15
RAELYNA
I was so royally fuckedif anyone caught me up here.
The two guards I’d been tailing had quickly made their way to the fourth floor of Solis Court. A floor I damn well knew was strictly forbidden to anyone but Lucanus and those he’d selected to enter.
Not that it mattered.
I knew my hunch that something was happening to angels in Solis Quarter was correct. And now, I just needed to let these two guards lead me straight toward the answers.
Only, what I hadn’t expected was for them to turn into the court temple, taking the female with them.
I clung to the shadows, praying that I was hidden enough from view as I slid through the opening of a side door and watched as the two guards unceremoniously dropped the female before an altar.
“Cutting it close tonight,” a low voice rumbled from the far wall. I watched as a male stepped out from the shadows in the distance, greeting the two guards, two priestesses emerging on either side of him.
“It won’t happen again,” the first guard, the one I’d gatheredwas in charge, stated with determination. “We thought this was one of the willing volunteers from the Temple District. Had we known it was one of theRemnantthat the king is hunting down, we would have gone in more prepared.”
“I don’t need excuses. Willing or not, see that it doesn’t happen again,” the unknown male replied, his voice tense as he approached the unconscious female whose body had been dumped onto the marbled floor.
“What are you going to do with her?” the second guard inquired.
“The king’s business affairs are his and his alone. They are not for you to concern yourself with,” the male in the shadows replied tightly, his voice brooking no argument as the priestesses began milling about the temple grounds.
“Come on, man. Let’s just take our money and get out of here,” the first guard said, his footsteps already guiding him toward the doorway of the inner temple.
I watched from the darkness as the two guards grabbed their payment before hurrying out of the room. And then, it was just me, alone in the shadows, as I watched the male step forward, his features cloaked in heavy garb.
I felt his affinity pull through the room. The air around the female shifted as he lifted her with ease and began floating her toward a less identifiable doorway in the back alcove of the room.
Stars-damn me.
I was about to leave when a voice from the main door sounded, and the blood in my veins chilled.
“What do we have here?”
Astara take me now.
Lucanus stepped into the temple room, walking down the center pathway. His steps were slow and measured as the heel of his shoes thudded against the marbled floors.
I stopped breathing, controlling my heart rate as he walked further into the space.
“Your Majesty.” The male who had greeted the two guards stopped what he was doing, turning and bowing toward the king of Solis.
I watched as Luc scanned the room, his eyes lingering on each of the priestesses through the space, before settling back on the male who’d spoken.
“Kymond,” Lucanus replied in greeting, and I sank further back into the shadows, attempting to stay hidden from view.
I could not be caught now. Not here . . . and not with Lucanus in the temple.
“This is the latest request. She holds two aetherial elements and one elemental.”
“Willing or Remnant?” Luc’s voice was cold as his gaze trailed over the female’s limp body.
“Remnant,” the male spat the word.
“The sooner we rid Solis Quarter of the last of those who worshiped the god from before The Rift, the better.”
