Page 79 of Unseen Eye
His hand is suddenly under my chin, tilting my head up to meet his gaze. “You can walk out those doors whenever you want, darling. But over my dead body will I let you endanger yourself for something like this.”
Damn him and his logic. But I still push, unwilling to concede. “That can be arranged,” I quip with a grin, trying to lighten the tension, though my heart pounds at the intensity in his eyes.
His eyes darken, and something unspoken passes between us. “Is that a threat or a promise?” he whispers, his voice low, laced with a challenge. “Because I’d love to test it.”
My cheeks flush, the air between us suddenly feeling too heavy, too intimate for a conversation that started with strategy.
“Are you two done over there?” Izzy’s voice cuts through the tension, dripping with sarcasm. “Some of us are trying to avoid vomiting.”
“Sorry, show’s over.” I get up and walk away from him, trying to ignore the knot of emotions twisting in my chest.
“There is another way,” Callon says as my back is to him, his voice calm yet resolute. “We explore the library ourselves andsee if we can learn anything.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Izzy mutters. “And if Baron catches us?”
“He won’t,” Callon replies, his confidence almost convincing enough to make me believe him.
“You can’t blink right into the library, genius? The castle is guarded against it. You’d have to walk through the front doors without being seen, which—unless you’ve developed an affinity for invisibility that we don’t know about—it’s impossible.”
“Oh, so diplomatic of you, Izzy,” Callon responds, his tone dripping with mock courtesy. “I guess we’ll just have to come up with a reason to be there or create a damn good distraction.” He shrugs as if it’s no big deal.
Theo laughs, shaking his head. “You got some hellhounds in your back pocket?”
“Better yet,” I chime in, a plan forming in my mind. “He has me. Use me as your distraction—let him think I’m coming back to him.”
Callon doesn’t hesitate. “No. If we did that, you couldn’t help since you’d be distracting Baron. And so help me gods, if he laid a hand on you, I’d kill him on the spot.” The last part he says with such certainty that I don’t doubt him for a second.
“Well then,” Izzy says, rubbing her temples as if dealing with us is giving her a headache. “I vote for an option that doesn’t involve killing a king.”
We brainstorm for a while, but exhaustion finally gets the best of me. Rising from my chair, I excuse myself and head back to my room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As I reach for the handle, I notice the door is slightly ajar. Strange—I’m always careful to close it when I leave. Maybe Theo or Izzy were here earlier and forgot to shut it. Shrugging it off, I push the door open and freeze, my heart stuttering at the sight.
My room is a wreck. Furniture overturned, clothes scattered, and a pool of blood on the floor. At its center lies a body. A scream builds in my throat, but I swallow it, my hand instinctively gripping the hilt of the dagger hidden in my leathers. I sweep the room with my eyes, moving with purpose as I press against the walls, check under the low-slung furniture, and push aside heavy drapes. My breath is shallow as I pull open the armoire one final time, fingers trembling on the handle. Nothing.
Slowly, I approach the body, which is still warm. He hasn’t been here long. Crouching down, I look at his face and instantly recognize him as one of the guards from the barracks. We’ve never spoken, but I’ve seen Theo talking to him more than once—he always seemed friendly. My gaze shifts to the wall, where a message is scrawled in blood: “From darkness we will rise,” followed by a jagged marking.
My stomach twists. The mark is familiar—a symbol I last saw on Kendry’s tombstone, and now it’s staring back at me, a dark reminder of dangers lurking too close.
I hurry back downstairs, where the others are still arguing in the war room. As soon as I open the door, their voices cut off, their eyes locked on the blood staining my clothes.
“What the fuck happened?” Callon demands, shooting to his feet so fast his chair topples over. His eyes scan me for injuries, his jaw clenched tight.
“It’s not mine,” I manage, still reeling. Callon grips my shoulders, steadying me, though I realize it’s his hands that are trembling.
“Eva,” he repeats, voice edged with tension, “what the fuck happened?”
“Someone was in my room,” I finally manage to say. “It’s… it’s completely destroyed, and there’s a dead guard in there.” I look at Theo. “I don’t know his name, but I’ve seen you talking to him.”
At that, Izzy and Theo bolt upstairs, Theo drawing his sword. Callon, still holding onto me, asks, “Are you okay?”
“I think?” I reply, trying to make sense of it all. “Just another day in my life,” I joke, attempting to lighten the mood. Callon half-smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes before he lets go and follows the others. When we reach my room, Theo is already kneeling beside the guard.
“It’s Henry,” Theo says, looking up at Callon. “From the blood, it looks like it happened an hour or two ago.” Izzy, meanwhile, is focused on the message left behind. The signs of a struggle are clear—he wasn’t alone in here.
“Uh, guys, we have a bigger problem,” Izzy blurts out. Theo turns, and Callon moves to her side.
