“Someone put you there,” Baran informed me like I hadn’t already figured that fact out for myself. “You would have been snatched up by the High King’s agents before you ever reached the vampire. They were waiting for you.”
“No! Really?” I gasped, faking surprise. “I never would have guessed.”
Baran ignored my sarcasm as he bent to avoid roots growing down from the ceiling. It was surprising the entire thing hadn’t caved in considering its structure was comprised of slightly compacted dirt and the intertangled ball of roots that had grown around it.
“You know—I saw someone up there,” I said, studying the side of Baran’s face.
“I’m sure you saw a lot of people.”
“This one was a friend of yours.” I stopped, letting him get a few steps away from me. “A certain barrow lord we both know.”
Baran slowed.
“Why did you tell me he was taken captive?”
Baran’s expression was locked down hard when he faced me. “Because hewas.”
“It certainly didn’t seem that way to me.”
In fact, he’d seemed awful comfortable strolling around this barrow. Almost like he was at home here.
“Watch your mouth,” Baran gritted out.
“Why should I when you’ve been lying to me all this time? Is Inara part of this? Is that why she made me forget?”
The careful leash Baran was keeping on his temper snapped. I didn’t have time to sidestep as he rushed me. Dirt cascaded down as he slammed me against the tunnel wall.
“I told you to watch it,” he growled.
I caught my breath on the pain, trying my best not to show my wince. My back smarted, likely already bruising.
“You’re lucky the mad queen made your survival a stipulation of her cooperation,” Baran crooned, a terrifying look in his eyes as he pushed me into the wall again. This time I didn’t quite manage to stifle my groan. “I would have murdered anyone else for what you just said.”
“You can’t deny it’s suspicious.”
Smart, Lena. Poke the bear while its mitts are wrapped around your throat.
What will you come up with next? Handing him a sharpened wooden stake and asking him to stick it in your chest?
Baran’s face twisted in rage.
I adjusted my grip on the iron dagger I’d pulled out of Baran’s shoulder, poising to strike. One wrong move and I’d drive the tip into his abdomen, angling it so it punctured his sternum before plunging into his heart.
I’d probably still die, but at least I’d take him with me.
“You are as arrogant as him,” Baran hissed.
To my surprise, his grip eased, his hand sliding from my neck.
I tracked him as he moved back one step and then another, withdrawing until there was a respectable distance between us. “Who are you talking about?
Baran’s lips twitched at the sight of the dagger in my hand. “The person whose seed gave you life. Who else would I be referencing?”
I remained where I was, dagger still raised, as Baran walked away. After a moment, my arm lowered.
“Know him well, do you?” I asked, pushing off the wall to trudge after him.
“Hardly.”
