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In the end, it hardly matters since I have little choice but to agree. So I give her a single nod of my head and gesture to the doors.
“Lead the way.”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
ZAINA
Creeping through the shadows of Bondé is far more difficult with the princeling on my heels. He’s slower and louder than Aika, and even the sound of his breathing irritates me.
In fairness, he’s still got traces of whatever she drugged him with in his system, and largely everyone is slower and louder than my sister. But it still makes me crazy.
I’m not sure how much of that is the residual anger I harbor for his general idiocy where my sister is concerned, and how much is the frustration that comes with the inability to move as quickly as I need to.
When we’re a few blocks away, equidistant from the warehouse and the Delmara Estate, I hold up a hand to stop him.
“You wait here,” I whisper.
I don’t want to take the time to explain what I’m doing or why, not to a man who has already accused me of selfishness and my sister of being a monster.
“No,” he argues. “I’ll come with you. I already promised not to interfere.”
“Your presence alone would be an interference for this part,” I hiss, and it’s true. “When I’m finished, we’ll go wait forher.”
My tone is low, and I don’t use any names. Years of working for Madame has made me abundantly aware of how many eyes and ears she has in the city at any given time.
Remy studies me warily, as if trying to piece together what it is that I’m about to do. At least he, too, recognizes the need for caution, keeping his next sentence vague.
“I have a responsibility…” he trails off, letting me infer his meaning.
He doesn’t want me to hurt anyone in his precious kingdom.
“So do I,” I say quietly.To my sister.
He stares me down for a moment longer, and I wonder if he’ll say anything else. Instead, he nods solemnly, gesturing toward the end of the alley.
Perhaps he isn’t quite as big of an imbecile as I thought.
Still, I watch for him to make sure he’s not following me as I make my way a few blocks over.
The old glassworkers’ warehouse looks abandoned with the windows boarded and the sign hanging by a single rusty chain. If it weren’t for the low lantern light escaping through the boards and cracks at the bottom of the door, I might wonder if they moved.
It’s one of Madame’s originalhul gildistributors. They aren’t as notorious as some of the others, but they’re just as cruel. Better yet, word has it that they moonlight as slavers these days as well.
Which makes them a prime target for the vigilante.
Crouching down in the alley across the street, I open my satchel and sort through the vials inside. Though Einar can be overprotective, I have never been more relieved that he isn’t squeamish about something so trivial as killing someone who deserves it.
If this were Jokith, he would have executed these men himself by now.
I can’t imagine that Remy would have been as accommodating if he knew my true intentions for tonight.
I gingerly place an iron padlock on the front door to ensure that no one escapes before grabbing the vials to create the nightshade smoke. Once I’m around the back and the coast is clear, I toss the vials in through a back window, listening as they crash and break.
It’s an easy, merciful death, more so than the one my sister gives her victims, but I’m banking on the fact that no one will care enough to notice the difference.
I’m gone before a single bit of the poison can reach me, though I’ve already taken the antidote. Still, I err on the side of caution, covering my nose with my veil and waiting for the smoke to dissipate before I risk entering the building.
Einar would be so proud.
