Finally, Keegan broke the silence. “Thalia is right, Cass. It’s less of a risk if she does it. Once those teeth are out, we can at least burn the head. Then Camilla can do what she needs to with the teeth and body.”
A muscle flickered in Cassius’s jaw before he finally tipped his chin. “Fine.”
Thalia turned back to the creature, its mouth open and gleaming. “So where do we start?”
Thalia meticulously pulled the teeth out of the creature’s jaw, putting them in glass jars. It had rows of teeth, on both its top and bottom jaws, and Thalia had to be careful not to let anything prick her. While she didn’t think the poison would affect her as a human, she wasn’t particularly keen on discovering whether she was wrong.
Thalia wiped the sweat off her brow, plunking another tooth into the jar. Cassius watched her intently, his eyes near glowing.
Thalia blew a strand of hair that’d fallen into her face. The strand wouldn’t budge. She made a face, blowing harder as she tried to swipe the hair with her arm.
“Do you—” Cassius started, but Thalia cast him a sharp look. He raised his hands in surrender. “Never mind.”
Finally, Thalia managed to get the damn hair out of her face and focused back on the creature’s mouth.
“Your hair is the longest I’ve seen it,” Cassius said from his spot on the stairs.
Thalia glanced up. They hadn’t said much since she’d begun, but she’d heard the occasional scrape of his whetstone against his blade between the plinking of teeth. He’d sent Keegan away to rest. The golden-eyed Vampyr had seemed reluctant, until Cassius reminded him that not only had they been up half the night tramping after the creature, but he’d also given him his blood. Keegan finally relented, with the promise to return to switch shifts.
“I started growing it out.” Thalia didn’t add that she started growing it out the minute he’d left. Because she’d always had short hair when she’d been with Cassius, the strands barely brushing her collarbone. Now it hung at least to her waist when she left it down.
“I like it,” Cassius said.
Thalia tried to ignore him, working to extract another tooth. The small pliers she held scraped as she wiggled it out of the creature’s gums.
“What else has changed?” Cassius broke the silence.
“What do you mean?” Thalia’s brows furrowed. This damn tooth—
“Back home.”
Home.
Thalia jerked, pulling the tooth with her. She dropped it into the jar, trying to ignore the emotions rising in her chest.
She worked her jaw, unsure whether or not to share, but at this point, what harm could there be? “Reina is captain now.”
“I know,” Cassius said, and Thalia glanced up at the fondness in his tone. Of course he knew. He’d been to the damn castle and had seen her himself. Reina had always wanted to move up. The castle guard wasn’t an easy role, and during Thalia’s father’s reign, women weren’t expected or asked to join. But Cassius had seen her on the citywatch and invited her to join the royal guard, and she’d worked her way up from there.
Thalia swallowed, pushing aside the tightness in her throat. “Marcus is head librarian.”
Cassius chuckled softly. “I know that too. It’s about damn time.” Once more there was a kind of pride in his voice that had Thalia’s chest aching.
“Then I suppose you know everything that’s new,” Thalia got out, turning back to the creature.
“What about you?” Cassius said quietly.
“What about me?”
“What changed besides the hair?”
Thalia straightened, eyeing him, debating whether or not he was messing with her. But there was genuine openness in his face. It reminded her of what it had been like when they were together. When Thalia would complain and gripe about Agripa and her mother’s lack of care over her people. And Cassius would listen, not judging or pushing, merely being the person Thalia could go to with any problem, any grievance, no matter how small.
Thalia cleared her throat. “Nothing.”
She turned back to the head, pulling out more teeth. She’d made it through the top jaw and now was starting on the bottom.
“You seem calmer,” Cassius said.
