“Too bad where he’s going, he won’t have any power at all.”
I stirred my chai, sitting on the divan and waiting for Noor to come back. When the door creaked open, I turned.
“Is it done?” I held my breath.
“Yes.” She nodded. “They picked Darbaran up this morning. Along with the stolen zoraat lifted from one of the emperor’s healers a few days ago.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. I mentally crossed off another name on the list.
Just two more.
Two more and I could be done with this. An ache settled on myshoulders, like one more burden had been lifted from them, leaving only the pain of the impression behind.
Two more names and I could open the floodgates locked around my heart and allow myself to grieve for Baba. For the life I was meant to have.
I looked up at her. “Do you know what they intend to do with him?”
Noor shrugged. “Ship him off to the same prison we— Did you hear that?” Noor turned her head sharply toward the open courtyard door leading to the garden beyond.
I sat up, reaching for my dagger.
A thud sounded outside, followed by a shout that was abruptly silenced. I slid my katar from its sheath before I stood, my pounding heart echoing in the otherwise silent house.
“How many guards do we have out there?” I hissed at Noor.
She moved closer to me, her eyes wide, her hand gripping her kameez at her chest. “At least four.”
“Not enough,” I muttered. The zoraat was safe, at least, not any intruder could just break in and find it. But if someone wanted to rob us, they needed to make an effort to overcome the security in this place. But then they would be left to me.
I moved to the open door, creeping into the courtyard as quietly as I could, my bare steps a whisper across the stone floor.
But I wasn’t fast enough.
A blade kissed my neck, surprisingly steady considering the hand that held it.
I turned my head as Darbaran’s stale breath puffed out and he moved out of the darkness. His twisted face was illuminated by the torches lighting the room.
Noor let out a strangled scream, but I held up a hand. I still held my dagger in the other, and I wasn’t sure how deft Darbaran was with a sword. If he had taken me by surprise now, then he could move as quick as I and I didn’t want to risk using my dagger when his sword was pressed against my leaping pulse.
“Bitch.” His fowl stench wafted, the pungent odor of sewer water and sweat, with a slightly metallic, familiar tinge underneath.
I pushed past my panic and focused on that metallic smell. My eyes scanned his body in the dark, trying to find its source.
There.
A dark red stain spreading across his abdomen like spilled paint. He was injured. It was deep.
I smiled.
“Darbaran,” I drawled, my voice like rose petal honey. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. Did you sell the product already?”
“The product youstole,you mean,” he growled, his whole body reverberating with anger. “Then framed me for the theft and tipped off the emperor’s soldiers.” He coughed, a wet, squelching sound. “Good thing I knew a few people to bribe.”
I cocked my head. “You didn’t know the right people, if you came out of it with a wound like that.” I looked pointedly in the direction of his stomach. “It’s deep.” My voice lost its false charm, instead becoming what I felt inside—cold, fierce.
He laughed, his teeth smeared black with blood. Then his face grew serious.
“Why?” he snarled, stepping forward into the light, pressing his scimitar harder into the soft curve of my neck. Noor moved in my periphery, creeping closer in our direction, but I shook my head almost imperceptibly. Darbaran could slit my throat in a moment, and then she’d have to fend against him on her own. And Noor was no good with a weapon.
