Page 31 of Cold Hearted
Again, he was probing about my powers, and I didn’t want to talk about them.
“Night has fallen. Can we go inside and stay at an inn?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We can’t stay. We need to be out before first light.”
He walked over to Omen and Luna, refilling their apples and oats from the saddlebag before throwing a thick blanket over their backs to keep them warm, and then we were off, scrambling down the rocks and toward the giant looming black stone wall that covered the city. Zander hunched as we ran across the open field and I did the same, mimicking his movements as my boots sank into patches of slush.
Nervousness started to claw at my gut.Why does it feel like we are breaking into a city Zander is the commander of?
When we finally reached the high wall, Zander ran the length of it, away from the main gate.
“Zander,” I whisper-screamed. “The gate is that way.” I pointed back to the lit-up entrance.
Something wasn’t right here.
Zander looked back at me, holding a finger to his lips.
With a light growl of frustration, I followed him farther away from the entrance until he slowed, running his fingers along the wall as if probing for cracks. I watched in fascination as he stopped before the large black stone and pulled a key from his pocket. Upon further inspection, there was a tiny hole where a key could be inserted into one of the stone bricks, and I realized we were at a secret entrance.
My heart fluttered wildly in my chest as Zander inserted the key, and then part of the wall popped open to reveal a hidden passage. Reaching out, he grasped my hand and pulled me inside.
I held my breath as we passed through a dark and damp tunnel only to reach another door. This one didn’t require a key, and it creaked open under Zander’s touch. His fingers were still wrapped around mine as he poked his head out to check his surroundings. He waited an agonizing full minute before completely opening the door and passing through, dragging me behind him.
I was thrust into a bustling marketplace. Shop owners were closing up their stalls, mothers calling for their children to return home. A few people glanced our way, but Zander kept his fingers interlocked in mine and gave a cheery wave to onlookers, his hood pulled firmly around his face. We looked like a couple walking home after a long day of work. The thought made butterflies dance in my stomach until I heard the crack of a whip and flinched as Zander’s hand clamped down on mine.
“Curfew in effect in one hour,” a man growled. “Pack up your cart and get on home, you vermin.” I craned my neck to see a guard had just whipped a lady who was still trying to sell some of her handmade bowls and cups.
Zander stopped walking and seethed as he looked at the guard. I scanned the man’s chest for any royal insignia but there was none.
Surely if Zander were the commander of the Northern Army then he was in charge of this fellow. And surely beating a woman an hour before curfew wasnotallowed.
“Do something,” I whispered to him.
He swallowed hard, pulling his hood back slightly so that I could see the pain swimming in his eyes. “That’s the thing, Dawn, I can’t do anything here anymore. The city has fallen into enemy hands.”
I gasped and he yanked my hand, tugging me down an alley as my mind raced.
Enemy hands? Was that the war that his captain spoke of? A war with Noreum? Did that mean that the Northern lord wasn’t even here?
Zander lead me past a series of small rowhouses, all sharing a side wall until we reached one with a robin-egg-blue door. Releasing me, he knocked twice rapidly before drumming his fingers across the door and then knocking three times slowly. Clearly a password of some kind. I was so confused at this point I just went along with it. The truth was I trusted that Zander wouldn’t bring me into danger, so I stood there as the door opened, revealing a small-framed woman with bright red hair.
She waved us in, and Zander waited to pull back his hood until the door shut behind us. Seeing his face, the woman’s eyes went wide, and she dropped to her knee. “Lord Roan.”
I yanked my hand from his as chills ran the length of my arms and I froze, waiting for Zander to correct her.
He didn’t. Instead he looked at me, watching for my reaction.
He tipped his head to her. “Hello, Maegan.”
I was too overcome by shock to do anything, say anything. Disbelief warred with the truth that was right in front of me.
It was him the entire time. Zander was the Northern lord.
“I expected Captain Regis, not you,” the woman said.
“Things changed,” he answered, his gaze never leaving me, but I still hadn’t moved.
My mind was racing a mile a minute. My hand twitched toward my dagger, and Zander’s sharp gaze didn’t miss the movement. He frowned but didn’t make a move to stop me.
