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I took a deep breath. “We need to send some of them out. If Vicer manages to get the hybrid camp leader to cooperate, the entire camp will need to move down to the fae lands. It will draw a lot of attention. The fae and hybrids are probably tired of training. They’re bored, and they want to be doing something.” We needed a distraction. Something that would make themhaveto cooperate… “We hold a competition,” I said.
“A competition?”
“Yes. Something that requires them to work together in teams of hybrid and fae. The best teams get to go and escort the hybrid camp down.”
“You believe Vicer can convince them to move down to the fae lands?”
“I think once we tell him what happened to my village, he’ll start playing dirty.”
“I’ll let Hevdrin know.” Lorian glanced toward the door, his expression tightening. “How well can you trust Thol?”
Surprise flashed through me. “What do you mean?”
“He says the village was attacked, but we have no proof of such a thing. If I were Regner and I wanted to slip someone in here and ensure they learned everything they could…”
Bile climbed up my throat at the thought of Thol lying. At the way Asinia and I had fallen apart. “He took a blood vow.”
“Only for the hourglass. There are plenty of other things he could tell Regner. All I’m saying is it’s incredibly convenient that the only person who survived was the man who had the ability to track you.”
My stomach clenched. I hated that Lorian had a point.
“We’ll be careful about what we say in front of him. And I’ll speak to Demos. We’ll all keep a close eye on him. But I can’t just leave him here, Lorian. If he really is on our side, I’m responsible for everything that happened to him. If he’s not lying, his sister isdead.” My voice cracked. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to kill me, even if he said he no longer wanted me dead. If it had been Tibris who had died with the rest of our village…
Lorian’s big hands caught my hips, and he pulled me into him, until my back was against his chest. He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll watch him. It will be all right. Your brother said he’s a tracker. But he can’t track objects.”
I blew out a breath. “That’s right. If…if this works, and we find the hourglass, maybe he would help us find Jamic.” We needed to find him, and none of Demos’s spies had learned anything about his location so far. Thol could save us weeks. Maybe months.
“If he’s being honest, the distraction would likely be good for him.”
I nodded, and Lorian leaned down, nuzzling my neck. My toes curled. “I need to go talk to Tibris.”
He pressed a row of kisses up to my jaw, finding my mouth. I leaned into him, and his hand slipped up, settling just below my breast. Our kiss was slow, achingly tender, his tongue teasing mine. When I finally pulled away, my heart was pounding.
“You’re far too distracting.”
He gave me a smug smile and lifted my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. “I’ll be waiting.”
Somehow, I found the willpower to walk out of the room instead of jumping into his arms. I found Cavis wandering the hall, looking confused. “What’s wrong?”
He jolted, staring at me as if he’d never seen me before. “Strange dreams.”
This was taking a toll on all of us, and Cavis had been filling in the gaps. He was the one who was constantly taking watch. “You want me to go get you something?”
“No thank you. Who are you looking for?”
“Tibris.”
He smiled. “I’ll show you.”
It was a good thing I didn’t fear heights, because my brother was sitting on the roof. All things considered, it made the perfect spot to keep watch, with the ability to see in all directions.
“Go get some sleep,” I told Cavis, who yawned, blinked blearily, and nodded.
Tibris patted the spot next to him. “Would you like to begin a long, impassioned speech about how useful I am here, but how I’d be much more helpful winning over the Gromalian rebels? And how I can say no at any point and you won’t hold it against me and it’s just an idea, but you thought about it and you really believe I’m the best person for the job?”
I glowered at him. “You can be a real bastard sometimes, you know that?” I’d been working on that speech in the back of my mind since I’d read the Gromalian king’s message.
My brother grinned at me. “I’ve got this, Prisca. If you didn’t suggest it, I would have. And I would have insisted.” His smile turned grim. “We’re running out of options.”
