Page 43 of Reaper Unhinged
My body trembled as I turned to face him. His sapphire gaze lit up as it scanned my face, and then the corner of his mouth turned up slightly.
“Hello, Fee.”
“Conah…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I received a message from Azazel. I figure the caravan will head this way.”
I nodded mutely.
“Is Keon with you?”
I nodded again. God, I’d forgotten how beautiful he was. I’d forgotten what his voice could do to me.
“Keon’s scouting.”
“Good,” Conah said. “I have a small group of men with me. We’ll get them back.”
I wanted to ask him how he was doing? I wanted to hug him, but the last words he’d said to me lingered in my mind.
He’d made it clear we wouldn’t be friends, that all we could ever be was colleagues.
I pushed back the emotions and tore my gaze from his face, fixing it on the tavern in the distance. I caught a flash of movement so quick I would have thought I imagined it if I didn’t know Keon was out there.
Conah sucked in a sharp breath, and I turned to find a dagger at his throat. He grimaced.
“I could have killed you,” Keon said. “I thought you were trained not to be distracted by the shiny stuff?”
Shiny stuff, as in me?
Conah dropped his gaze. “Keon, what did you find?”
“The caravan just pulled up. There are three carriages. I believe one holds the cadets, and the one laced with obsidian holds Azazel and Malachi. The final one must be for Mammon’s men.”
“The fact that Az and Mal haven’t broken free means they’ve been incapacitated,” Conah said.
Oh shit. “You don’t think they’ve been drugged with that stuff…The stuff they used on you last time?”
Conah pressed his lips together and nodded.
Shit. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“We cause a diversion,” Keon said. “Draw the guards to the tavern, and then one of us sets them free.”
“How many guards?” Conah asked.
“Six have been left behind to guard the two carriages. No sign of Master Luena; she may be in the carriage with the cadets. The rest of Mammon’s men are inside the tavern. I counted six more.”
“There had to have been more men,” Conah said. “They probably left by air.”
“So we create a distraction.” I looked from Keon to Conah. “What kind?”
Keon fixed his yellow eyes on me. “There are no females in the tavern.”
Conah’s brows went up. “That could work.”
I was suddenly afraid to ask.
* * *
