She had to get him away from the others and assess the situation as quickly as possible.
Allaster gestured to May. “This is First Mage Airamay Selvera. She’ll be your guide.”
May inclined her head the barest degree. She held none of the warmth she had extended to Kasira her first days here.
“My handler, you mean?” Thane drawled. “At least she’s a pretty face.”
Something not at all like a smile split across May’s lips. “That will be your last inappropriate comment in my presence, Mr. Ryarch, or else I’ll delight in discovering several creative ways by which to permanently end them.”
He made a tsking noise. “Any harm befalls me, and you’ll only make Kalthos’s case of misconduct stronger. You’re stuck with me, love.”
Like a Sylver Cat shaking off the morning frost, Kasira shuddered back into character. “Should we see exactly how badly we can hurt him before that’s true?” She leaned toward May, their ease and proximity a clear message to Thane: He was the outsider here.
“You have my permission to dispose of him if he steps out of line,” Allaster remarked offhandedly. Thane actually paused at that, his eyes narrowing.
“Airamay will show you to your room,” Allaster said, and with that, he signed the letter he had been drafting and vanished with it.
“Lovely fellow.” Thane’s eyes slid across them in a way that made Kasira want to pluck them out. He had never hidden the way he evaluated people. He treated cons like games, played them for fun as much as to win, and that made him dangerous.
Kasira stepped between him and May. “I’ll show him, May. It’ll be quicker.”
May looked reluctant to leave them alone together, but Kasira gave her a reassuring smile, and she relented with a nod. Before May could change her mind, Kasira seized Thane’s arm and teleported them away.
They appeared in the northern rooftop garden, one of four at each of the cardinal points. It was old, old enough that every fence, statue, and bench had been overgrown with green, resulting in a labyrinth of flowers and vines. At its center, a sydara vine draped over a now-engulfed trellis, its thick vines spiraling out into thinner ones, each delicate enough to snap and yet easily holding up a thousand tiny flowers, each in pastels of every color—and all decoys, distracting from the rows of snapping spiked mouths underneath.
“Why are you here, Thane?” she demanded against the backdrop of the roaring falls.
“It feels good to hear you say my name again.” His accent was rife with the long vowels of northern Kalthos, and Kasira ached at the familiarity. She had nothing left of her old life save Loraya’s hairpin, but here was something known, a piece of herself she hadn’t shed, and she was drawn to it more than she wanted to admit.
Only then did Kasira detect the glint in Thane’s eye, and the feeling shattered. Because she knew him down to his marrow, and in that moment, she was certain—he knew she had betrayed him.
She tried to move away, but his knife was already at her throat. Thane might have only been a few years her senior, but he had always been faster than her. Still, she had the magic of the Library now. She could disarm him, vanish into thin air—but she would learn nothing that way.
“I didn’t have a choice.” She let her voice tremble.
His laugh was the grating of gravel in his chest. “Don’t play the coward now, Kas. You simply chose yourself, as you always do.”
Except that wasn’t why he was angry. What really scraped beneath Thane’s skin was that she hadn’t chosenhim.
“Do you know what they do with people like me in Belvar?” She didn’t respond. Thane never wanted an answer to his questions; he just wanted to make you sweat. “When your crimes amount to a death sentence, your life becomes expendable. They toss you to the beasts for the wealthy’s entertainment. Win, you live. Lose—well, you were dead already.”
She’d heard of the beast fights. Knew that when she had given up Thane, he would likely find his way there. She had hoped the beasts would win.
Thane smiled that lupine smile and retracted his knife. “But of course, I can’t kill you. Our mutual freedom relies on your success.”
Kasira darted back, her hand going to her throat, where a thin bead of blood tracked down her skin. “Why did Vera send you?”
“Simple.” Thane flicked her blood from his blade. The sydara vine crept across the stone, smothering the drops, and he eyed the plant with distaste. “Because I know you.”
“So you’re here to keep an eye on me.”
“You know the game, Kas. Always have a back door.” His gaze tracked over the rest of the ancient garden with growing disdain. “I’m the good Ambassador’s contingency plan.”
Which meant Vera didn’t trust her.
She must have seen something that worried her in the portal room last night. Why else would she rely on another delicate deal with a convicted criminal rather than seed a pawn loyal to her? Thane was the only person alive who knew Kasira, therealKasira, well enough to effectively spy on her. Not to mention he had the skills necessary to infiltrate Amorlin, handle an asset, and play a role.
“What did she promise you?” Kasira asked, but Thane only made a tsking noise of disappointment and shook his head. She had known he wouldn’t answer that one, but she was establishing her groundwork, relearning his patterns. Like the way he couldn’t stand still.
