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“Doesn’t seem that way to me. The lad can’t keep his eyes off you.”

“You’re mad.” I glanced in the direction the vampire headed, then back. “Really?”

“Seems to me he’s caught your eye as well.”

I frowned. “He has not. The male is insufferable. He’s selfish and arrogant, and he…smells.” Like the forest mountain tops. And the way he kissed, there was no doubt he was a divine being.

Yaga’s shrewd eyes bore into me. “Perhaps you could be the reason he stays.”

At this, I commenced with the spluttering and coughing. “Me? Believe me when I say that a male like Victor Custodis does not want a thief at his side. Besides, I’m already doing as you wanted, being his tour guide on his path to enlightenment.”

Yaga planted her hands on her hips. “Know what I think? I think despite how desperately Carcerem needs him, you’re holding back because you are afraid of what will happen if the prophecy is right and he remains.”

I fought the urge to brush away her observation, instead forcing myself to answer truthfully.

“You’ve seen what the power of the realm has done to Raelynn.

That kind of power in the wrong hands can become something dangerous, something deadly.

You do not know him as I do. He’s ambitious. What if the fates are wrong and he…”

“What if he turns on you as your sister did?”

There was one thing in this world that I knew with absolute certainty— power corrupts even the purest of hearts.

I shook my head. “Perhaps he was destined to be a great and noble ruler. Once. A long time ago. But the world he lived in, it sullied him. What if he agrees to stay and claims the throne, only to become— Idris .”

Yaga puffed out her chest, growing indignant. “The fates do not make mistakes. I do not make mistakes. I sent you to him for a reason. Your paths are intertwined. If you ignore what you feel for each other, it could have dire consequences for both of you.”

I was beginning to think Yaga came on this journey not to help with the temple guardian but to play matchmaker. If that was the case, she wasted her time. Whether he decided to stay or go, he’d never be mine .

Muttered curses alerted us to Custodis’s return. He lurched free of the brambles. Twigs stuck out of his hair while mud clung to his pants.

“Gods, but I hate this place.” He sliced me with a look that threatened terrible things should I ask questions.

Stomping past me, he thrust the waterskin into Yaga’s hands. “Your water, my lady.”

“Took you long enough,” Yaga huffed, returning to her cart.

With her back turned, the vampire raised his hands as if to wrap them around her throat.

“Custodis,” I snapped, and he swiveled his head in my direction. “We need to get moving if we’re to make Amberdale by nightfall.”

“Then perhaps some of us should learn to hold their bladders.”

“Some of us heard that,” Yaga growled.

I cast a glance to the heavens, offering the gods a prayer to keep me from murdering both of them.

To my relief, the rest of our journey went smoothly. With Yaga only needing one additional stop, we arrived in Amberdale at sunset.

As we rode down the main thoroughfare, sounds of music and laughter reached our ears.

Succulent flavors of smoked meat and baked goods wafted on the breeze, making my mouth water.

People in colorful skirts and capes paraded down the sidewalks, splendid crowns of woven ivy decorated with feathers, twigs, and berries adorned their heads.

Across the path, a brightly painted banner read, Amberdale Harvest Festival .

“Well, imagine that!” Yaga cackled. “What a coincidence. It just happens we’re in time to help celebrate the harvest.”

I shot her a pointed look from beneath a dingy lock of hair. “Funny coincidence. That we happen to be here on the same span as their festival.”

I had a terrible suspicion Yaga wasn’t taking our mission seriously. That suspicion was confirmed once we’d secured our rooms for the night and stabled our animals.

Standing outside our lodge, Yaga turned to me, a childlike gleam in her cloudy eyes. “I think we should split up. We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“And how are we to recognize the temple guardian without you?” I asked.

“Oh, you’ll manage.” She fluttered a gnarled hand. “Besides, the guardian can take on many different forms. You’ll need to use your senses to find them, not your eyes. Heck, even Hot Britches there could feel them if he bothered to listen.”

Custodis swiveled his head my direction, cocking a brow. “Hot Britches?”

“It’s nothing.” I dodged his curious gaze. “Fine, then. We’ll spread out and meet back here at…”

I turned to Yaga only to catch the back of her hustling form. Her direction—the nearest booth pedaling tankards of fermented moon berries. “I swear that old woman is going to be the death of me.”

“What is it, exactly, I’m supposed to feel ?” Custodis asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes, for me, Hathor’s energy is like a tugging sensation in the center of my chest.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, and I exhaled an irritated sigh. It wasn’t an easy thing to describe .

“Perhaps we should stick together.” There was no point in sending him out to scout alone when he didn’t know what he was searching for.

My stomach chose that moment to let out a yowl.

“Food first, then,” Custodis said.

“Agreed.”

We selected a pub that wasn’t overly crowded and settled into a table in a secluded area. I glanced away from scanning the crowd to find Victor staring at me. “What?” I touched my face, a jolt of worry washing over me. “Is my glamour slipping?”

“Just reflecting on our first date,” he quipped.

I lowered my hand, snorting. “Oh. Date. Ha, ha. You mean the one where you sacrificed me to the king’s soldiers to save yourself?”

“I seem to recall it was the one where you clapped me in chains in order to sell me to a gangster.”

“Good times.” I smirked, sipping from a tankard of ale we’d ordered earlier. My half-eaten meat pie rested before me.

Between the cozy atmosphere, my full belly, and—make that my second tankard—I was in a rare mood.

A mellow mood. The first I could recall in a long while.

Sure, Idris’s men were hunting us, and we were on a mission to find a rare, shapeshifting temple guardian.

But right now, that seemed a far-off threat.

Also, it was literally my mission to make sure Custodis had a good time.

Seated in the corner, a musician strummed his lute, singing a gentle ballad. In the middle of the room, a circular pit crackled with playful flames. The comforting scent of roasted meat and flakey baked goods settled over me like a warm blanket.

“So, do you?” The vampire was more relaxed than I’d ever seen him as well, sitting with his legs stretched out, his elbows slung over the armrests of his chair.

“Do I what?” Though my stomach bulged, I couldn’t resist taking another bite of buttery crust .

“Date?”

Flakey pastry sucked down my windpipe, and I coughed, quickly gulping a swig of ale. When I could breathe again, I said, “In the traditional sense? No. I’ve little time for such things.”

“What with all the thievery?”

“Exactly.” I nodded, ignoring the taunt in his tone. “And then there are my brothers.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve met them.”

“And you?” I dared to ask, already dreading the answer.

“Everywhere I went, females threw themselves at me. It was exhausting.”

I blinked, staring at Custodis’s blank expression. His bottom lip quivered, and his face spread into a broad smile. Even with the glamour disguising his features, the effect was breathtaking.

“Liar.” I kicked his foot, a strange warmth settling in my chest.

He cleared his throat. “There were social functions I would attend for political gain. Because of my station, I was not free to indulge in the company of just anyone. Those who stood at my side were selected carefully for who and what they represented.”

“Sounds romantic.” Not that I knew anything about romance, what with the few moments I managed to steal without my brothers around. “So you were never allowed to simply be yourself?”

“There were standards to uphold. Appearances to be kept.”

“Same.” I sighed.

At the vampire’s raised brow, I felt the need to explain. “I’m pretty sure my brothers still believe I’m a lily-white innocent.”

To Custodis’s credit, he didn’t even crack a smile. Point to the vampire.

His lack of response dared me to whisper, “That and there was the issue of my identity. The one plastered on wanted posters around the kingdom. Idris had placed a hefty sum on our heads. I had to be careful. ”

He nodded his understanding, wisely keeping any disparaging comments to himself.

Another point to the vampire.

I’d almost dare to say we were getting along. For once.

I tilted my mug to my lips, polishing off the last of my ale as a thought occurred to me. “Know what? My brothers are miles away. And my identity is secure.” I tapped the crystal on my chest.

“True,” Custodis said slowly, his eyes strangely warm as they traveled over my glamoured face.

My heart pounded with the temptation of freedom. “I mean, look at us. Nobody knows who we are. For all they know, we are two dung dealers.”

Victor wrinkled his nose, then his eyes brightened with a kindred light. “You have a point. Tonight, we are peasants. Commoners.” For once, he didn’t say this with an edge of disgust.

“The most common of commoners,” I agreed, my voice rising with excitement.

His smoky gaze took on a calculating gleam. “The temple guardian likely isn’t going anywhere with the festival in full swing.”

“Nope.” I smacked the table. “Plenty of time. There’s no reason we cannot keep our senses open while having a bit of fun.” I mean, I had plotted to show Victor the better parts of Carcerem, after all.

“No reason at all.” He grinned.

“What do you say to being nobody with me? Just for a night.”

Custodis raised his tankard, and I lifted mine in kind.

“To being nobody,” he declared.

“To being nobody.” Our rims clinked, and a pact was made.