“That was also a first for me,” she added.
He chuckled, the sound rumbling over her pleasantly.
A long time passed before he shifted, the sound of his movements making her stiffen.
“Did they deserve it?”
Blinking, Sonah considered for a moment before she gave an abrupt nod. Dropping her gaze to her feet as she toed the dirt beneath her boot, she whispered, “Aye.”
He said nothing as he stared back at her, the silence stretching as he took another drag on his cheroot. He shifted closer, leaning his large frame against the worn wood of the tavern.
“Doesn’t make it easier,” he said in that sinful voice.
She lifted her startled gaze to his. From where she stood, with him still mostly in shadows, Sonah could not see the color of the glittering eyes that seemed to look into her soul.
Sonah turned away, lifting her cheroot for another drag, this time a much smaller one. Settling her hands on the cool railing, she looked back up at the stars.
The silence this time was too thick for her to feel comfortable, so she glanced back at him and asked, “Have you taken a life?”
A beat of silence and then he answered. “Aye.”
Sonah twisted to look at him, narrowing her gaze. “Many?”
Seconds ticked by before he grunted. “Aye.”
Fear and a strange curiosity compelled Sonah to turn fully, her eyes searching through the darkness for what she could see of his features.
“Are you a soldier?”
When the man failed to answer, she dropped her gaze and turned away, self-conscious as if she’d crossed a line.
Unsure of what to do or say, Sonah decided the best course of action was to leave the man to his peace. She lurched forward, intent on returning to the relative safety of the tavern and her companions.
His voice cut through her as she moved past him, his words slicing into her soul.
“Ovenno was always going to die by your hand. It was his fate.”
Cold flashed through her, followed by a heat so searing it scorched a path from her chest down to her belly.
Pulse pounding in her eardrums, Sonah froze, her eyes locked on her fingers gripping the door handle as the heat of his gaze burned her.
“What does that mean?”
The man leaned closer and Sonah flinched back, her eyes wide as she caught his gaze. She could have sworn she saw silver race over the irises. He took another long drag of his cheroot, letting the smoke curl out of his mouth in a very suggestive manner, even to someone as inexperienced as Sonah.
“I know all about death.”
Nothing about this conversation was normal, Sonah decided, chiding herself for instigating in the first place. She was sorelyout of her depth with this man, and she felt like a child for the first time in years, the events of the last year and her still fresh first kill notwithstanding.
“Sonah.”
At the sound of her name, Sonah started, her eyes widening as they locked onto the man, still embraced by the shadows.
“When you get to Lethe, stay there until your eudaemon comes for you. Otherwise, I’ll have to kill a god, and I’d rather not.”
Not only did this stranger know who she was, but he knew about eudaemons. How could he know so much?
Wrangling her fear, Sonah stepped closer to the stranger, intent on getting answers.
