Page 20 of Ashen Wings

“Fine.” I take in the place setting before me. There’s only a plate and napkin—no utensils. They don’t trust I wouldn’t stab anyone, I guess. “Can I at least have a fork or would you prefer I use my hands?”

“Starling, you can do whatever you want with those violent little fingers of yours,” Jace muses, draping his arms behind his head beside me.

Isra snorts so hard, I swear the man might choke on his chicken. Fuck, they’re enjoying this volley between us—toying with me like I’m some pet. Assholes.

Roe slides a new set of utensils across the table to me, her eyebrows lowered in a don’t fuck with us sort of way. I take the fork and plunge it into the closest entree—a honey glazed filet. Just by the slide of the fork tines, I know it’s cooked to perfection. My stomach grumbles.

Jace watches me with an intensity only fit for a hawk tracking its prey as I slice the filet and bring a bite to my mouth.

“Good. Now, ask your question,” he says, his voice a mere rumble in his throat.

The decadence of the meat is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Whether it’s because I’m half-starved or I grew up with day-old scraps from the tavern next to the apothecary, doesn’t matter, because I take a bite then another until the ache in my stomach is manageable.

“Why are you holding me here?” I ask.

“I think you already know the answer to that question, you just prefer not to admit it.”

I sip the glass of wine Jace has poured for me. Fuck, it’s delicious. I’ve never tasted anything with such a complex pallet—sweet, but earthy, rich, but smooth. The ale back in Smoke is glorified piss, and I don’t doubt Val might actually serve me wastewater back at her tavern.

“If you aren’t the guardian rider, how are you bonded to a Blightfang?”

“Because Tenebris deemed me worthy of the bond,” he states, taking a bite of a strawberry. His lips wrap around the fruit with villainous delicacy.

My throat dries. “Will you let me go?”

“Yes, but you’ll want to stay.” He places a roll on my plate, and I take a bite.

“I sincerely doubt it.” My stomach clenches around the shadows swirling in his dark expression.

“The three of us are the only ones who truly know who you are, Nova.”

“You know nothing about me. I’ve told you my truth,” I say, placing the fork down. I’m dancing over coals here. He’s seen the violet in my eyes and the scar bisecting my brow. He’s seen the silvery strands of hair unaffected by the dye. But I’ve been taught to keep my past close, and this is beyond dangerous.

Roe’s gone quiet, freckled with a deadly potency.

“You’re just going to trust her with this, Jace? Have you gone dull?” she snaps. Isra stays silent, watching the tension build like blocks before him.

“And do you not trust me?” Jace’s voice lowers to that lethal tone I’ve heard too many times already. I’m relieved it’s not directed toward me, though. Roe sighs and shakes her head, neither of their eyes leave me.

“Of course I do,” she replies. “But who’s to say she won’t run right back to Magnius Ashar with this information. Shadow’s not ready for another invasion, Jace.”

Jace sighs and leans back in his seat. The golden gleaming ring on his pinky finger sparkles with the flicker of sconce light.

“She won’t report back to Ashar,” Isra chimes in. His blazing emerald gaze tells me what he meant was she won’t get the opportunity to. I shudder, watching his hands grip the dinner knife like it’s made for a doll.

“Why were you really at Cael’s, Nova?” Jace asks, his attention now back wholly on me.

I fight the urge to shift in my seat. “I told you. I was just retrieving dragonstones. We—my employer—was hired to track down a set of dragonstones confiscated by Smoke’s rare imports unit. That’s all.”

“You weren’t after the egg?” Isra asks, raising a full brow.

“Fuck no. I wouldn’t involve myself in Ashar’s motives. I’m telling you the truth. Please, just let me go. I know how to disappear…it’s my specialty, in fact. I swear on Astora I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone,” I plead, desperate, and out of options.

“I can’t do that,” Jace says.

“So you’ll interrogate me until I break and then what? Execute me?”

“Yes,” he replies, and I know it’s nowhere near a bluff. “I’m going to ask you one last time. Where are you from?”