Page 49 of The Stygian Crown

Kara worried her thumb across her fingers as the others left the room. Maybe Thomas wouldn’t try and kill her. She was still weak, and she didn’t have any weapons with her.

He sat back down, crossed his arms across his chest, and propped his feet up on the table. “Well?”

Kara struggled to find the words she wanted to say. “I’m sorry for hurting you and betraying your trust. I know sorry isn’t enough, and that I’ll probably never warrant your trust or friendship again, but I want you to know I feel terrible about what I did to you. I was desperate, and it made me rash.”

“You used me, Kara. I thought we were friends, but you manipulated me into divulging the location of the safehouse. Then you kept lying to me.”

“I know. The prisoner was—is—my brother, the only family I know.” Her eyes fell. “At least I thought I knew him. I hope you didn’t suffer any lasting damage.”

Thomas grunted. “Some bruises. I was more pissed that you took my glasses. Had to fumble around for a week waiting on the damn lenscrafter.”

Kara winced. “I have them still. I always intended to return them. Eventually.”

He snorted. “I haven’t forgotten the favor you owe me.”

“Just tell me what you need.”

“I need out of this fucking palace. I’m sick of the ass-kissing and politics. And my itchy fucking uniform.”

“Where do they have you stationed?”

“I ride around the city all day delivering messages. Jasper’s been a right pain in the ass. Set his sights on me once you were gone.”

Kara winced. “I don’t expect you to forgive me immediately, for everything to go back to the way it was between us…but I’d like to work toward that.”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise you anything.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

Chapter Ten

Kara took the information about Salizar’s betrayal and suspected allegiance to Calim. He asked if there was any chance the mage had worked alone, without Sanguine influence. He also insisted they keep the danger a secret from Ariana still, not wanting to rock the boat before her betrothal announcement. Prince Rand was due at the capital any day now.

Kara wasn’t entirely comfortable with his call—she’d prefer to know if someone was trying to have her killed or abducted—but she deferred to Calim’s judgment. She was thankful when he let her escape without bringing up Namirah again.

Calim sent her a hefty sum of gold as a reward for identifying Salizar, despite his escape. In addition to the wages she’d already accrued, it was enough to run with and be comfortable for a long time—two years at least. She could escape Logan, the clan, everything. The attraction between them was destructive, and if she gave into it—embraced it fully—she might be lost forever. Part of her, the part that had exulted in him groaning beneath her with her tongue on his silken cock, wanted to abandon all hesitation—to crawl into his bed and make up for lost time.

Kara’s eavesdropping runes were working now that the magic eater was out of her system, as she discovered one day when she saw a red glow coming from the depths of her armoire. The runes on her keystones lit up with a bloody red glow when they had a sound stored within. Kara listened to the stored messages regularly and began drawing more runes throughout the castle, determined to separate her feelings about Ariana from her duty to her. She had to be sneaky, as Serena and Rahj were in the process of locating and scrubbing all of Salizar’s runes still. So far she’d gleaned much gossip and little of actual substance.

Her keening returned with a vengeance with the magic eater’s absence, and she needed to figure out a solution other than stabbing Ariana over dinner soon. The princess still fawned over Logan, though now he largely ignored her and went out of his way to ensure Kara knew he was thinking of her, finding tiny moments to lock eyes, brush her thigh with his, or give her lingering touches that heated her blood. It reassured her and placated the beast inside her that hungered for blood, but she danced closer to that keening edge every day.

This morning in the courtyard, Jon had to pull her away from a skirmish after Kara drew Pippa’s blood with a reckless blow. She felt terrible about it and apologized profusely, but Pippa looked at her with wary eyes afterward. The keening was making her heady, bloodthirsty. In her dreams, Logan took her in frenzied encounters in the palace hallways while people looked on. She exulted in their eyes watching. In proving they belonged to one another.

News of the Gavrochean delegation’s ship anchoring offshore reached the palace while they were still in the training yard, and they adjourned training early so everyone could prepare, though the princess looked none too pleased. Prince Rand was due to arrive tonight to much fanfare. A special ceremony would be held in the dining hall to welcome him to the palace and introduce him to Ariana.

When Kara enteredthe dining hall in the low cut ruby gown Merry had dressed her in that night, the setting had been transformed. Diaphanous red gauze hung over the multi-story windows. Candles littered the tables, lighting the room in a murky, sensuous glow.

Kara found a seat at a table with Pippa and Tanith, relieved to see the princess sat by Calim at the head of the main table. A man with olive skin and kind eyes sat at the princess’s right, dressed in a golden silk tunic. Prince Rand, Kara presumed. Rand was far less decrepit than Ariana had led them to believe—he looked to be in his mid-thirties, and he had a handsome, regal bearing. Logan was across the room, but he found her immediately in the sea of people. She could feel the weight of his eyes on her.

The candles flickered, and drums began to play. A slow, seductive beat filled the room. The braziers in the corners started to smoke as the servants placed clusters of herbs atop the coals. The scent that floated throughout the room was subtle spice and smoke. Kara’s eyes grew heavy. The gauzy curtains behind the stage musicians usually played on parted, and six dancers appeared. Four women and two men wound their way onto the stage, hips sliding to the beat. Jewelry dripped from them. Bracelets, necklaces. Rings for every finger and ears lined with gold. Some of them were studded with piercings in their noses, lips, navels, and clavicles. Each dancer was dedicated to a particular jewel. Diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald, topaz, and amethyst were present. They wore a mix of loose, flowing pants and skirts split up to the waist that allowed flashes of their legs. Cropped tops bared their midriffs. Masks fashioned of strips of translucent fabric covered their eyes, dyed to match their chosen jewel.

“Do you think those jewels are real?” Tanith whispered to Pippa.

Pipes joined the steady drumbeat, and the dancers undulated like snakes. Their hips jerked in time with the music, taut bellies surging in and out, up and down. It was hypnotizing. Their jewels flashed in the candlelight.

The audience fidgeted in their seats, legs turned restless by the hazy energy captured in the room, straining at the edges to be released. Kara realized she was serpentining her hips in tiny circles beneath the table and rolling her shoulders softly.

Pippa leaned over, the warm crush of her dress and press of her toned body heating Kara’s blood. Her mark warmed beneath her cuff.

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