Page 85 of Thief of Souls
Soraya sits back on her heels, scrubbing at her mouth. “If I didn’t still feel like I’d been turned inside-out and then put back together again, I would punch you.”
“Please. You’d have to catch me first. And you can’t even do that when you’re at your best. Also, you’re welcome. I saved your ass. I’ll accept any favors and gratitude you can throw my way.”
Soraya shoots me a murderous look.
The last time we confronted each other, she was glamored to look like me as she tried to drive her knife into Keir’s chest and steal the amulet around his throat. We both thought it was the relic our father was looking for, and she double-crossed me at the last second.
It’s not the first time.
It won’t be the last.
And yet, despite everything, it’s good to see her again. She’s the one constant in my life, and even if we’re often at odds, if some outside force wants to harm one of us, he’ll have the other to deal with.
“You look better than I would have expected, considering you were in the Abyss for three months,” she says gruffly.
“You look like shit.”
Soraya shudders. “Some asshole just pulled me straight through a stone sarcophagus. All I can taste is bile and granite. What did you expect?”
“My abject apologies. The only person I know who might be able to lift the lid probably has you high on his kill-on-sight list. I went with the only option I thought might be able to work.”
At that, her gaze sharpens. “What are you doing here? Who are you with? What does Father want?”
“What he always wants. A means to break the curse. He wants the Horn of Shadows. And I’m here with Prince Keir—”
“Keir?” She actually pales a little.
I can’t resist a smile. “Nearly seven feet of furious, slightly-territorial fae prince? You might remember him from that time you tried to cut his heart out of his chest.Hecertainly remembers it.”
“And you’re workingwithhim?”
“He wants the horn too. It seemed an easy way to get into the Court of Blood.”
“Yes, because that’s exactly what I’d call him—easy. Cauldron’s piss,” she growls, “were you eventhinking? What were you going to do? Use him to get in, bat your lashes at him a few times and then double cross him the second you caught a glimpse of the horn? Because I’m fairly certain that’s how you played it last time, and as far as I recall, it left you hanging in chains in the Abyss. He’s not going to fall for the same ruse. I don’t even think he fell for it the first time.”
My conscience chooses that moment to replay the look Keir gave me the second he realized I wasn’t there to become his bride—but to betray him.
I’ve taken a knife to the chest a few times and that look felt exactly the same.
I can’t let her see it though, so my voice is all mock bravado. “If he’s foolish enough to trust me twice, then he’ll get what he deserves—"
“Or he’s playing his own game.”
There’s nothing I can do except shrug, because I know she’s speaking the truth. I haven’t figured out what stakes he’s playing for, but Keir definitely has some kind of game in play. “Most likely. But until we find the horn, the point is neither here nor there. We’re using each other, we’re both aware of it, and now that I’ve dragged your sorry ass out of your stone prison, I’m about to put the winning piece on the board. I just need one or two pieces of information.”
She rolls her eyes. “What?”
“Who did Father send you to kill?”
A hint of steel settles over her expression. “Mistmark.”
“That makes no sense. You’ve tried before.” I watch her expression closely, because this is Soraya’s weak spot. I don’t know how. I don’t know what happened exactly. But I do know she squirms like a worm on the hook whenever his name is mentioned. “You failed. And why would Father send you to the Court of Blood? How did he know Mistmark would even be here?”
She throws her hands in the air. “Ruhle said Mistmark was arriving for a tense negotiation with Malechus. I wasn’t in a position to argue.”
And there it is….
“Ruhle,” I whisper. “He’s the one who brought the information to Father. He’s the one who set this game in play.”
