Page 145 of City of Snakes
I needed to make this up to Sybilla somehow—get through to her that despite all my hesitation, there was no better way to wake up than by her side. I wasn’t too stupid to understand what budded between us.
Only fear prevented me from calling it love.
A loud knock against the door made us both flinch.
“We’ve got trouble, Krait,” Ryn called in. “Is El with you?”
I went to the door and swung it open in an instant. “What trouble?” Ryn’s brows lifted as he looked past me at Elsedora.
“Visitors from Helos. King Mattock is here asking for El, and he told the guards to keep Sybilla away.”
My legs faltered, and I took a step back before glancing at El.
“She’s in my chambers still,” she reassured me.
I nodded and returned my attention to Ryn. “Go, distract her. Where is Mattock?”
Ryn seemed uncomfortable. “He was cuffed and brought to the cell”
I stilled. “Is he under Caym’s influence?”
Ryn winced. “No…but he is with Firose Van Gran.”
My blood ran cold.
She was supposed to be dead.
A murderous ring of Shadows stretched around me.
“Krait…you can’t killeitherof them, not until we have answers. The two of them might have valuable information,” Ryn warned. “They surrendered willingly. Let them talk.”
A low growl built in the back of my throat, and while I knew he was right, I certainly didn’t feel like being patient when the woman responsible for Freya’s end sat under my roof. She had been the only person who knew of our marriage aside from Ryn. She’d been Freya’s dearest friend…and when she’d revealed our nuptials to the Phynnic King, it had condemned my first love to death.
I would let her talk.
And then I’d let my Shadows tear her apart limb by fucking limb, like I thought she’d been by that wolf-beast.
“You should really let me talk to them first,” Elsedora mused.
I responded with a displeased grunt. We reached the bottom step, and El sighed.
Mattock and Firose were being held in the cell below Umber House. The dust caught the light from a sconce, but it was otherwise bewilderingly dark down there for midmorning in the Sahlms.
Our visitors from Helos faced one another, chained to opposite walls with their hands above their heads.
“Why are you here to speak with Elsedora?” I directed my question at Mattock, not wanting to look at Firose. To look at her would be to face my wrath and I was not ready yet. My fistsclenched at my sides, and my body felt stiff with the urge to end this the easy way.
“Because I had nowhere else to go, and Elsedora has been kind to me.” He glanced past me to Elsedora who tsk-tsked lightly.
“Oh, puppy, you’ve stepped right into the lion’s den now. What is it that you wanted to say to me?”
“That you were right. I am an envoy. It’s like he’s split me in two, and I’ve done horrible things…”
I let a low growl leave my throat. “And you decided to bring yourselfhere, to my city?”
Firose cut in, “Caym can only move between minds when he is near. He uses marks to track envoys.”
“Silence!” I barked at her. Elsedora flinched beside me.
