Page 97 of Storm of Ink and Blood

Lying flat on an angled stretch of rooftop, they watched dozens of guests mingling together. Zarya’s gaze wandered past the palace towards the front courtyard and the leaves of the Jai Tree blowing gently in the breeze.

“You’re sure we can’t go and see Amrita?” she asked for the hundredth time since they’d cooked up this plan.

Rabin turned to look at her, his expression firm. “We’ve been over this. She’s heavily guarded. Even if Vik isn’t with her, he would never leave her unattended, especially in her condition.”

Zarya huffed out an annoyed breath. She knew he was right, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to see her friend. Logically, if they did get her alone, Zarya wouldn’t even be able to speak with her, but she could at least let Amrita know she was thinking of her.

Her attention wandered back to the ballroom and the milling guests. She spied Gopal Ravana chatting with a glass of wine in his hand. Rabin had noticed him, too, his gaze fixed on his father and a muscle feathering in his jaw.

“That day I caught you with him in the garden,” Zarya said, referring to the morning they’d left for Ranpur Island and the Bayangoma Grove. “Who did he threaten?”

Rabin blinked, exhaling a short breath. “You.”

She shook her head. “What is his problem with me?”

Slowly, Rabin turned to look at her. “Apparently, he fancied your mother. They met many years ago, but she rejected him.”

She arched an eyebrow. Surely, Gopal Ravana wasn’t that fragile. But, of course, he was. “And I look just like her.”

Rabin’s gaze drifted over her face. “Evidently.”

“Well, at least she had some sense in her choice of lovers.”

Rabin huffed. “I wanted to rip out his heart and crush it in my hands.”

His voice was so full of bone-shivering menace that Zarya tipped her head and said, “That’s sweet.”

His gaze swung to her with an incredulous look before the tension in his shoulders eased and he shook his head with a soft chuckle. “Thank you,” he said. “For always understanding what I need.”

Her breath hitched when a flash of bright golden light drew their attention back to the party. Koura’s demonstration had commenced, and every eye in the room was now focused on his extraordinary display of magic.

“That’s our signal,” Rabin said, pushing himself up before Zarya followed.

They approached a grate carved into the roof, and she peered into it, seeing nothing but darkness below. She sent out a tendril of spirit, working on the lock. No one had raised the alarm when they’d entered the city as far as they could tell, and she hoped the residents of the house assumed they’d just seen a ghost or perhaps an inexperienced thief.

She tinkered with the lock for a few minutes—it had obviously been constructed with a complicated mechanism designed to prevent tampering, but she persevered until she heard the click. She was becoming rather good at this.

Rabin then wrapped his big hands around the bars and heaved. The grate was incredibly heavy, and the tendons in his neck pulled as Zarya moved to the other side and helped shove it up. With a loud squeak, it lifted and then dropped at his feet with a thud.

They froze, scanning their surroundings for any signs of trouble. The party carried on uninterrupted, and the guards remained stationed at their posts. They both let out a breath.

“Let’s go,” Rabin said, and she watched as he channeled a thick green vine made of magic and directed it down the hole. “I’ll go first and make sure everything is clear.”

She nearly protested that she didn’t need him protecting her but stopped. First, there was no point wasting time arguing about this, and second, if Rabin planned to become her paramadhar, then this would be his job. His literal existence. She’d have to get used to it.

“Fine, hurry up,” she said impatiently, and he gave her a smug smile before he descended through the dark opening. She leaned over the hole as he disappeared into the shadows. A few seconds later, he tugged the vine, indicating it was safe to follow.

Zarya shimmied down, hand over hand, until she felt a pair of warm hands around her waist.

“Got you,” Rabin whispered, his breath tickling her ear and making her shiver.

While she was mortified about being caught by Row and Koura, she also couldn’t stop thinking about how they’d been interrupted. Last night, after they’d again retired to separate beds, she’d fallen asleep to the image of this man as she brought herself some relief from the constant needy ache below her navel.

Sometimes, she couldn’t shake the feeling that one way or another, he would become the death of her.

Once they were on the ground, Rabin drew out a flare of copper light to help illuminate their way. They were inside a large duct that was just tall enough for Zarya to stand, though Rabin had to stoop his head.

He took her hand, and they slowly picked their way down the vent, trying to stay as light on their feet as possible. Soon, they reached a branch in the tunnel with narrower vents leading off in several directions.