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He paused, then, “In times of war, anyone caught impersonating an officer, or attempting any crimes, including sneaking into the palace, will be killed on sight.” His lopsided grin was unrecognizable in that doughy face, but the arrogant attitude was all Tavion.
“So let’s not get caught, shall we?”
“Agreed.” I brushed past him and yanked my knife out of the door, and slipped the blade into the pocket of my dress where it clanked subtly against the stone. Thank the gods Tavion moved fast enough I didn’t skewer him. “When I was here before, they moved Adele from her regular cell down a few floors.”
“To the lowest level.” His expression flattened out. “Raziel will be on the second level, where prisoners of war are kept. With the battle going on, I doubt anyone’s had time to…uhm…workon him.”
I swallowed as his words hit home. “Then we should get to him before they have a chance. You might have to…carry Adele.” I held his murky gaze. “It would be in our best interest if Raz could walk.”
If they’d had the decency to pull those arrows out of him and remove the iron, he should be healed by now. If Raz was able to walk…Hope flared in me once more before I snuffed it out.
No sense in getting ahead of myself until I saw him with my own eyes.
“We’ll find him, Anaria.” Tavion’s fingers were rough when he tucked my hair back up underneath the scarf, his thumb brushing my cheek. “If Adele is alive, we’ll get her out, too, but you can’t get your hopes up. I couldn’t stand to see them crushed.”
“I know. I’m not.” A lie, and one Tavion smelled, his jaw clenching. “I’mtryingnot to,” I corrected myself and stepped away from the heat coming off his body that suddenly seemed far too intense.
“How do you want to play this?”
He stalked over to the window to stare down at the battle below, the muffled clash of fighting carrying on the winds, even at this elevation. “You want me to arrest you, but it’s not quite that simple. Do you know what they do to thieves here, Anaria?” His voice was so quiet, so solemn, I strained to hear him. “They are taken to the lowest levels of the prison where their hands are removed.”
My gut twisted, my brain already leaping ahead to how impossibly dangerous this would be.
For the both of us, if we were discovered.
“The cells are spelled against magic, to keep the strongest prisoner’s powers nulled down. Except for healing—that type of magic is allowed because…” His eyes met mine.Because it was all too often needed.
“But the hallways…If you have to, you can use your magic there. Maybe not full strength, but enough to get yourself to safety.” Tavion ripped a shred of fabric from the bedcover and wrapped it around one of my wrists, his fingers brushing over my skin, sending my pulse skittering.
“But the ruse will get us inside the prison. To where we need to be.” His eyes were filled with a grim kind of resolve, as if he’d tried—and failed—to come up with another option. “But once we are down there, if anyone outranks me, once they get a look at you…” His chest shuddered, then settled, a low growl straining to escape his lips.
“Prisoners stronger than me have tried to fight their way out of the royal prison. None have succeeded.”
“A thief it is, then.” I winked, though my forced smile stretched my lips too thin. “Not like it’s a lie, is it?” For one long moment we stared at each other, not quite enemies, not quite allies, just two people aligned in purpose at the moment.
“Anaria.” My name, but a question, too. A final chance to turn back, to abandon what was almost sure to be a disastrous rescue mission.
“I won’t blame you if you leave, Tavion.” I tilted my head. “This is…I don’t expect you to follow me to your death because of some ridiculous idea of mine. But if I leave them in there…I could never live with myself.”
Tavion blinked then jerked his head at me. “Turn around. Put your hands behind your back.”
I swallowed but obeyed, and he pressed me against the wall, my cheek resting on the blissfully cool stone. He was right behind me, and though I hadn’t smelled him when he’d arrived, I smelled him now.
Pure musky male, pine forests and cold mists, and I closed my eyes as the smell wound through me, sending my heart racing.
His hands were gentle when he bound my wrists, but everywhere he touched me left a trail of fire. The knots were loose enough I could slip out of them if I needed.
Tavion spun me around, my back against the wall, and dipped his hand into my pocket and removed the knife. Then he bent until all I could see was the top of his dark head, sliding his hand up my calf, then higher.
Gods, the friction of his calloused palms against my smooth skin, his warm breath brushing my thigh as he pushed my dress higher and higher sent shivers—and thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking—right through me.
“Hold still.”
His hands—whether his or the disguise he wore—were rough, and I swayed from his closeness, his scent, the fact that we were probably going to die. He buckled a knife sheath around my thigh. Slid the knife into it, then tugged my dress back down, fingers trailing slowly down my thigh, longer than was necessary.
“If anything goes wrong, you slip out of these bindings and you get out of there. They’ll be running a skeleton crew in the prison, but those fuckers…they’re bastards. If I go down, leave me behind. Use the knife.”
“I have magic, Tavion,” I reminded him. “The last time…I didn’t. But this time, they’ll be the ones who should be afraid.”
