Page 41 of Cold Hearted
He swallowed. “I wasn’t there, so I can’t be sure exactly—”
I lifted a hand, ready to run him through like I had the others in his cohort.
“Wait! Wait!” he wailed. “I can be useful to you. I can get you into the castle to see for yourself.”
I laughed. The idea that I would need his help to enter my own castle now that the curse was lifted was humorous. With no more effort than a thought, I sent a spike through his neck, pinning him to the wall behind him. I left him there, choking on his blood as I walked to the end of the alley, my only regret being I couldn’t make his death more painful.
Some of my fury had abated now that I’d killed some of the rondak’s personal guard, but it came flooding to the surface as I stalked the city streets on my way to the castle. Noreum was in chaos. The rondak’s soldiers were searching houses, looking for the assassin and abusing the citizens as they went.My people.Manhandling and beating them, they took the opportunity to take their cruelty out on innocents. Shops were being looted and small fires had broken out everywhere. Fae rushed back and forth, doing their best to put out the fires and defend their neighbors against the rondak’s forces, but they weren’t skilled enough to do either.
It took me far too long to work my way toward the castle. I couldn’t help much with fires, and there was too much bedlam to do anything about the looting, but I could stop any soldiers I came up against, and I did.
But even as I cut down my enemies, my mind fought against me, bringing up the urgency to find Dawn even though there was nothing I could do to find her right now. Was she still in the city? How long had I slept? Was she halfway to one of my brothers by now? I knew she could take care of herself. She’d proven that time and time again. Most likely she fled Noreum before all this anarchy broke loose. If she’d left the city, she would be difficult to find later, but I’d rather have a harder time searching for her than have her injured or worse.
“Lord Roan!” someone shouted, and I turned to see Captain Regis running toward me.
I wasn’t overly surprised that he was here. He’d been stationed right outside the city with a contingent of my soldiers. Dawn and I could have traveled to Noreum with them, but after she’d displayed the full extent of her sunlight magic I needed time alone with her to decide if she was a threat to my men or not. At least that was the lie I told myself at the time rather than face the truth that I simply wanted to be alone with her whenever possible.
“We heard the horns and stormed the gate,” Regis said. There was a cut high on his forehead that trickled blood,but otherwise he appeared unharmed. “Thought you might be in danger.”
My plan had been to get the intel from Maegan and then meet with Regis outside and have the army attack in the next night or two. This was even better than planned.
“Good,” I said with a nod. “The rondak is dead. I assume he double-crossed one of his men and they took him out. Now is our chance to take back the city from the betrayers that aligned with him.”
“Where’s Dawn?” Regis asked, his gaze scanning for her, before landing back on me. Regis was aware of my suspicions about Dawn, and the dark look on my face was answer enough.
“I see,” he said, and left it at that.
“I’m headed to take back my castle. Tell the troops to defend the people. If the rondak’s guards won’t surrender, kill them,” I ordered, and then turned to leave.
“Would you like me to send some men with you?” Regis called after me.
“No,” I said over my shoulder. I wouldn’t need any backup, not now that my powers were fully back. But my people did.
I sprinted through the streets quickly, becoming a blur to anyone who was near. Now that I knew my people were being assisted and protected, I could focus on taking back my castle and my kingdom.
I reached the castle steps in no time. The sun had not yet crested the horizon, so there was an unending supply of shadows to manipulate, and so without breaking stride I wrapped a rope of darkness around the soldiers guarding the entrance, lifting them three stories in the air before dropping them.Their frightened screams cut off abruptly when they hit the unforgiving stones below, but I was already inside the castle when that happened.
I rushed through the halls, slaying the rondak’s guards quickly whenever I came into contact with them, careful to spare the house staff who had nothing to do with his takeover. It would take time to ferret out the disloyal among my subjects after this night was done, but I didn’t want to condemn anyone to an unfair end.
My steps brought me to the top floor of the tower where the rondak was said to sleep. My spies had reported in the past that he hadn’t used the royal suites for his dwelling, instead choosing a smaller room that he thought was more well-fortified. Even though I knew the curse had been lifted, I needed to see his body for myself to know that he was truly gone.
When I reached the top floor, my eyes fell upon the smashed door at the end of the hall. I slowed myself, taking cautious steps forward. I didn’t doubt my ability to take out my enemy, but he was as calculating as he was vicious, which was the only reason he’d stayed a step ahead of me and my troops for so long. If he was still alive and had somehow made my power fully return to trick me, I didn’t want to be caught unawares, and above all I didn’t want to kill him and release a plague upon my beloved people.
My feet crunched over the broken bits of door as I neared. My gaze settled on the dead body of his beloved three-headed monster dog. There was white foam at its mouth. Interesting. Poison maybe?
I then looked upon the rondak’s remains. Half of the rondak’s head was missing and the remaining bit was charred beyond recognition.
Shock ripped through me at the sight.
I scanned the room, looking for more evidence of what I now suspected, and a smile grew on my face. There were telltale scorch marks on the stone floor and walls. The rondak was killed by sunlight magic, I was sure of it.
Oh, little bird. You’ve been busy.
I chuckled darkly, looking at the carnage she’d wrought on the room and to my greatest enemy. It was romantic in a dark and twisted way, a way that I loved. My little assassin bird had given me a gift in the only way she knew how. A deep sense of satisfaction settled in my chest that since I couldn’t be the one to end the rondak’s life, she had been the one to kill him.
There was nothing I could do about it now if she’d fled the city like I feared. I had to let the dust settle and make sure my kingdom was secure. But that didn’t change the fact that whether she knew it or not, she was mine, just as I was hers. And I would find her.
Chapter 11
