Page 45 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
I just swiped.
My switchblade arched through the air, aiming at his gorgeous face. At his long neck. At his powerful shoulders. He dodged every single blow with ease. He didn’t even move his hands from behind his back, twisting out of reach with that damn smirk on his face.
The final swing almost sent me crashing into the ground.
I steadied my hands on my knees, gulping down air. My switchblade hadn’t even comecloseto Zandyr.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” he whispered in my ear. I flinched, righting myself. He was so close, my back almost molded to his chest. “You train to fight properly and I’ll tell you how to evade the guards–”
“They’ll get in trouble–”
“Withoutgetting them punished.” His words skittered down my spine. “Though most of them deserve it for what they do at the advisors’ bidding.”
Tempting. So dangerously tempting. “Or you can just tell me.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” His breath ghosted against the back of my neck. “Train and we’ll talk.”
I turned, tilting my chin up at him. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, he was right. I hadn’t been able to fight off those assassins back at the cabin. If I ever met them again, I needed to be ready. “Deal.”
He sent me a triumphant smirk that looked almost feral.
“But you can’t be the one to train me.” I sent my own smirk his way. I couldn’t have him knowing my best moves.
“You are such a menace, but…as the lady wishes.” He mock-bowed, but there was a curious glimmer in his eyes. “Until then, don’t forget–play with their expectations.”
“Plan on explaining?”
“After the wedding.”
The wedding. Everything hinged on that blasted day.
“What Icantell you is that if you turn your back to me right now, in a fit of fury, and stomp into your house and go into the library, you might see a familiar face,” he said.
I bolted away before he’d even finished speaking. Whatever that quill had done to me, my vigor had returned tenfold.
I ran up the veranda stairs, past the grand doors I struggled to open, and into the library which had walls filled with leather-bound books. A dream.
But I was more interested in the open book sitting on top of the dark table in the center of the room. I didn’t quite believe my eyes–but I trusted the familiar voice.
“Hello, Evie.”
Chapter
Thirteen
EVIE
“How?” I asked in amazement as I approached the table with slow, hesitant steps.
This wasn’t real.
A trick.
But my heart soared all the same.
A silvery strand of smoke flowed up from the open book, billowing into an oval. Within it, Allie’s face shined. She had a broken, trembling smile that fought so hard not to vanish.
“It’s a palaver portal. Kind of like that book you told me about, the one you had back at the cabin. Different spell, same principle. It allows you to reach texts or people in different locations. Great for sending coded messages if you know the secret cypher,” Allie said. “It’s also our only option to talk for the foreseeable future, since the pompous, blood-thirsty, heinoussons-of-bitches the Blood Brotherhood deems good enough for their Elite ranks–”
