“Wear the same face, obviously.”
Lux couldn’t speak.
Morana spoke, instead. “I suppose I should say thank you for rescuing me. I’m sure it’s only for the price my father has placed on my return, but nevertheless.” She peered into the gloom surrounding them, ducking below a swiping bough. Lux, reeling yet, gripped her injured arm tighter against her abdomen. “I never imagined someone could live out here. What a horrifying place. How did you find me?”
Lux’s mind stumbled away from all she’d learned and into what Morana asked now. But she would never tell her the truth. “One of the reapers mentioned a strange sighting in the forest. Rumor spread of a phantom, cloaked in grey. Your father is offering a reward, and I thought, perhaps, it may have been you, lost in mourning. When the figure vanished amongst the trees, I discovered you anyway.”
“My kidnapper,” Morana hissed. “When I return home, this entire forest will be combed to its edges.”
“Do you have an idea of what it might be?”
“Whom.A woman.” Morana glanced over her shoulder, eyes gleaming in the darkness. “Adeadwoman. She will pay for her crimes.”
It can’t be.
Lux needed something, anything, to disprove the theory unwillingly conjured within her head. Ever since she’d discovered a weathered page buried within a book in a cottage far from home.
She has no family.
Chapter forty-four
“Ms. Tamish!” The Shields’gazes roved between the pair of them, grime-spattered and wounded. “Inform the mayor!”
The shout directed toward the other man peering over their shoulder sent him bounding to obey.
Night teetered dangerously close to morning, and the beaming lampposts outside the mansion’s doors gave Lux a splintering headache. The captain, for he must be, fixed a suspicious stare upon her. When she only glowered back, he relented. “We have been scouring the city for you, Miss. Top to bottom. Even braving the Dark, their plague and all.”
Lux scoffed. Loudly.
Morana ignored her. “I expect nothing less from my father.” She sauntered past him. “I must request the healer immediately. My ankle requires attention.” The Shield moved to block Lux’s path. “Oh, let her in. She’s come to collect the reward.”
The captain frowned. “What reward?”
Morana’s eyes snapped to Lux’s.
“My darling daughter! You’re alive!” The mayor hurried as quickly down the wide staircase as was socially acceptable for his station, nightcap askew. Nearing Morana, he gripped her shoulders. “You’re unhurt?”
“Only my ankle.” She held the chain from her. “I’ve had the most horrific time.”
The mayortsk’d, his gaze seeking Lux’s. “And the girl found you, did she?”
“She did.”
A white-hot streak lightninged up Lux’s arm, and she grimaced.
“You’re so quiet, Necromancer. Injured?” The mayor’s eyes penetrated the fabric of her shoulder.
“I’ll live, Mayor. By all means, see to your returned daughter. I can wait. For a moment.”
Her hidden meaning wasn’t lost on Morana. “Yes, Lux mentioned a reward. Though the guard has no recollection of such a thing posted.”
The mayor patted his daughter’s cheek, lingering briefly over the bruise highlighting her cheekbone. “More a bargain than a reward, darling.” He spun, his cap giving in and rippling to the floor. “Bring up the boy!”
The volume, as always, was unnecessary, and Lux released her throbbing arm to clutch her aching head.
“A boy?”
Morana’s increasing interest in Lux’s personal affairs could only amount to no good. “An innocent,” said Lux, between her teeth.
