Page 89 of The Serpent Prince

“What was that?” Kiran asked, ignoring Imani. “I couldn’t quite hear you. Where are they?”

The sentinel slammed his fist onto the desk, wand in hand. He was going to retaliate, still fighting even Kiran’s magic. Imani couldn’t hold him much longer. She could call more darkness forward, but she couldn’t risk letting someone see her true dark magic unleashed. Or risk killing him.

Her patience broke. “Get out of my way, Kiran,” she snapped.

There was a more straightforward solution to this mess, one that she’d learned from her years of collecting.

Imani shouldered around the prince and aimed her wand at the dwarf. Magic blasted through his kneecap. Bone crunched and blood splattered as he howled in agonizing pain.

She ignored the moans to grab the papers on the desk, snatching them up like lightning. Once the maps were firmly in her hand, she stepped over his leg and marched to the door.

The prince stood staring at her with a look of confusion and contemplation, like he was working something out in his mind, but Imani didn’t have time for it.

“Stop standing there,” she growled at Kiran, irritated at his inability to accept her help. “Perform a memory spell and let’s get out of here.”

Kiran nodded, his face serious. Although she didn’t miss the tiny glint of amusement he gave her as he murmured a memory spell.

The dwarf’s eyes went slack.

CHAPTER 32

Shaking forced Imani’s eyes open.

Bleary, Kiran slowly came into focus above her. She smiled dreamily and reached for him. “Hello, my elf prince,” she murmured, curling her hand around his neck while pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He groaned but abruptly broke their connection. His face was a stone of determination.

“Not tonight.”

Sobered, she nodded. “What’s going on?” Something was wrong, she could tell in his signature and his eyes.

While glancing at the door, a determined yet anxious look on his face, he took out a pile of clothes for her. They included fur-lined leggings, sturdy boots, a warm tunic, and a fur cloak.

Imani stared at the clothes, confused. “What are these for? Did the memory spell not work? Are we being kicked out?”

“Remember the blood burning, when I said you’d need to go with me without question?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“That’s tonight.”

Imani’s stomach dropped, and she could feel the binding burning on her skin. It was demanding she go, impossible to resist without intense pain.

She hesitated, swallowing hard and glancing around the room as if she could somehow escape.

Kiran shook her to wake her up from her daze, his face a sudden snarl. “We’ll leave as soon as possible. Incidentally, if you decide to back out of our agreement at any time during our journey, I will strangle you before the binding can—and enjoy it.”

They were done pretending.

She glared but merely nodded, swinging her legs over the bed, reaching for the clothes. She dressed.

“We can only bring small items—anything that can fit in this bag. Everything else needs to be left behind.” He shoved a knapsack in her hands then crossed his arms, waiting.

Imani had few belongings she cared about, and while she couldn’t fit her entire trunk inside, she could enchant the bag to fit everything important. It took her a few minutes to gather the items. Kiran eyed the book he’d given her as she placed it carefully inside, its binding already tearing apart.

She ignored him, wondering what other secrets he might be keeping.

Kiran helped her into her cloak then took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. His strange, mercurial mood was clearly not abating.

As they stepped out into the hallway, Imani half-expected the full guardsmen of the dwarves to be waiting for them. They’d cast so many memory spells, already deceived so many by stealing the book from the library and the maps from the sentinel.