But he’d become withdrawn and restless. Prone to quiet, tense conversations I wasn’t part of. Mostly with Nikella, who barely spoke to me at all. To be fair, I didn’t try to draw her into conversation either. She never seemed to leave the Temple, anyway.
Every day that passed weighed more heavily on me. I didn’t want to let Aiden assassinate my father, but I couldn’t think of a way to convince him not to. And if I protested too much, he might cut me out of the plan entirely. A plan I still knew precious little about.
Father wouldn’t step foot outside the palace, especially when he knew assassins were afoot. Which meant Aiden, Maz, andNikella were going to infiltrate the palace while Ruru and I distracted the Wolves.
Buthowwere they going to infiltrate with only the three of them?
I also hadn’t reached out to Renwell to tell him anything I’d learned. I hadn’t even checkedThe Crescent Moonfor his mark.
I couldn’t hide much longer.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked Aiden.
He flashed me a sharp grin. “How about I play the Wolf?”
Chapter 31
Aiden
Ruru’s face brightened,but Kiera looked dubious.
I didn’t want to scare her again, but she needed to keep up with Ruru. And to do that, she had to make these jumps. Besides, I’d been slowly losing my mind to impatience over the last few days.
I’d grown used to being in charge, to always being in action. But now, I was waiting for Librius and Nikella to finish their work. The explosives I needed for my part of the plan were different than Kiera and Ruru’s—more complicated. I couldn’t call in the Dags until they were complete.
I’d spent nearly all the stolen gold on bribes for the gate guards, the special materials for the explosives, and to pay off Skelly’s debts for the risk he’d be taking for shipping the Dags around. Maz’s clan—the Yargoths—had suffered enough attacks from Weylin’s border patrols and imprisonment in his gods-damned mine to staunchly support our plan. But I’d still insisted they take a small sum as well. In case things went poorly.
I was using every resource I’d gathered over the years. Which meant I would have very little chance of ever attempting something like this again.
Maz was content to eat and drink and idle these days away, but I felt as though my skin would peel off from restlessness.
I gestured toward their next and last destination, the old inn. “If you two beat me to the inn, I’ll buy you both dinner.”
“You buy us dinner all the time,” Ruru called back.
“Fine, as much sticky bread as you can eat then.”
“Deal!”
I glanced down at Kiera, noticing the way she favored her ankle. I’d winced, watching her fall short on the jump, scrambling for purchase, before awkwardly falling five feet.
She pointed her chin up at me. “Deal, but you have to start from the street like any Wolf would.”
I grinned.There’s my little thief.
I swung from the roof and landed gracefully on my feet in front of her.
She glared at me. “Play fair.”
“Wolves don’t play fair,” I said, leaning closer until our noses almost brushed. “But I will for you.”
The flush on her cheeks deepened, filling me with a sense of purpose I hadn’t felt all week. “Up you get,” I said, tipping my chin toward Ruru.
With narrowed eyes, she turned and used the stairs built into the side of the building to reach Ruru’s rooftop.
“On the count of three,” I said, dropping to a crouch. “One, two,three!”
They tore off across the roof and out of sight. I sauntered up the stairs after them, giving them a sporting chance. They raced across the roof, ducking laundry lines and evading rain barrels. When they came to the lip of the roof, Ruru flew off without a second thought.
