Sucking in a shaky breath, her chest still tight, she pushed off the balcony railing. Each step back inside left an ashy footprint. She shucked off the wet dress as she moved, leaving it on the bedchamber floor. Undergarments followed. Reaching the bathing chamber, she turned the faucet on, letting the tub fill with hot water. She wanted no reminders of his cool touch right now.
As it filled, she turned to the mirror, bracing her hands on the countertop. The smoke in her eyes was writhing the same way her soul was. Her ashes fluttered around her, and her amber eyes seemed brighter than usual. A calm she hadn’t felt inmonths settled over her. Everything in her going still and quiet, but her magic trembled with anticipation.
She’d vowed long ago to destroy every person who’d had a part in her being in those Cliffs. More than that, she’d vowed vengeance against anyone who tried to use her.
Cethin was both.
Lifting a hand, a swirl of ashes left an arrow between her fingers. So similar to her own, save for the gold airhead.
The phantom’s arrow Cethin had caught and so foolishly left lying around their rooms. Or he was testing her. Either way, a mistake on his part.
Still holding it, she climbed into the bath. Sinking in up to her neck, she held the arrow above the water, twirling it between her fingers.
Another swirl of ashes carried a message for her.
Figure out how to get me to you. I’m ready.
She was always the huntress, never the prey.
Chapter 41
Razik
“Good morning, Magdalena,” Razik greeted, the words tight despite his effort to at least sound pleasant.
Magdalena, with her infinite patience and kind heart, wasn’t even phased. “Razik, my dear! Are you here for breakfast?”
“Not this time.”
“It’s been a while,” she replied with her ever-cheery disposition. “I’m beginning to think you’ve found pastries elsewhere.”
“I would never, Magdalena,” he answered, offering her a small smile. “I’ll plan for breakfast here tomorrow.”
“Lovely!” she exclaimed. “I’ll be sure to have your favorites on hand.”
Magdalena had been the head of Tybalt’s household staff for as long as Razik had lived here. Even when he’d been a youngling, she’d been at least a century old. Several staff had come and gone, but never her. A constant he’d clung to over the centuries when he really thought about it.
“Looking forward to it,” he answered. “But right now, I have to go see Tybalt.”
“Ah, yes,” she said in understanding. “He has been holed up in his office all night and into the morning. I’m certain he hasn’t slept.”
Yeah, Razik was certain of that too, considering the missive he received before the night was even half over.
Rapping his knuckles on the door twice, he let himself into his uncle’s study, the male behind his desk studying a report of some kind. His gaze flickered to Razik, then back to the paper, and Razik settled into a chair across from him.
“We need to make this quick,” Razik started. “I have to be at Kailia’s rooms in the next twenty minutes.”
“You won’t be reporting to the queen’s rooms today,” Tybalt replied, the words measured.
Irritation immediately settled in. “And why is that?”
Tybalt finally set the report down and sat back in his chair. One hand rested on the armrest, while the other sat atop his desk. “Cethin has requested— No, Cethin hasorderedme to remove you as her personal guard. Care to explain why?”
“Sure. Cethin is an arrogant prick who kept things from his wife and is blaming me for her finding out,” Razik replied, and although he tried to sound casual about it, even he could hear the simmering anger in his words.
That fucking son of a bitch. He’d violated Kailia by going into her dreams without her knowledge, somehow kept her from using her power, and tricked her into a Lunar Marriage. Of course Cethin’s solution is to blame him and have him removed from his post.
“Razik,” Tybalt ground out, his patience clearly running thin. “For months, you have been gathering information on the queen. You’ve built a relationship with her, and now, when you are in a trusted position, you dothis?”
