“Gods know what else we’re going to face.”
Chapter 60
Allie
My second knock was just as gentle as the first and met with the exact same sharp silence.
“Nadya, you can’t seal yourself from the rest of the world,” I murmured, hoping I was doing the right thing.
I’d always felt a bit off-kilter in my interactions with her, like I didn’t know what would set her off, but Geryll’s passing made every word that much more important.
I couldn’t let her wallow in her room, with the pain and festering thoughts.
Ryker had yanked me out of that state, it was my turn to attempt the same remedy.
Another knock.
More silence.
“If you don’t want to talk to me, I can get Mrs. Thornbrew,” I tried again. “Or anyone else. Or just come down for some breakfast–”
“She’s not there.” Dax’s voice broke the suffocating stillness, making me flinch.
He pushed himself away from the corner of the corridor and strutted toward me.
“How long have you been standing there?” I asked.
Damn those feet of his. He could sneak into Xamor’s war room without the god’s hounds noticing.
“Enough that your teeth left indents in your bottom lip from all that restless chewing.” He raised his brows, but there was a glumness to his usual energy. “You know you do that?”
Heat rose in my cheeks. When Ryker had pointed it out, it had been like a caress, loving a little quirk, not blasting a light on it. It only reminded me he was gone.
“Yes,” I said tersely and nodded at Nadya’s door. “How do you know?”
“So glad you asked.” He crouched, but hesitated at the last moment. “Don’t let anyone know about this little trick. Dara still wonders how I could tell when she was sneaking out late at night. I want to maintain my aura of mystery.”
I sighed. The twins and their strange relationship. “Fine.”
He dragged his fingers along the stone, picking up two white strands of hair I wouldn’t have ever noticed. “I stick one of them to every door during my, shall we say, promenades.”
“Everydoor?”
“Why would I seal yours when I can hear your delicate feet stomping against my ceiling?” He stood up. “The fortress gets swept twice every single day. Six in the morning and six in the evening, never a second later. If the strands are or are not on the door or on the floor, I can track people’s movements without having to follow each and every one of them.”
“That’s–” More brilliant than it looked at first glance. “Really helpful.”
“Vylkor’s an early riser, but Nadya beats him on that front. Mrs. Thornbrew leaves her room about three times per night, I’m thinking bladder issues. I suspect two warriors on the ground floor are having an odd affair and three of them don’t get up in time.”
“You’re deviously brilliant.”
“Thank you,” he said simply. No gloating, no grinning. Just twisting the thick, shiny strands between his fingers.
I gawked. “Is thattrollfur?”
“So much stronger than any human locks I’ve ever come across.”
I crossed my hands in front of my chest. “And you just went there to ask them nicely for help and they agreed to give it to you?”
