    Things were getting bleak. It had never been easy to compete with the Guild, not for anyone, but it was especially impossible with my reputation. I had worked hard to gain some credibility, a decent client list. Instead of getting easier, it had only become harder and I found myself working for people like the Tin Man.
    I closed my eyes and took a very deep breath. Yes, the m oney was tempting. But living was too and I found it more tempting than the check. Maybe not a lot more, but the margin was definitely there. And it wasn’t just the Arcus, though that was bad enough. Not even Ben, who if he found out I was doing something like this would most definitely intervene in one way or another. Probably with his fists.
    No, in the end I just didn’t trust Aberland. There was a ruthlessness that clung to him. Trusting my instincts was how I walked away from the War and later Nidia when everyone else…when everyone else didn’t.
    I exhaled slowly. Hesitantly, I slid the check back, shaking my head.
    “Sorry, Cy, but I’m going to have to turn you down on this. It’s tempting,” I paused, my eyes darting back the check for a moment. I licked my lips. “Very tempting. But it’s just too risky.”
    I started to get up before I changed my mind. It took a lot to turn down that check. It was a small fortune. Chock it up to the remnants of my Wizardly discipline or something.
    Aberland laughed. It was the first time I had heard him do so. It had the same quality as his eyes. It was eerily predatory. Like whatever lived in that deep, dark lair that was this man’s soul liked what it saw. It scared the hell out of me.
    Here was a man who had more money than I would in my entire life. He was willing to go up against the Guild, as