Melaena had wanted me to wake her when I arrived, but surely she—and Aiden—wouldn’t begrudge me a quick bath to finally rid myself of this paint.
I turned up the lamp and twisted the knob to fill the tub with water. I ripped off my mask and shimmied out of my dirty silks.Groaning with relief, I lowered myself into the tub and scrubbed every inch of my skin clean.
Picking the ornaments from my hair was much less fun, but it was worth it to feel like myself again. I carefully placed Melaena’s hairpin knife on a makeup table.
By the time I was divested of my glamor and dressed in my old clothes and knives, exhaustion pulled at my bones and my eyelids. It must be close to dawn. Was Aiden waiting for me in the warehouse like he’d said? I couldn’t get through the tunnel myself without picking the lock and searching for the hidden mechanism to open the tunnel door. Which left waking Melaena.
But perhaps I could let her sleep a while longer. Catch a few winks myself, as Ruru would say.
After all, I wasn’t sure of everything that awaited me once I reached Aiden.
I turned down the lamp and used my cloak and a few old dresses to make a nest for myself in a deep corner behind racks of clothes.
Just a few winks . . .
A door slammed. My eyes flew open. A soft light filtered through the forest of clothes I laid in.
“Gods damn it, Aiden!” Melaena hissed. “You scared me halfway to the Abyss, standing over me like that! And look, the door is still unlocked, and she’s not here. She must be with Asher.”
My breathing hitched. Aiden had come for me. Like he said he would. It must be past dawn.
Aiden growled with frustration. “I can’t believe you let her stay with him, Mel. We had a plan.”
“What was I supposed to do, drag her out? She said she had it handled. I trust her, and so should you.”
“I just don’t want her to get caught,” he snapped. “If Asher realized at any point?—”
“We would’ve heard something. You can’t storm his mansion looking for her.”
“I will if I have to.” My heart danced at his conviction. “But I’ll wait here a little longer first.”
Something creaked as if he’d sank onto one of the makeup chairs. I shifted, preparing to reveal myself when he spoke again.
“I brought your cut, by the way.” Coins jingled as if in a bag. “And I wondered if you could keep this safe for me.”
Melaena gasped. “Oh, Aiden, was this in the vault?”
“Yes.” His voice turned cold and harsh. “Weylin must’ve stolen it from my father’s finger after he stabbed him in the back.”
A wave of horror crashed into me, drowning out every other sound.
Weylin—my father—stabbed Aiden’s father in the back? Hekilledhim? And stole—what, a ring?
Another wave knocked me backward.
The ring from the vault. The one Aiden slipped into his pocket. That was hisfather’s?
Why would my father kill his? Why was this ring so valuable?
I shook my head to clear the buzzing in my ears, desperate to hear more.
“... found it on the floor?” Melaena was asking.
Aiden snorted. “I doubt Asher knew who it belonged to. It was probably just another piece of jewelry for his collection.”
“I can’t keep this, Aiden. Garyth said Renwell searched his house. What if he came for me next? I can’t afford to lose this place. These women depend on it.”
I leaned forward, my fists clenched in my makeshift bedding.Why?What was so dangerous about a ring? And how would Renwell recognize it?
