Page 90 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“Alone?”

Kolfinna’s eyebrows pulled together and she stopped her pacing. “Yes.”

“Um, no. I’m coming with you.” Blár dropped the water cannister on the bench and a loudclanksounded throughout the room.

“Why?”

“Because if Sijur is withholding information from me aboutmyfamily, I need to see if for myself. Besides, I know what I’m looking for. It’ll also be faster with two people.” His mouth curled into a frown. “Not to mention that if you get caught, it’ll be easier to make up an excuse with me around.”

“If we’re caught, Sijur will know we’ve been snooping around. No excuse will save us.” Kolfinna began walking again to ease her jittering nerves. If they were caught, Sijur would likely imprison her. Or who knows what else he would do? Put more runes on her that would make her more bound to his will? “I’m going to his underground office.”

Blár’s eyebrows arched. “So he does have an underground office?”

“You’re the one who told me about it.” She gave him a hard look. “Don’t act confused now.”

“Well, yes, I did say that, but I was only hypothesizing.” His frown deepened and he narrowed his eyes. “Wait—how do you know he has an underground office? Did you see it?”

“I may have sleuthed around.” She lifted her shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal.

“I thought you wanted my help in sneaking around last time?”

“It was sort of spontaneous,” she said quickly.

He didn’t seem satisfied with that, but he waved a hand. “So when will you sneak in?”

“Tonight.”

He rubbed his chin. “Tonight?”

“Blár, are you a freakin’ parrot? You keep repeating your words.” She fought the urge to roll her eyes again. “Look, I need you to keep Sijur occupied while I go?—”

“Hey now, why are you so pissy today?”

“P-Pissy?”

“Yes, pissy.” Blár plopped down on the metal bench and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “Stop arguing so much and justcalm down.”

“I can’t calm?—”

“Yes, you can.” He stretched out his arms against the metal backrest. “I’m coming with you, by the way. There’s no way I’m letting you do that alone. But I do have a question—why does someone need to keep that asshole occupied? If we go in the middle of the night?—”

Kolfinna shook her head. “I think it’ll be safer to do it during dinner.”

She had planned to do it at night, until Joran had asked her to train with him late at night, since it “fit” into his schedule better. She had declined, of course, but it only made her more wary around him. If he was training by himself in the middle of the night, she might get caught too. And those sounds she had heard when she had first snuck down to see the elf woman, what if those had been from Joran?

“Why?”

“Sijur will be occupied. Also …” Joran would be occupied for sure. “I think it would be easier that way.”

Besides, if she was caught in the hallway in the middle of the night, it was far more suspicious rather than in the daytime, where nobody would think twice.

“All right, I’ll be ready.”

“Blár—”

“Come on, you didn’t come all this way here to ask me to distract Sijur.” He gave her a hard look. “You could’ve asked anyone to do that. Inkeri. Herja. Eluf. Gunnar. Hell, even Ivar.”

She screwed her mouth shut. That was partially true; there was a part of her that wanted Blár to come with her, but there was another reason she was here. “Actually, I need something else from you.”

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