Page 59 of Forged in Fire

“Yes,” I acknowledge simply because why deny it? When I glance at him again, he meets my eye, and my breath catches at the intensity of it.

Elena takes in a slow, steadying breath. “Iris, you need to be smart about this. Whatever his reasons for helping you, he’s still a professional killer.”

“I know what he is.” I look at Riven again, taking in the controlled efficiency of his movements, the deadly competence that radiates from every line of his body.

Her breathing changes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“They’re after us,” I say.

“Who? The Syndicate?”

“The Guild,” I say.

“What Guild?” she presses.

I meet Riven’s eye again. He’s given me details, but so much is missing. He doesn’t volunteer more information now.

“It’s an assassins’ guild,” I tell her. “He works for them.” Our eyes are still locked. “Well, he did. But… not anymore. He left them to save me, and now they’re coming for him. Us.” I look for some sign in his gaze that I’m wrong. There’s none.

“What?” Elena says sharply. “No. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Rewind that bit.”

“Which bit?”

Elena is muttering something beneath her breath. Sounds like a string of curses. Eventually, she continues. “So let me see if you got this right. You left us here—even though we told you not to—to save your brother.”

“Yes.”

“When you got there, he didn’t want to go with you, and instead, he planned to hand you over to the Syndicate.”

“Right.” I swallow hard.

“But there was also an assassin there, hired to kill Kieran… and instead of killing him, he saved you.”

“Yes.”

“And now he’s taken you to this Râ?nov place, where you’re hiding from the Guild. And probably the Syndicate too.”

“Well, technically, we stayed in a safe house first, but the operatives found us there, so we got out, hid in a cave, and flew back here when it was safe.”

“What?” she squawks.

“It sounds a lot worse when I say it out loud,” I say meekly. “Would it help if I mentioned that we had a very nice breakfast at a cafe near our guesthouse?”

“No! It would not!” she all but shrieks. I hear her take another few steadying breaths. “Please tell me he’s not…”

“Human?” I say when she doesn’t go on.

“Exactly.”

“No, he’s not.” I don’t add that I’m not quite sure what he is, but that’s not important now.

“Oh, thank the Lord.” Elena takes yet another deep breath. “So what’s the plan? Because sitting in a guesthouse playing house with your pet assassin isn’t an option.”

The plan. Right. I’ve been so caught up in processing everything that’s happened, I haven’t thought past surviving the next few hours.

“I need help, Elena.”

“Of course you do,” she mutters. “Somuch help.”