Cori didn’t see it either, and she spent the day with him.
Luka’s gut churned. He’d forgotten to ask Cori what she thought of Dashiell. Izzy’s offer to sacrifice herself had driven it straight from his mind, and Cori had left directly from that meeting to start recalling her troops.
Cori would have said something before she left if she thought he was dangerous. Dashiell is clearly an exceptional liar.
He was also highly intelligent and utterly ruthless. Gods, he’d been running Firebreather from within the city guard.
And all the way to the border.
Of course, and with the soldiers withdrawn, his scheme was about to fall apart.
That’s why he killed Narya, Luka’s beast whispered roughly.
The truth of it burned through Luka; Dashiell was the assassin. And now… did he know how close he was to being discovered? What might he do if he thought his plans were about to be uncovered? Luka launched himself up, ignoring his chair as it fell with a clatter behind him.
We have to get to Izabel. Right. Now.
Luka clenched his fists, letting his claws score his skin. His beast was right. Nothing else mattered.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Izzy pickedher way carefully along the Nabaspath. On her right, the mountainside fell away steeply from the path, a bone-shattering drop to the sea where waves crashed and thundered on the rocks. On her left, the mountain loomed high and craggy, throwing the path into gloomy shadows. The air smelled of damp seaweed, with an undertone of decay. Out toward the horizon, dark clouds gathered where a storm approached.
As the path wound on, the bramble thickets that littered the mountainside gave way to gnarled trees and ancient stumps covered in poisonous copper trumpets. The bright orange mushrooms clustered in the decaying wood, their gills already glowing a sickly green in the dim light. Once the mists began to drift down from the mountaintop, their strange lights would be unsettling reminders of the spirits said to haunt this place—Rayan among them.
Izzy stopped suddenly, almost causing Dashiell to walk into her. Her back was cut in multiple places—burning slices from where she hesitated too long, or Dashiell felt it necessary to prod her onward—reminding her that he could so easily end her life, dump her body in a dark corner, and walk away. At least here onthe path, he’d given her more space. Probably because there was nowhere to run.
There will be. We just have to hold on until we find it.
“Keep going,” Dashiell snarled.
Izzy turned to face him. “Not until you tell me the truth.”
He waved the slim blade toward her. “I’ll kill you here.”
“Maybe,” she agreed, “but I don’t think so. If you wanted me dead, you’d have killed me already. Like you killed Narya. Like you killedmy brother.”
Dashiell growled. “Narya died so that we could end this mockery of a treaty and keep our soldiers guarding the border, where they should be.”
“Keep your supply caravan of Firebreather running, you mean,” Izzy scoffed. “At least be honest about why you want this war. How many people will you hurt so that you can make some gold?”
“Of course I need the caravans to run. Without them, my business would suffer badly. And why shouldn’t I make some gold? What is this treaty but an excuse for rich people to eat expensive food with more rich people—and make gold for themselves—while the rest of us suffer and die on the streets of Naos?”
“I don’t believe you care about poor people,” Izzy argued. “I don’t believe you’ve ever wanted to help anyone other than yourself.”
Dashiell stared at her for a tense moment, but then he shrugged. “Of course I care about myself. I learned early on that no one else gave a shit. Unless you’re a drake, then you can have anything you want. Utter steel-slag.”
“Is that why you killed Rayan?” Izzy whispered. “Because he’s a drake?”
“Rayan killed himself,” Dashiell muttered.
“He would never?—”
“He shouldn’t have followed me,” Dashiell spat. “He could’ve left well enough alone. Instead, he joined the physiks and started prodding and pushing. I had to do something.” He huffed, as if the whole thing irritated him. “I’d planned to subdue him, not kill him, but he had some kind of resistance to the scorpion venom on my blade. He stayed awake, but he was delirious, and then he partially shifted and flew into the sea. Fucking idiot.” He grunted. “He would have been an amazing prize. Instead, he brought half the castle guards onto my mountain. Thank Chaos he washed up before you got too far.”
A stabbing shaft of pain shot through her, and she almost gave in and crumpled to the ground there on the dank path. But she didn’t. Izabel forced herself to stand tall and hold her ground. Dashiell had killed her brother, and she would never show him any kind of weakness.
