Page 25 of The Blade in the Ashes
His eyes had held so much sincerity when he’d stared at me, sawme, and whispered those words.
But that was a year ago.
A lot could have changed since then. He could have taken these many months to realize how ridiculous our brief relationship had been. He might even hate me now.
Although it certainly hadn’t felt like he hated me when he’d kissed me and I’d felt that firmness pressed tightly against my belly.
“Gods, will someone talk to Iris and distract her?” Kent’s voice was a plea behind me, laced with pain. “I’m still too weak to block out her emotions, and she’s projecting a storm of them.”
My cheeks flamed, and I sent a burst of magic to hide the flush, keeping my gaze straight ahead even as I felt eyes turn towards me.
“Kent,” Elaina quietly murmured in warning.
He sighed, flashing me an apologetic grimace. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I lied, pretending to focus on adjusting my boot in the stirrup of my saddle.
It was, however, not fine.
Nikolai’s shoulders were shaking with swallowed-down laughter in front of me, and it was taking more magic than it should to hide the blush of my mortification from my cheeks and neck. No, it was not fine. Nothing about this was fine.
This property seemed ridiculously larger than in my memories—certainly large enough to support the small contingent we'd brought with us.
Towering spires and intricate stonework made the primary manor a fortress draped in elegance. It seemed like a miniature castle, larger even than Hyrax Manor, and looked practically unchanged since the last time I’d been here.
The dozen subsidiary cottages and homes that now surrounded it, though, were definitely new.
“Business has been good over the past year,” Nikolai commented in my direction as he threw one leg over his sand-colored steed and dismounted. “You could say the demise of the Serpent and Joliette allowed me to expand my enterprises.”
“I can see that,” I mumbled, scanning over the property, which had become somewhat of a self-contained town.
Nikolai made quick work of getting everyone settled as we made our way onto the front lawn. He directed his men to take the women, children, and injured to several guest houses along the estate where they could rest. He directed our soldiers to the barracks behind the primary manor where his own army was housed—any that didn’t fit were instructed to pitch tents on the back lawn.
Clay passed his horse off to a general, asking him to ensure the animal was well-cared for and allowed to rest. I was just about to start questioning Clay’s next plan when Nikolai was suddenly upon me. Without sparing me more than a momentary glance, he took my hand and set off into the home.
I sent a fleeting, panicked look over my shoulder, but Clay, Kent, and Rankor looked more amused than anything else as they followed behind us.
Assholes.
Nikolai led us through the manor halls into the dining room, where he had conducted his business meetings the last time I’d been here. I instantly recognized the high-backed chairs tucked into a recently polished dining table. There were perhaps some new vases and oddities along the walls—signs that business had indeed been good for the smuggler in the past year.
He noticed my attention on a black opal crystal within a glass case and winked as he pulled out a chair and tugged me towards it.
The chair to his right.
I dug my heels into the ground, pulling my hand out of Nikolai’s and preparing for an argument.
Clay was the king. He should be seated at the head of the table, not Nikolai, and I should be at his right,not Nikolai’s. But my cousin only sighed and shook his head, silently ordering me to accept the situation for now as he took the seat next to me. Rankor and Kent found their seats too, as did Elaina and Camilla.
The latter avoided my glare as if she could catch a plague just by meeting my stare.
Nikolai clapped his hands and ordered for food to be brought to the table.
“Well, I can only assume you didnotfind the Book of the Gods,” Nikolai mused, rubbing a hand over his jaw. He was the picture of comfort, leaned back in his seat even as I tensed.
Nikolai spoke to my friends with far too much familiarity. How long exactly had Clay been working with him?
“Oh, we found it,” Camilla quipped sarcastically. The sound of her voice had me gripping my dinner knife, a motion that Nikolai seemed to note with a small smile.
