Page 170 of A Vow of Embers

“I took your advice. I let Thrax take the lead on locating Erisa’s safe house and he was successful.”

I tried not to think too much about the fact that Xander had listened to me and acted on my recommendation. I didn’t want to make something more of it than it actually was. We moved quickly and quietly. Xander knew exactly where he was going, always so sure of himself.

“Stephanos and Rokh are ahead, keeping an eye on the safe house from the roofs. They’ll let me know if anything is wrong.”

The thought occurred to me that, even though the prince had taken my suggestion and was leaning more on his brotherhood, I had just failed to take my own advice. Maybe it had been a mistake to leave my sisters behind. Perhaps I should have taken a harder stance.

I’d been too eager.

And I wasn’t sure if it was just about finding the stolen money or if I had wanted this opportunity to be alone with him.

We went into a more run-down neighborhood and he led me to a dwelling sandwiched in between two others. We hid behind a wall while he waited, presumably for his brothers to signal him if something was wrong.

There was nothing special about the house.

“Where are the guards?” I asked.

“My guess is there aren’t any. She’s using the unassuming appearance to hide what really lies within. If there were guards, people would notice. She wouldn’t want to draw attention to it.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Thrax doesn’t seem all that bright to me. Maybe he was wrong.”

He gave me a withering look. “He wasn’t wrong. They know what they saw.”

“They?”

“Thrax and Quynh.”

“He brought my sister with him?” I whisper yelled. This wasn’t safe for her.

“She was the one who came up with the plan to go down to the docks and watch the tribute ships when they came into port. Some deliveries went into the palace, as they should have, but late last night, the rest was brought here. When everyone was sleeping.”

When I had been throwing myself into my husband’s arms.

I heard what sounded like a birdcall and then Xander said, “Let’s go.”

We hurried across the darkened street. The front door was locked but apparently he knew how to pick locks. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Within a few seconds he had the door open and we went inside.

“What if there’s traps in here?” I asked, peering into the darkness that surrounded us.

“I don’t think Erisa could risk having traps. They might hurt her delivery people.” He found a candle and used a flint to light it.

The room was bare—only a couple of chairs, a table, a rug. There was an upper level, and since this room was empty, we went up the stairs to investigate.

But the upstairs bedroom had only a bed—not a mountain of gold.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“This can’t be right.” He sounded as confused as I felt. He began to think out loud. “Could it be in the houses next door? Maybe there’s a passageway that links them.”

We returned to the lower level, and he began to press against the walls, looking for a latch or lever.

I didn’t know how much time we had to search. I should have brought my sisters. Suri would have been a big help. I kicked at the rug and my foot brushed against something strange on the wooden floor. I grabbed the candle and pushed the rug out of the way.

There was a door.

“Xander!” I called, and he came over. I pointed and he grinned at me. We pulled out our weapons, just in case. He opened the door, which creaked so loudly that I was afraid someone would hear.

“I’ll go first,” he said. I held the candle out so that he could see and fight if he needed to. He went down the ladder, and when he reached the bottom, he turned in a circle.