Page 51 of In the Ravenous Dark
I make my tone light. “First you curse, and now you’re name-calling? I thought you were too high and mighty for that.”
“This isn’t a game!” he spits, his voice low but ferocious. “This place iscompletelyforbidden, trespassing is punishable by death, and the entry wasn’t guarded only by two mortals!” He tosses a hand at the doors. “Do you know how many invisible wards I had to dismantle before you stumbled into them like trip wires? I’m talking aboutdeathmagic, put in place by shadow priests and other shades.” He takes a deep breath, even though he doesn’t really breathe, as far as I know. “But none so powerful as me, thank the goddess. Andnow I have to put their protectionsbackinto place, exactly as they were, before anyone notices they’re gone.”
Already turning to the doors, he begins muttering again. I don’t recognize any of the words; they soundold. I remember that while the written sigils for blood magic came from Skyllea, the spoken words of death magic originated here. Perhaps this is the parent language of the one we speak.
My voice comes out a little choked, and not only because I’m whispering—Ivrilos is scary when he’s angry. “Whydidyou take the barriers down, instead of just trippingmebefore I reached them?”
He spins on me, apparently finished with his magic. “Because then the wrong people would have known you were here. I can’t carry you, after all. Now let’s go. I know another exit.”
I square my shoulders, regaining some of my composure, and I don’t budge. “But why do you care if someone catches me,Ivrilos?” I make a point to remind him we’re on a first name basis now, for better or worse.
“No one can think I dropped my guard that much,Rovan.”
My name on his tongue, in that throaty growl, thrills me for some unfathomable reason, lighting along me like fire touched to a line of pitch. Maybe it’s because hehasdropped his guard for me.
He must catch my reaction, because his eyes snag on mine above my flame’s light and hold there. His tirade dies on his lips.
Something seems suspended between us then, heavy and charged. His gaze hits me like a punch to the stomach. It’s hungry. Alight. An answering challenge to mine. My heart beats almost painfully in my chest.
I didn’t expect this, not while he was busy yelling at me, not when hedoesn’thave a heartbeat.
I’m unready for the force of whatever sparks and flares between me and my guardian. My knees feel weak, like in the sillystories. Ivrilos seems taken by surprise, as well, and nearly looks as unsteady as me.
Finally, he tears his eyes away, breaking the strange spell. I can breathe again.
“I can’t believe you tried to make me think…” He seems about to say more, and then shakes his head. “Onlyyouwould be so vulgar as to expose yourself as a distraction.”
I nearly burst out laughing. “I wasn’t actually going to. Besides, you’ve already seenthe girls.” I shimmy my shoulders. “It’s not like they can bite you.”
He glares back at me. “You tricked me.Again.”
I arch a brow. “So youwantedme to drop my dress?”
“That’s not the trick I meant,” he says through gritted teeth, his expression strained. “You ran when I turned my back for decency’s sake, when I was at least attempting to trust you. And before you can ask if that makes me angry, yes, itdoes.”
I swallow whatever I was about to say. Not that I feel bad. Not exactly.
Ivrilos runs a pale hand back through his dark hair, nearly unseating his silver circlet. “I want to trust you, Rovan. At the very least, I don’t want to hurt you. But if it doesn’t at leastlooklike I’m keeping you under control, it reflects poorly on me as your guardian.Iwon’t be trusted, and I can’t have that. I need to avoid scrutiny—the both of us do—as much as possible. Which ploys like this are making rather difficult.”
I smile sweetly. “Then you should continue helping me and let me in onyourploys, and everything will be much easier.”
His hands fall in fists at his sides. “No, Ishouldhave dropped you to the ground before you made it even close to this room.Beforeyou attacked the guards. You’ve shown me exactly how far I can trust you—which is not far at all.” His voice stays low, but he starts pacing before the doors, angry again, more animated thanI’ve ever seen him. He’s mad athimselfnow, I realize. That doesn’t happen often, by the looks of it. “I should have known. Andeveryoneknows you’re new to being warded, still resistant, and that you like your wine. If servants had found you passed out in a hallway, it wouldn’t have created much of a stir.”
“Disapproval of my ‘vulgarity’ and now my drinking—what a surprise! Aren’t you virtuous?” My sneer twists into an evil grin. “But your virtue has been your downfall. You shouldn’t have turned your back on me. And now you can’t knock me unconscious in here. Like you said, you can’t carry me, so youhaveto keep helping me.”
He freezes, suddenly wary. “Whatareyou doing here, by the way?”
I shrug, nonchalant. “I just want a look around.”
“I wasn’t sure you even knew what this room was—Wait!” he says as I turn away, flame in hand. “You can’t be in here.”
“We’ve covered that already,” I say over my shoulder. “Don’t shout, now. Better keep up.”
He follows at a brisk pace. “I’m serious, Rovan. Nothing good will come of this.” When I ignore him, he says, “I could… hurt you. Until you agree to leave. Make it too painful to go forward.”
I know he won’t, not after his meager pinch at the banquet, and not after that look we just shared. So I raise my flame and peer into the shadows. Statues loom all around me, and the musty smell of disuse hangs heavy in the air. The royal gallery appears as if itneverhas visitors. A thought occurs to me, and I whip around to see my footsteps marring the thick dust over the black and white mosaic maze on the floor behind me. My guardian, of course, doesn’t leave a trace.
“Shit,” I breathe. “They’ll know someone was here.”
