“And who are you?”
Croak eyeballed the man standing beside Sonah’s horse, taking in the stranger’s mud-splattered cloak and dirty clothes. His brown hair was unkempt, and his emerald eyes narrowed against Croak’s scrutiny. He stood with his legs spread apart,his arrogance radiating off him like Orry’s stench: constant and powerful. His lip curled as the man shifted his gaze to Sonah.
“Leander.”
Croak lifted an eyebrow and looked from the man to Sonah. She ducked her head. He looked to Melanos. The god shrugged.
“That’s a story you should hear from your sister,” Melanos grumbled.
Melanos led Bethana past them, heading across the bridge to enter the monastery. Orry, too, followed in their wake but Croak continued to assess the stranger.
Even beneath the layers of clothes, Croak could tell the man was powerfully built. He had a stubbled beard and the look of anyone who’d ridden hard without resting, much like Sonah and Melanos. Bethana seemed to be the only one unaffected by the road. Croak doubted the woman could ever look less than beautiful.
Well. Except when she was a serpent.
“Stare any longer,” the man growled, his voice dropping low as he ambled toward Croak and Sonah, “and I’ll rip out your eyeballs and feed them to you.”
Croak blinked, affronted, and glanced at Sonah when he felt her stiffen. Looking back at the stranger, he scowled. “Go fuck yourself.”
Without waiting for a response, Croak turned Sonah and walked back inside the monastery.
Chapter 31
COLINAS, RAVOS
Terena climbed to the top of the hill overlooking the city of Colinas in the valley below.
Crouching, she narrowed her eyes against the sunrise. She heard the soft crunch of snow behind her seconds before Rydon bent down at her side. Gabriol came up on her other side.
The gates to the city were closed, with more soldiers than usual posted on the city walls.
“Nothing but Heylisian uniforms in sight,” Rydon mumbled, running his hand down his beard.
“We need to scout the perimeter, see if there’s a way inside,” Gabriol said.
Rydon grunted. “Let’s go take a look.”
“Gabe,” Terena said as she laid a hand on the mercenary’s forearm. He turned to her with a frown. She motioned behind them as she stared back into Gabriol’s blue eyes.
Gabriol glanced over at Rydon before nodding. He pushed back onto his feet and strode away. Terena looked back over the city.
“What are you planning?”
Terena did not respond right away as she took in the soldiers above the closed city gates.
“Ren.”
Sighing, Terena motioned with her head. “Do you think it strange Cassandra swears this is where she saw the amulet last, and now we find out Duke Ravos has Sonah?”
“Don’t forget the army coming our way from Heylisia.”
“Hard to do,” she laughed, flashing him a grin. “Normally, I’d let you and Gabriol sneak inside. Find a way to get to Sonah while I sit out here and antagonize the shit out of these soldiers.”
Rydon snorted. “Normally? Really?”
Sighing, Terena got to her feet and turned to face Rydon, clapping her hands on his shoulders, her fingers digging into the fur pelt over his cloak. “Do me a favor. Have Soros put five of his best men around Cassandra. I want her well away from any of the fighting before I go down there.”
Rydon nodded. “All right.” He rose but stopped when Ren spoke again.
