Page 100 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
She didn’t see me.
I’d insisted on coming into this small grove stubbornly growing on top of the eastern hill, not only to prove–to myself or Adara, I still didn’t know–that I wasn’t totally vulnerable.
A restlessness had settled inside of me since the night Zandyr had left.
I still couldn’t sleep, I picked at my food for the first time in my life. Worst of all, I couldn’t concentrate properly during my lessons with Allie. After the last encounter with Valuta, three long days ago, the feeling of unease had only intensified.
The truth itched on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell someone, anyone, but I could only ask Zandyr about it.
Until he came back, I had to control myself.
What better way to get rid of this tension than pretending I was in mortal danger?
With my senses on alert and tracking Adara, my mind couldn’t focus on anything else.
I peered down from a spot right above her. My eyes trailed the closest vine, hanging lazily from the branch next to me, small curls of lichen hanging from it.
Perfect.
I gripped the vine with my right hand and kicked the tree trunk with my heel. The vibration coursed through the bark, startling the birds and capturing Adara’s attention. Before her head whipped up, I swung from the vine in a wide arch. I let go and dropped to the ground right behind her, the tip of my switchblade resting against the back of her ear.
I’d been aiming for her throat, but Adara was too tall for me.
She stilled. Then her deep chuckle rang out through the grove. “Clever.”
“I may not have the kind of power you’re all used to,” I said, triumph roaring through my veins. “But I’m not powerless.”
“No, you are not,” she said after a few moments. “Yet I stand by what I said. Blood Brotherhood only knows one kind of power. The physical one.”
“Grandpa Constantine was once the most powerful man in all of Malhaven, and he didn’t have to fight anyone to prove it.” Because very few had the courage to challenge him. “Now let’s train.”
As I flicked the switchblade closed and put my shoes back on, a rumble resounded from the south.
I rose slowly. Cautiously.
“The gates,” Adara said.
Before she’d finished speaking, I was already scaling back up the trees, Adara’s impressed whistle ghosting after me.
I reached the top, head barely peeking above the leaves. It was enough to see the gates open and a dark, shadowy figure riding into Phoenix Peak, people kneeling in his wake.
The blood in the vials on my armor whirled out of control, as if sensing their master had returned. A shiver raced down my spine, hard and fast.
Zandyr was back.
The Dragon was in Phoenix Peak once more.
The question I’d been swallowing for the past few days threatened to spill past my lips.
I dropped back to the ground, nodding at Adara. “Where does Zandyr live?”
Chapter
Thirty
EVIE
The tower.
