Stepping in, he placed one hand on my back and lightly palmed the side of my neck with his other, the simple hold chasing the tension from my muscles. “With your penchant for windows, I’m beginning to think you aren’t afraid of heights at all,” he murmured.
“I assure you that dangling from windows is still my least favorite activity. I should probably switch to a room on the first floor.”
Strain lined his features, even as he offered a small smile. The Citadel had been infiltrated. A weakness, exposed. This never should have happened.
“He’s still alive,” Callen said from where he crouched over the limp body.
“Make sure he stays that way. We need to have a conversation,”Harthon told him. His focus came back to me for a moment. “Are you good?”
I nodded, and his hand dropped just as Stefano came barreling through the door, his face grim.
“Stefano will stay with you here while your room is cleared, and then he’ll walk you back. No wandering.” The gruff order belied his unease, and for that reason, I didn’t complain.
“Be safe,” I replied, meaning it.
Harthon nodded once, and then he was gone.
Chapter 27
“They must have a man on the inside,” I thought out loud, watching the flames in the fireplace lick the walls.
“What makes you say that?” Stefano asked from the center of my room.
Ever since we’d returned a few hours ago, he’d refused to stray from the defensive position, ready for any attack. Although I doubted that anyone would manage a successful offensive now, considering the sun had risen and the entire Citadel was on guard.
“It’s obvious. They were able to enter the Citadel’s gates, they knew exactly where my room was, and they took out every guard who could have witnessed their attack.”
“It is obvious,” he agreed. “And I don’t like it. We’ve never had a rat before,” he replied in a grave tone.
“Harthon has spies in Koerlyn’s circle. It doesn’t seem so odd for him to have one in ours.”
“Harthon and Koerlyn are very different people. Koerlyn rules through fear, and so people hate him. Sometimes, that hatred overpowers their fear. Harthon rules through respect, fairness, and a little fear. It’s a difficult combination to betray.”
Bruises protested as I pushed up in my chair, twisting to face him. “So what is powerful enough to make someone want to betrayHarthon? Money?”
Stefano shook his head, looking troubled. “Everyone in the Citadel is cared for. No one in here is starving. Money isn’t as important as it is elsewhere.”
Then what could it be? Andwhocould it be? Between chambermaids, cooks, soldiers, and every grounds worker, there were an unlimited number of possibilities. If they weren’t found, what would stop something like this from happening again?
In the hallway, a door opened and closed. Harthon, most likely, returning to his room from whatever he’d been taking care of since he left me in the kitchen. Maybe he’d already found the rat.
I pushed to my feet, deciding I should ask him. It would help ease my worries.
Liar.
Okay, so I wanted to check on him. I also wanted to thank him for having the hearing of a bat and registering our attackers while I was sound asleep. And if I was being completely honest, part of me just simply wanted to see him, because we both could have been killed.
What was so wrong with that?
Stefano eyed me warily. “Where are you going?”
“To talk to Harthon,” I replied, walking toward the door. “You don’t need to follow me. He can guard me if someone attacks in the next minute.”
And yet, Stefano was behind me like a shadow as I entered the hallway. “It’s my job to follow you.”
I looked to the ceiling for patience, trying not to be frustrated. He was only trying to protect me, but Harthon would treat me differently with Stefano in the room.
Differently as in, not kiss you?Exactly.
