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Hopefully, his presence meant nothing and I’d imagined his interest, in which case I’d apologize for what I was about to do. I downed my wine, pushed from the bar, and fell into step behind him.
Most folks ambled and dallied in the sultry night air, but my watcher strode with purpose. He had a destination in mind. Falling into a jog, I wove through the thickening crowd. The sooner I caught up with him, the sooner I’d return to Arin. The night was still young and full of possibilities, especially with Draven’s departure.
Earlier in the day, I’d spotted an open-air bathing waterfall. A midnight dip with Arin would be the perfect way to spend a few hours.
The watcher had vanished. I stopped and scanned the faces of those in the crowd. None belonged to him. He must have taken the side-street with its row of bamboo-houses leaning on each other like drunken friends. The street abruptly ended in one half of a collapsed bridge that had once spanned the plunge pool of another waterfall. The falls still roared behind it.
I slowed at the street’s entrance. All the houses were dark, and some near the waterfall sagged on their foundations, consumed by the mist. The watcher hadn’t gone that way. His attire had been too heavy for a desert-dweller. He didn’t live in these cabins.
I’d return to Arin, tell him of our stalker. We’d have to be more careful during our last few days in Palmyra.
A dry, calloused hand slammed over my mouth from behind, and something jagged and sharp dug into my waist. “Easy now. Don’t scream. Scream, and you’ll bleed. You don’t want this to get messy, Zayan.”
I whimpered behind his hand and struggled enough to convince him I’d be an easy catch. But what he couldn’t see, and what he’d never know, was how my smile grew.
CHAPTER11
Lark
“There, easy now, stay calm.”
By the spread of the man’s hand over my mouth and chin, he was large, muscular—likely the same man I’d followed. I panted hard and pretended to be the obedient victim.
“You’re not going to fight, are you?”
I shook my head.
His grip eased from my mouth, and the blade poking at my side disappeared. It had to be now, while he assumed I was caught.
I slammed my head back, striking something hard but soft enough to buckle. He grunted, reeled, and I spun, caught the flash of his knife, grabbed his wrist, and snapped it back. He barked a cry, and the knife slipped from his fingers into mine.
With the main street and its mingling crowds a mere few strides away, this was not the place to cut a man. I skipped back, caught the watcher’s eye, and pirouetted on my heel—and bolted for the misty falls. A well-timed trip gave my pursuer hope he might catch me, and a glance behind revealed he was chasing me. The fool. Whoever had sent him hadn’t told him what I was capable of, or he wouldn’t allow me to lure him into the dark.
I slowed near the broken bridge. Its one-sided span ended alongside the plunging falls, rotted and decayed, just like the houses. Any safety rail had long ago fallen into the pool below.
“Nowhere to go now, pretty.” He stalked forward. His face was scarred, like my handler Danyal’s had been. Each mark a murder, and the watcher had three. He came from the Court of Pain. But how had he found me?
I shivered, soaked through from the rolling mist, and made a show of chattering teeth and trembling.
“Give me the knife.” The watcher reached out. “Come now.”
I took another step back. The slick timbers creaked. “Who sent you?”
“There’s only one who has that authority.”
Razak.
Clearly, iron bars meant nothing to my brother. He’d proven that in War. If he had his claws in Justice’s court, then he could hire bounty hunters, like this one.
“Your reward?” I asked.
“What else, but coin?” He sneered. It wasn’t just about coin with this one. A cruel desire made his wrinkled eyes shine. “Coin enough to see me right. So come now, let’s get you home, ready for the prince’s return.”
Then Razak wasn’t yet back in Pain. Good. This was all good.
The watcher inched closer. The bridge shuddered. A crack sounded. “Come to me!”
Go to him. As though my fear of Razak was so great that I’d surrender myself here and now, to a killer’s mercy. Sometimes I wondered if my brother knew me at all.
