Page 19

I pulled him closer. The scent of birchwood and dew filled the air. I nipped at his lip, slowly unsheathing the dagger at my hip.

His hand held my neck as he bit me back. Tugged at my hair.

I let out a soft moan as I slammed the dagger into his chest.

The Shadow moved so fast his arm was a blur. One moment his lips were bruising mine, and the next his fingers were wrapped around my wrist. He held my arm in the air, the dagger suspended just above my head. His other arm was pinned against my torso holding me against the pillar.

“You make a habit of kissing people before you kill them?” I spoke. I thrashed against his hold, but he was strong. Stronger than me. I tried to catch a glimpse of his face under his hood, but it was too dark.

“It won’t happen again,” he murmured against my cheek.

I took a quick breath, anticipating a deadly strike. But it didn’t come. He leaped back, leaving me against the pillar and disappeared through a broken window.

IHAD NO CHOICEbut to leave Cereliath the next morning. Two Shades appeared at dawn waiting for a brief. Even though we were alone in the room they rented, I kept my hood on. It shielded my eyes from the light and numbed the pain pulsing behind them. Each breath tasted of the vomit I had spewed the night before. Once beside the pillar after the Shadow disappeared, then again as I stumbled back to the inn.

My mouth was parched, and my lips cracked as I spoke to the Shades. I craved the taste of wine. Anything to curb the ache of my body, numb the shame of my defeat. But I refused the barmaid when she asked if we wanted a flagon.

I didn’t deserve my vice. It had almost cost me my life. Ithadcost me the Shadow.

My tongue would not taste a drop of wine until I held the Shadow’s head in my hands.

But for that I needed time. Time to find him. Lure the Shadow into the light long enough to stick my blade through his chest. Or neck. Or eye. I didn’t care as long as he was stopped. As long as my place as Blade was secured once again.

“Anything else to report, Mistress?” one of the Shades asked. Her dark eyes peered up at my hood, but I was distracted by the long scar that crept from her tunic up her neck. She was young and from the paleness of her skin and the curve of her ears, mostly Mortal. I doubted she was older than twenty.

So young and already so scarred. I shifted my shoulders. The names along my skin scratched against my tunic.

“No,” I lied, and walked out of the room. What was I going to tell the Shades? That I had killed Curringham’s assistant and fought the Shadow but had nothing to show for it? I would keep those secrets until I had to reveal them. Until the king started asking questions.

Somehow, I doubted an unexpected kiss would be an excuse in the king’s eyes.

I didn’t understand why the Shadow had done it. Was it a distraction tactic? Unlikely. He’d had the upper hand. Perhaps it was a game to him. I had crossed paths with many men who liked to play out sick fantasies. Every Halfling female had.

Prince Damien’s face flashed across my mind.

I smirked. He was cruel enough, but I could never imagine the crown prince hiding himself from the world. He was too proud to keep his actions a secret.

I galloped out of the city until I reached the edge of the Deadwood. I didn’t want to see the faces of all those hungry people again. To know which ones had died, their bodies left to rot under the suns.

Sweat pooled along my brow as I let my horse stop and rest. I took a sip from my wineskin and let the warm water flow over my tongue. It quenched the thirst but not the craving. As soon as I began riding again, I heaved over the side of my horse. His black eyes stared at me as I wiped the sick from my mouth.

It was going to be a long ride back to the capital.

“Good day, Keera,” Gerarda said. She was waiting for me with two Shades outside of Koratha. Her frame looked even tinier in front of the towering wall behind her. I counted seven bodies hanging against the white stone. Thin lines of red and amber trailed under their feet.

“Dare I ask how you knew to wait for me here?” I cocked a brow. I usually came into the capital by the ports, not horseback.

“Some of us are spies, Keera,” she said, her lips twitching to one side. I didn’t miss the dig or the use of my name in front of the Shades.

“I didn’t realize we spied on each other,Gerarda,” I said, watching that sideways smirk fall.

“The mistress would like to speak with you,” she said, completely ignoring my insinuation. She tucked her short black hair behind an ear and shrugged.

My brows knit together.

“Now?” I asked, gesturing to my filthy clothes. I wore the scent of horse shit, vomit, and sweat. The only thing I wanted more than a drink was a bath.

Gerarda shot me a wicked grin and nodded.