Page 46 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

And she’d make sure she didn’t give the king anything that would risk Loche’s position—that would risk her home.

Because Ellow was truly her home now, and she’d protect it with all her might.

Forcing her face to remain impassive, she responded quietly, “Because I think there are things that need to change in Ellow. You might have done some good work, I’ll give you that, but I think I can do better.”

“Thatwas your first lie.”

Loche shook his head, his jaw twitching as he glared at her. “We’re watching you. If we find a single reason to, we’ll take you out. And if we find out you’re a spy…” His nostrils flared, a lethal promise in those gray eyes.

Shrugging to mask the shudder that skittered down her spine, she offered him a tight smile. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

“We’ll see about that.” Loche’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, and he offered her an infuriating smirk when her eyes followed.

Turning around, he bent down and lifted a loose floorboard, his smirk widening as he pulled out a bottle of amber liquor.

“I learned a few things after the misery here last time.”

Swinging the bottle, he started down the stairs, turning his head over his shoulder. “You plan on staying there all night?”

Sighing, Lessia followed him, glaring at his shiny hair and broad back the entire way down.

Chapter

Twenty-One

The room downstairs had darkened, and Lessia swallowed as she swept her eyes over the old furniture and weathered walls. Only a sliver of moonlight from the boarded windows whispered across the dusty floor. The rest was veiled in shadows.

Craven and Venko were deep in conversation as they walked in, but their heads snapped up when Loche slammed the bottle on the table.

“These next weeks are going to be miserable, and not just because we’re stuck together. There is no food to be found, we’ll have to melt snow for water, and it gets cold as shit in this house.” Loche slipped onto a chair, pulled the cork from the bottle, and took a deep swig. “I have more of these, and I’ll share as long as you bastards behave. You’ll come begging for it by day four, when your stomach is aching and you’re cold to your bones.”

“What about a fire?” Lessia hovered by the stairs, unwilling to move away from the little light that shone through the gaps in the wood beside the staircase.

Leaning back in his chair, Loche eyed her. “Do you see any firewood? They purposely remove it, and whatever you can find outside is going to be drenched by snow. We couldn’t make it dry quickly enough last time to light a fire until it was time to leave.”

Clenching and unclenching her fists, she stared at the men as they began sharing the bottle.

She could manage two weeks without food, and she’d withstood cold dampness before, but no light?

There was no way.

Lessia started toward the door when Venko waved the bottle her way. “You want a sip?”

She didn’t have time to respond before Craven spat, “I won’t drink from the same bottle as ahalfling. Especially one with her reputation. Who knows what she might have picked up from all her vile late-night activities?”

Lessia snapped her teeth together to keep herself from snarling at him.

She might have started and fueled that particular rumor, but Craven was no one to judge. She knew exactly what men like him did when they left their wives at home on their islands and ventured to the capital.

Loche slammed his hand on the table. “Don’t call her that! I told you two minutes ago to behave, and you’re already spewing your shit, Bernedir.”

Eyes flying wide, she looked at him, but his blazing gaze remained fixed on scowling Craven.

“She already roped you in, Lejonskold? I thought you were cleverer than that. She might be pretty to look at, but what Fae isn’t? They’re still evil beneath that pretty shell. As regent, you should be very careful with who you fraternize with, shouldn’t you?”

Loche’s lips lifted into a glacial smile. “You needn’t worry;I would neverfraternizewith her. We’re working with the Fae now, which you’re very aware of, Bernedir, as they supply the steel you need for your little weaponry collection. Calling them repulsive names won’t help that collaboration, will it?”

Lessia caught Venko’s gaze as the man fought a grin. Biting her cheek, she remained quiet, her eyes flitting between Craven and Loche.

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