Page 97 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

“I called her Clara, and she responded.”

He gave a slow nod. “Smart.”

It hadn’t been premeditated. Just a happy accident.

“Why would the king send his eldest daughter to assassinate Kingsnake?”

“He didn’t. She did it in secret.”

“Why?”

“She didn’t explicitly say…but I think to prove herself.”

Viper took a seat in the armchair. “All she did was prove her incompetence.”

“She’s a great fighter, Viper.”

“She didn’t kill you, did she?”

“Just because I’m the better fighter doesn’t mean she’s not great.”

Viper cocked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “Will she stay?”

“I—I don’t know.” Knowing she was the heir to the throne complicated things. She couldn’t realistically stay here and ignore her rightful place on the throne. If she didn’t return, she really would be abandoning her people. If she were just an assassin, it would be different.

“We both know there’s no way she forsakes her life in Evanguard.”

I sat with my boots on the desk, arms crossed over my chest.

“And you know it, Cobra.”

“I didn’t know who she was at the time—”

“You shouldn’t have made that deal, regardless of what you knew.”

I drank from my glass.

“This is why Kingsnake is a better ruler.”

“He’s screwing the girl that the Ethereal want to kill,” I snapped. “But this is worse?”

Viper looked away, his fingers drumming on the wooden armrest.

“That’s what I thought, asshole.” I took another drink. “We both think with our dicks.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I’ve thought a lot about it.” I set my empty glass on the desk. “Clara is different from the others.”

“How would you know?”

“She’s not a bitch like Ellasara, I know that much,” I said. “I’ve learned a lot about the Ethereal based on what Clara’s shared, and they’re a nonviolent people—”

Viper gave a snort.

“I agree they have an odd self-perspective. But she says the gods have selected them to live forever, to safeguard the world as protectors, and our kind is a sin against nature. She said the gods only speak to the King of Evanguard—”

“That’s convenient.”