Page 30 of This Dark Descent
Whatever Damien felt at seeing his sister, he kept it locked behind an impenetrable mask. “Thank you for your help, Shira. You can go.”
“Not going to invite me in for a drink?” she asked, straightening.
“You don’t drink.”
“I make exceptions in all things. Just ask Reid.”
Ari looked between them. Though the exchange felt harmless enough, Damien was clearly trying to get rid of her, and Shira was just as clearly refusing to play along.
“You never told us how you found us,” Mikira cut in, and both sets of Adair eyes fell on her. To her credit, she didn’t falter. “Were you watching us?”
The question was like a trigger. Nothing changed in Damien’s expression, but his dissatisfaction bled into the air around him, turning it sharp. He hadn’t wanted them to reach that conclusion.
The smile that split across Shira’s lips said that she had. “You know, I think I will go. I only came to say that Father has requested a family meeting at the pub later this week. His health is deteriorating quicker than we expected.” She turned for the coach, throwing a hand into the air. “Until next time, Reid!”
“Wait!” Mikira called, but Shira was already climbing into the coach. With a snick of the closing door, it set off.
Only then did Reid peer out from behind the pillar. “Is she gone?”
CHAPTER 11
MIKIRA
MIKIRA DIDN’T NEEDIri to know that something was wrong. Damien might be an impenetrable stone vault, but even she hadn’t missed the way that he’d tried to get Shira to leave as quickly as possible, nor how he stared after her departing carriage as if recalibrating for its sudden departure.
“Is she watching us?” she pressed again, ignoring Ari’s look of warning. If they were being followed, she wanted to know why.
“This is a family business, Miss Rusel,” Damien replied, still watching the carriage. “You shouldn’t be surprised to find my family involved.”
“It’s Mikira,” she ground out. When he called her that—it reminded her of Rezek, and she suspected he knew that. “Then you asked her to look after us?”
Damien’s gaze slid to her, as cold and impersonal as the falling rain. It’d begun to soak through her clothes, coming faster now.
“All that matters is that she saved our lives,” Ari cut in in that ever-calm way of hers that was beginning to grate on Mikira’s nerves. She had a habit of defending Damien that made Mikira want to shake her until the girl saw what he was: a dangerous man with far too much power.
Ari gave her a look that said,And yours relies on him, so don’t push it. Mikirawas treading on delicate ground, but neither could she just ignore this. They were playing far too perilous a game to tolerate unexpected players.
“Are you all just going to keep standing there getting soaked, or can we go inside where it’s not dumping buckets of water from the sky?” Reid asked miserably from the top of the stairs, Widget now bundled in his arms.
Damien took the opening, making for the stairs, but Mikira didn’t move. Ari faced her as the boys retreated down the hall. “You made a deal with him. Telling you everything wasn’t a part of it.”
“I know.” She ran a hand through the damp crown of her hair. “But I’ve been here before. These people—they’ll take everything from you if you’re not careful.”
Ari’s brow furrowed. “Is this about what happened at the square? What you said about the war—”
“I meant every word of it.” Her foolishness had nearly gotten them killed, but she didn’t regret a single thing she’d said.
“What happened?”
It was the genuine concern in Ari’s voice that pulled the story out of her. She’d never told it to anyone, and they never spoke of it at home. “House Kelbra has been after my family’s ranch for years. Just over a year ago, I filed a complaint against them. A few days later, Rezek showed up at the ranch with an order saying my brother had been drafted.”
It had been Lochlyn’s birthday. They’d strung enchanted lights in the barn, the radio playing some old song tinged with static. Her father strummed along on his guitar, his face alight with the sort of glow that only came after winning a big race. They danced. For a little while, they were happy.
Then Rezek’s men arrived.
She remembered the music cutting off sharply, remembered Lochlyn yelling at her and her sisters to run, to hide, even though it was him they’dcome for. He was seventeen. An adult. And under Enderlish law, he could be conscripted—one member of each household to serve the king.
The Council of Lords managed the draft, and it had been all too easy for Rezek to ensure Lochlyn’s name was put into the next lottery. They’d wanted to make an example of her father. Except it had been Mikira who’d filed that complaint. Mikira who’d ignored her family’s warnings, who’d been so afraid they were going to lose the ranch that she’d thought she could put her faith in the law to do what was right like her father had always said.
