“Who are you? Is she dead?” Robert looked like he was going to be sick, which Silasreallydidn’t have time for. Words tumbled out of his mouth, one after another, a bit like vomit, as he gaped at the blood soaking Silas’s clothing. “You killed the guards outside, didn’t you? I saw the bodies. They… they were torn apart.”
Speaking through his teeth, he asked, “Motherfucker, does it look like Petra’s dead?”
“No, I—” Impossibly, the man went even paler. Spinning in a tight circle, he stammered, “Where’s the Protector?”
“On the roof.”
“Dead?”
Silas jerked his head impatiently.
“Oh, that’s…” Robert spun back around, one hand clutching the gold necklace that bounced against his stomach every time he moved. “Gods, you need to get her out of here! His guards are everywhere?—”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Silas started jogging the short distance to the stairs. Something in him cracked a little more every time the sway of his steps made Petra’s unconscious form jerk in his arms. “I need a way out of here where I won’t be spotted and immediately shot by the asshole’s guards. Are you going to help with that, or am I going to have to kill you, too?”
“I’d really rather not die,” he answered, throat bobbing. “My husband and I are expecting a baby. Or we will be soon. We just signed a?—”
“I don’t give a shit about you, your husband,oryour baby. I only care that my witch doesn’t fuckin’ die!”
He expected some blubbering, maybe a frantic scramble to give him what he wanted, but what he got was a shaky nod.“Well, okay. I’m glad she finally has someone taking care of her. I really can’t take losing another boss I like. Come on, we can take the service stairs they use to work on the roof.”
Silas didn’t want to trust anyone. He wasn’t sure hecould.But he had to trust Robert just enough to follow him down the first flight of stairs, into the dark heart of the tower, past the bodies he’d left strewn across the concrete floor.
He clutched his witch close to his heart, her body cloaked in such dense shadow that the eye could barely discern her shape. Following the priest’s flapping robes through a small metal door in the wall partially hidden by storage boxes, he warned, “If you’re lying to me, Robert, I’ll kill you and your husband. Understood?”
Silas,Tal rumbled,he’s helping.
He didn’t give a fuck what Tal thought. Not when it came to this. To her.
Exiting out into the world’s most narrow balcony, Silas took in the aerial view of the inside of the darkened cathedral for all of two seconds before he turned his gaze to Robert. Far below them, the dark shapes of the two-story tall windows looked tiny, and the flames from votive candles little more than specks.
Robert was breathing heavily, his face was ruddy, and his eyes were wild, but when he met Silas’s stare, he didn’t waver.
“Understood.” Shuffling sideways, he squeezed his way across the balcony to where a small opening led to a catwalk. Being quite brave, he ventured, “I didn’t know her grace had any friends besides the sovereign’s consort. Who are you?”
“I’m not her friend.”
“Then what?—”
Silas bared his teeth at the back of Robert’s shiny head. “I’m her mate.”
The priest stumbled. Clumsy fingers grasped at the metal railing on either side of the narrow catwalk. “You’re joking,” he choked.
“If you don’t start hustling your ass right now, I’ll show you just how serious I am, motherfucker.”
Robert must have heard the very real promise in Silas’s tone, because he released the railing like it’d burned him. Nearly tripping over himself, he hurried across the planks of the catwalk. They flew over the great expanse of the cathedral, toward the opposite tower that was closest to Petra’s office.
The shape of another low, no nonsense access door resolved itself in the darkness. Robert pried it open with a grunt. “Head through here and then go up one flight of stairs. On the right of the first landing, there’ll be another door. It leads to the roof. Cross the front of the roof. There’ll be another door. That will drop you down onto a staircase that’ll lead you to the path between staff quarters and the main complex. You can get to the street from there.”
Silas didn’t bother replying. Shouldering his way past Robert, he made to duck inside the tower but was stopped by a hand on his arm.
Before he could snap the man’s neck with his shadows, Robert rasped, “She can’t be your mate and be High Priestess, too. Not after this. The High Gloriae would never allow it.”
He didn’t have time for this shit, but he couldn’t stop himself from snarling, “Listen up, asshole: Petra can do whatever the fuck she wants. I don’t care what you or the Gloriae think. I’ll burn all you motherfuckers to the ground if you or anyone else tries to stand in her way.”
“You’d take on the High Gloriae for her?”
Shoving the priest aside with his elbow, Silas snapped, “How about you ask Antonin what I’d do for my mate. Or the guards in the tower. Or the poor asshole in the bathtub.”
