Page 142 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
Twenty-Eight
ALLIE
“Let me get this straight.” Dax rubbed his temples, the palaver portal shimmering. “After you lectured me about how dangerous Aquila is, you want me to go back in?”
“Correct,” I said.
“And infiltrate the castle.”
“Yes.”
“And find the vault parchments you’d been studying before the wedding.”
“If you can, yes.”
No matter which way I turned the problem, the solution always came back to those bleeding vault records.
Gold had a way of twisting loyalty into something crude. The coffers had been leaking and I hadn’t found the source before I’d been taken.
But someone, somewhere, must have thought I had–or was afraid I would very soon.
That’s why they’d wanted me dead before anyone else, to make sure that truth remained as buried as I would have been if I hadn’t followed my instincts, as doubtful as I had been of them on that day.
There was a clue hidden in those parchments, I was sure of it.
And only I could find it.
“Of course I can.” Dax scoffed. “But you asking me to help is shocking, dear cousin.”
“Let’s not pretend you weren’t going to return to Aquila anyway.Despitemy warnings.”
A wicked smirk appeared on his face. “I’ve already gone back in last night. Slipped some tonic into Silas’ favorite wine barrel, nobody bothered to secure the cellar. Amateurs. He won’t be leaving the outhouse for the next three days. I want to make him suffer in every possible way.”
I raised my brows. “I’m sure you have better things to do.”
“I always do. I have my own reasons to keep returning to Aquila. Ones which will help us immensely if I’m successful.”
“Care to share?”
“Only after I’m done. You might trust your Commander enough to speak about secrets in his fortress, but I don’t.”
My sigh blended in with the crisp, fresh air wafting in through the balcony doors. Instead of wallowing, as I’d done for too many days, as soon as I woke up, I sprang out of bed and yanked them open. The room which had felt like a cocoon while I’d licked my wounds was turning stuffy.
Yes, I was still tired beyond comprehension.
Yes, my powers were still not reliable on the best of days.
No, my soul still hadn’t completely comprehended all the changes it had survived in such a short amount of time.
But I had a purpose again.
Follow the gold.
Find the clue.
Figure out the plot which had torn my family apart.
“Dax, I know you’re brilliant,” I began.
