Still empty.
Huh. How about that?
Elena propped herself up on her elbows. She was alone. Unsupervised for the first time since she'd landed in this place.
For the second time, Elena tossed the sheet off her and lowered her feet to the floor.
There was no way she was this lucky.
Except as the moments passed, it seemed she was.
There was no one lying in wait. No one standing in the corridor to make sure she stayed in bed like a good little girl.
She was well and truly alone.
"Maybe he went to cool off?" Elena guessed.
Whatever the case, Elena planned to take advantage.
For just a second, she found herself studying the bed she'd woken up in. Remaining and waiting for Fyr's return was definitely a safer option than exploring.
The problem was that only applied to the short term. Eventually, Elena's charade was going to be found out. Whether by the Tsavitee's spies or through her own mistakes.
She couldn't stand by and wait for Auntie to save her. She needed to do something to get herself out of this mess.
The only thing that gave her pause was how unhappy Uncle Jin would be upon returning to find her gone.
Elena dismissed that thought with a shrug. "Oh well. Uncle Jin shouldn't be the only one who gets to have a little fun."
After all, sneaking about was Elena's specialty.
Nineteen
Kira - Rothchild
A few days later, Kira hesitated on the threshold of the temporary quarters she and Graydon had been sharing.
"It's clear they've been planning this for a while," Harlow was saying from the vid screen. "Since your departure, an assassination attempt was made on the Overlord of Asanth by a sub-House. Castor survived but he lost two oshota and a high level member of his House."
Graydon acknowledged Kira's arrival with a glance. "How is that possible?"
Harlow's face turned grim on the screen. "They used Siphons."
Kira moved closer. "What are those?"
Harlow's eyes were warm as he focused on her. "You probably wouldn't have heard of them before. They're the favored weapon of a particular sect of assassins. Parasitic in nature, they latch onto a host and drain them of their blood."
"That sounds like something Castor and his oshota should have been able to handle easily," Kira said with a frown.
House Asanth's Overlord hadn't struck Kira as weak. Quite the opposite actually.
Castor had carried himself like someone who'd encountered numerous dangerous situations. He shouldn't have been brought down so easily.
"You're right," Harlow agreed. "While siphons are more dangerous than they sound because they hunt in groups and possess an uncommon speed that make them difficult even for a Tuann to fend off, that wouldn't have been enough to take down so many of House Asanth's top echelon."
"Ambush," Graydon guessed.
Harlow nodded. "The sub-house was one Castor trusted. He and its Overlord grew up together. He never saw the betrayal coming."
