“I can’t believe how much you look like her. Is it hard to hold that form?”
“I can hold this form until I take another,” I replied, remembering Zahavi’s teaching that Zarpazians could hold a form for months and sometimes did until the job was done.
“But you could shift back into your own form and into her again if you wanted?” Nansar steepled his fingers, resting his chin atop them. Assessing or baiting? I couldn’t tell.
Shit, shit, shit, shit!
Zahavi had mentioned nothing about changing out of one form and back into it again. For lack of anything better, I went with the plot from an old movie, fairly certain Nansar had never seen the filmCat People.
“I could. But the more I shift forms, the more apt the form is to distort. With the female dead, I cannot draw her essence again.”
“Ahh! Then you must stay in her form until it is over.” He easily bought the lie, thank goodness.
“As you wish.” I nodded slowly, as though giving reverence to someone who would rule one day, even though the action made me nauseous.
“And the elder warrior? He has no suspicions?” Nansar shifted, slinging one long leg over the armrest of his chair.
“None so far. I’ve explained any inconsistencies in my demeanor as worry over the Vaktaire,” I lied smoothly and added for effect, “If he does become suspicious, I’ll kill him.” I silenced the screaming in my brain by imagining Nansar taking the cut from my blade. The knife felt hot against my thigh, and I itched to pull it free.
“Why did you tell Adtovar you wished to see me?”
“To ask you to look for the Vaktaire, of course.”
“Good thinking.” The green eyes narrowed. “I’ll need to make it look like the Vaktaire tried to escape and died in the attempt. I’ll send one of my guards to move and destroy his skiff later tonight while everyone sleeps.”
I shrugged again, nonchalantly. Seriously, I’d shrugged my shoulders more tonight than I had in my entire life.
“You need to get back.” Nansar stood, pacing with short steps back and forth before his throne. “We will travel to the citadel in the morning. The games will take place tomorrow afternoon before the birthday feast.”
I lowered my gaze, trying to hide the flash of surprise. Shit! That didn’t leave us a lot of time to plan. I swallowed back my perturbation and lifted my eyes, focusing on Nansar.
“I look forward to completing our agreement.”
Nansar grinned at me. God, I don’t think I’d ever wanted to slap anybody as badly in my life.
“You were worth every credit, Vreses. Every single credit.”
I issued a smug grin, as though knowing his words were the absolute truth. I couldn’t wait until Nansar found out a lowly human female killed his expensive assassin. With a curt nod, I turned on my heel and left Nansar pacing.
The guards crowded around the front of the building, watching me curiously as I exited and turned toward the arena, resisting the urge to run. Behind me, I heard Nansar’s bellowed summons and the scramble of feet in response.
The fiery orb of the sun had disappeared below the horizon, the stifling heat of the day giving way to a gentle coolness. I walked quickly, forcibly keeping my feet from breaking into a run. Thankfully, the shadows deepened, and it took only minutes to find a darkened corner away from prying eyes and ears.
Gulping in deep gasps of breath, I let myself sag against the cool stones, trying to hold back the revulsion and nerves from the last few minutes.
It was no use.
Clenching my churning stomach, I stumbled farther back into the darkened alley and vomited.
Chapter 15 - Charick
My footsteps scuffed across the dusty plank floor, kicking up clouds of red dirt in my wake. From the corner where he puttered with his medicinal concoctions by candlelight, Zahavi shot me a sympathetic glance.
Adtovar was not so accommodating.
“Will you sit down? You’re making me nervous!” The older warrior groused. The only thing keeping me from taking his head off was the knowledge that he worried for Willa too.
She’d been gone almost an hour, far too long in my way of thinking. Convincing Nansar that she was the Zarpazian should have taken only a few minutes. My mind flooded with images of her in danger at Aljani’s hands, causing my skin to crawl and my muscles to tense and bunch.
