Page 152 of Serpent and Shadow

“I think you do,” I answered.

There was a silence where he held me tighter for a moment longer, then gradually began to let me go. He cupped my face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed me on the mouth.

“It was Mordopast,” he said, his voice grim. “Vlad’s father.”

I tensed, then gripped his wrists and arms in my hands. Tears came to my eyes, before I could stop them, and I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Didn’t you get in trouble for that?”

Bones’s jaw clenched. For a few seconds, he looked away, then his eyes returned to mine.

“I’m not sure Malefic knows yet,” he said, his voice neutral.

“It was in the news, Bones,” I pointed out.

“I mean, I’m not sure he knows who it was.” Bones continued to stroke my face with his fingers as he glanced towards the burning city. “He knows I killed someone. Believe me, he’s happy abut that, and the reporters are happy to have finally gotten me being a murderer on camera. The shot pleased Orrin and Sirena, too. They were running around showing everyone and drinking me toasts when they saw the early edition. Everyone is happy, and no one has asked me yet, who it was.”

“But surely they’ll find out?” I said.

He shrugged again. “I don’t care.”

Frowning, he looked at me.

“Maybe I care a little,” he conceded. “If only for Arcturus’s sake. I tried to take precautions. I changed his appearance just before his death. I took his family crest ring, and I’m sure it will be stripped of the rest of his jewelry and most of his clothing before anyone in Dark Cathedral notices Mordopast is gone. Even if they stumble upon the body before it gets tossed into a grave, it’s possible they won’t figure it out.”

His voice grew bitter as he looked back over the burning skyline.

“There will be a lot of dead bodies by the end of tonight, Leda. One old man won’t stand out, as long as there’s no reason for him to think he’s one of theirs.”

I watched his face, seeing the smear of blood dried onto his skin.

“Why were they so surprised you’d killed someone?” I asked, softer. “Aren’t you supposed to be Malefic’s weapon?”

He didn’t answer. I saw his jaw tic, and that was enough to answer my question.

“You’ve not been killing people, have you?” I asked quietly. “It’s all bollocks. This whole, ‘Bones Heir As Mass Murderer’ story, it’s just an invention by Malefic to scare the shit out of everyone. Isn’t it?”

Bones let out a humorless scoff, his eyes cold.

“That’s quite the technicality,” he said drily, giving me a sideways glance. His eyes returned to the burning skyline. “I’ve cleared the way for them to go in and kill and rape and hurt whoever they wanted,” he growled. “My fires have wounded people, collapsed buildings on people.” His eyes met mine, like gold ice. “Trust me, wife, I’ve killed. I’ve got plenty of blood on my hands, as desperate as you are to wash it off.”

He looked away, his jaw hardening back to granite.

I tugged on his arm until he looked at me.

“Okay.” I watched his eyes flinch, right before they narrowed. “Okay,” I repeated. “I won’t argue with you. But I know why you’re doing it, Bones. So does Arcturus.” I swallowed. “So does your mum.”

His mouth hardened. He looked away, and a faint whisper of dark humor crossed his face as he shook his head. His mouth still had a faint quirk in it when he looked down at me again.

“I suspect you’re right,” he said. “For Arcturus and my mother, at least.”

I considered asking him what he meant by that, but he’d already bent his neck and head towards me. He kissed my face. He kissed me again and again, across my cheeks, the edge of my jaw, the corners of my mouth and eyes. Somewhere in that, my mouth found his and we were kissing for real. He paused only once, and by then he had pulled me deeper into the copse of trees that ringed the hilltop where he’d brought me.

“Why weren’t you wearing your bracelet?” he murmured against my mouth. “Or carrying the talisman Alaric gave you?”

I felt myself flush, and my jaw hardened.

“I overslept,” I admitted.

He stared at me for a few seconds. I saw the instant understanding reached his eyes, and a second later, I realized how he’d interpreted my words. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and gripped him tightly before he could pull away.