Page 139 of Dirty Hit

“Then I inquire again, what are we doing?”

“Weare doing nothing. I’m scouting, and it was rather peaceful, if you don’t mind.”

It was a quick and obvious lie. Truthfully, Zaiana didn’t know why she’d come here specifically, only that her wrath had festered to her bones inside the castle, and she’d feared it might snap to recklessness if she exchanged paths with Marvellas right now. She had to pull herself together and figure out what she was going to do to find out the truth about the dark fae curse.

“In fact, I do mind.” His stare cut into her, as sharp as the wind.

“What do you want?”

“I’d rather not chat in the freezing rooftop air.”

“I’d rather not chat at all.”

“What do you know of the curse of our still hearts?”

Zaiana sliced him with a look. “You’ve been spying on me?”

“You don’t make it difficult.”

She considered what to share with him. It had been part of the reason Zaiana needed to come here. She just didn’t know how to begin finding answers about the curse with the Spirit of Souls who may have cast it.

“How do I know you won’t just run to them with anything I say?”

“Zaiana,” Maverick said with a hook of sincerity unlike him. He reevaluated what he was going to say in that pause. “This affects me too. It affects all the dark fae, and I want to know what else the curse could mean. You know who I was before they turned me. I’ve resented them all this time, and now I discover there’s even more to their manipulation.”

She considered him for a moment, and she believed him.

“Now, will you please come down from there?”

Zaiana was about to slide down the dome toward the flat part of the roof, but the sound of moving water caught her attention. The guards had left their posts to rotate positions, and there was a moment of vulnerability. To her fascination, the riversurrounding the castleparted,and from its depths emerged a hooded figure who quickly ran into the surrounding woodland.

Zaiana locked everything on that small target.

“Don’t follow me, or I won’t tell you a thing when I’m back,” Zaiana warned, then she unglamoured her wings and swooped down from the roof.

They took a deserted path in the night. It was too easy to trap this prey. She trailed them until she found the right moment, and in the space of a breath, Zaiana pushed them to the wall under the threat of her dagger.

But she was ontheirland, with no ability, and they were surrounded by ammunition as theirs.

Before Zaiana could react to what was happening, snow came down from the roof in a force too strong to have been unfortunate natural timing. It wasn’t enough to bury her, but Zaiana was knocked to the ground.

With a growl of annoyance from the wet seeping into her and turning her even more freezing, she shoveled out of the heap. Her chase turned more deadly, with a laser focus. She tracked them by the footfall they tried to hide by manipulating the snow, but that was a sure path in itself. Minutes dragged, and Zaiana was fearing she’d lost them. When she came to a dead end, she hissed with frustration.

“Why are you following me?”

Zaiana stilled at the threatening voice at her back. Not because she was trapped, but…

When she turned, the fae was still concealed, much like Zaiana with only her eyes on show, shadowed by her hood. But it was thatvoice.

It might have been foolish to expose herself, but Zaiana pulled down her mask with the confidence she was right. Then she drew back her hood.

The fae straightened, her poised hands making the snow vibrate, and she copied Zaiana’s movements to expose herself.

“Nerida?” Zaiana blinked at the fae. Though she knew this to be her homeland, the fact she was here right now stunned her.

“I had more faith in you,” Nerida said, her voice colder than Zaiana had ever heard. “I know I shouldn’t have. You tried to warn me many times, but still, I couldn’t stop myself thinking you were different.”

Zaiana was already sharp with anger. “It’s not my fault you see monsters and believe you can help them,” she said. Nerida didn’t deserve her tone, but Zaiana’s claws were already out.

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