Chapter Seventeen
A light rain had started by the time they made it to the village. Both opted to walk around the outskirts and keep out of sight. One light glowed in the window of a tiny shack beside the main gate. Rion was fairly certain the rickety old structure would collapse if the rain picked up.
Gods help them if an invasion swept across the land. The northern villages were poorly manned and to say that they weren’t prepared for an attack would be an understatement.
He’d mention it to Saoirse when he returned and see what might be done.
Rion funneled his magic into the ground and searched for one of the tunnels cited in Selina’s document. There were several and from the surface, Rion had no way of differentiating which were used more often than others.
He picked one and traced its entrance all the way to the coastline. Vines covered the wooden doors that were half sunken into the earth. A clever hiding place. Selina coaxed the greenery away with her magic and Rion pulled the heavy doors open. He covered his nose against the musty smell and walked down the four narrow stairs to gaze into the darkness.
No heartbeats. No torches or lights inside, either.
Rion gestured for her to follow. He pulled a torch from the pack Selina had picked up in town, then struck a match to light it. Rion blinked a few times against the blinding light and held it high to view the space within.
Water pooled at his feet and the dirt walls were about six inches taller than he was. There were more unlit torches lining the walls, but Rion wasn’t certain they’d catch with all the moisture in the air.
He turned to find Selina pulling her cloak up as she peered inside. He swore she’d turned a shade paler.
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“Do you have a better idea?”
She scowled at the webs hanging overhead, her gaze searching through the nearly translucent strands. “The window.”
“How original.”
“I’m not walking through this. It’s disgusting, and it looks like the entire spider population of Brónach is living along the walls.”
“Don’t be so uptight. I’m sure you’ve had to crawl through worse.”
“Not willingly.”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on.” Rion stepped inside, moving thick webs as he crept through the dank space.
He turned slightly to find Selina holding her cloak close as she watched the ceiling.
“You’re not seriously afraid of spiders.”
“We’re not going to talk about it,” she snapped.
Rion held the torch higher. “Would you like to take point?”
She glared and Rion laughed before venturing further inside. He might have even pulled a few webs down, just as a courtesy.
Selina followed at a slow pace, carefully watching her surroundings.
“If the rebels are using the tunnels to smuggle things in and out, they’re certainly not using this one.”
“Or the information you found is dated.”
She grimaced. “Let’s hope not.”
A slight gasp, then fear flooded the tunnel in an overwhelming wave. He whirled, magic out, ready to silence whoever had snuck up behind them.
Selina had her head ducked and shoulders scrunched in tight, cursing under her breath. “Get it off me.” She inched closer, her body curling in on itself. She kept her eyes shut. “Get it, get it,” she begged, putting her back to him.
Rion smirked and moved fast, plucking the tiny offending creature from her shoulder. It dangled from its web, legs fanned out, then twisted to climb back up the single strand.
Rion simply placed it on a root that jutted out from the dirt wall and let it climb to safety.
Selina shuddered. “Did you kill it?”
He laughed. “No.”
She looked around as if she’d spot it coming for her again. “You should have killed it.”
“I’m not going to kill something just because you and others find it wretched.”
“Do not,” she said, “make this about you. I am allowed to find little creatures with far too many legs creepy, and I’m allowed to be disgusted by the thought of them crawling over my body.”
He tried not to laugh. “Should we include said little creatures as part of your training? One only learns to conquer fears by confronting them.”
“If you do, then I quit. I draw the line at spiders.”
“Glad to know your limits.”
Her body shuddered again. “Can we please move on and stop talking about them?”
“Are you sure you won’t scream if another one drops down from the ceiling?”
She glared upward. “I didn’t scream.”
“You almost did.”
She stuck out her tongue, then he turned and continued down the tunnel. A spider. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself. Here she was, trapped underground with someone who could quite literally bury her alive and she was more afraid of a tiny eight-legged creature.
The tunnel ended at a wooden door. Rion listened for any signs of movement before he cracked it open and peered inside.
A damp, musty basement full of rotted crates greeted them.
Rion pushed the door open and Selina raced from the tunnel, searching her clothes for any more tiny creatures. Beasts, she called them. Finally satisfied, she spun to search the small space.
“No chance they’d stack a bunch of important documents down here, huh?”
“Not likely.”
She huffed, then proceeded up the narrow staircase. Selina pressed her ear to the door before pushing it open. Rion followed behind her, trying to ignore the way the rain clung to her scent, making it impossibly more alluring than before.
Control, he chided himself. He needed absolute control. He doubted she’d repeat events after what had happened last time. Shame still burned through him at the thought.
Damn his ridiculous Fae instincts.
They crept up and down the halls, searching for any who might have lingered after hours, but Rion only found one guard dozing by the front door.
Judging from the half empty bottle in his lap, he wouldn’t be doing a perimeter check anytime soon.
“Well, I guess that gives us the run of the place.”
It was tiny really, a two-story building with seven rooms in total.
“Lucky us.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Upstairs or down first?”
“Up. I doubt there are any hidden safes behind picture frames here.”
“You’d be surprised.”
They ventured to the next level. “I assume you speak from experience?”
“I found an entire room behind a bookshelf once. It was the most luxurious part of the house. Stupid, really, considering its size. It wouldn’t take a genius to realize there was a hidden room if they paid attention to the layout.”
“Did you find anything interesting?”
“Oh yes, lots of records, not to mention ancient relics and jewels. I confiscated it all, of course.”
“Of course. I’m certain you handed it over to the proper authorities.”
She tilted her head. “I might have kept a piece or two as a souvenir. It’s not like the crown needs an extra tiara.”
Rion couldn’t hide his smile. “Your secret is safe with me.”
They paused by the first door. “I can’t believe this place isn’t better guarded.”
She pulled a pair of picks from her pocket, then kneeled and set to work on the lock. “I’m sure to someone like you, the thought is absolutely abhorrent.”
“Do you realize what could happen if our enemies discovered how vulnerable these villages are?”
“Who’s going to notice? It’s a tiny village on the seaside, and last I checked, there isn’t a continent anywhere nearby.”
“That we know of. This place was built to stand watch. Growing lax is exactly why empires fall.”
She shrugged. “Nothing lasts forever.”
“The Fae do.”
“We fade, but to live even that long would probably be miserable.” The latch clicked and Selina stood.
“I thought every Fae intended to fade.”
She shrugged again. “Maybe. We’ll see. When eternity starts to bore me, maybe I’ll rile up a few of those enemies you think we have.”
Gods help Alec if he was still around.
The first room was simple, with a large wooden desk near the far window, a rich green rug covering old wooden floorboards, and matching dusty drapes hiding the midnight sky. Bookshelves lined both walls, filled with texts and trinkets alike.
He took a moment to observe the space before approaching the first shelf. Selina took the desk.
Rion ran his fingertips along the spines, flipping them and tugging on a few large tomes just in case they revealed a secret room like the one Selina had mentioned. His assignments usually involved killing; leafing through documents and literature was a new one for him.
Selina knocked along the outside of the desk in search of hidden compartments and he did the same to the shelf. No hollow points.
Fifteen minutes later, Selina made a sound of triumph. She held up a thick leather-bound book with loose papers sticking out of the pages.
“Was that in the desk?”
“A false wall within the drawer.”
“Could they be more obvious?”
She shrugged. “I told you, they think themselves clever when they’re not.”
Rion moved closer and peered over her shoulder to read a list of names scribbled in a single column. Dates and abbreviations were separated by a large space. He squinted, trying to make sense of the letters, then Selina shifted her weight to her back leg.
It put her close. Close enough that her wildflower scent drifted off her damp hair.
Rion tried not to move. He didn’t want to pull away or involuntarily lean closer. His heart skipped, the treacherous thing.
Selina had opted to braid her hair to one side today. It left the pulse in her neck exposed. He traced the delicate curve with his eyes and briefly wondered what her warm skin might feel like beneath his lips.
“What do you make of it?” Selina asked without turning.
He swallowed hard, but couldn’t focus. “I’m not sure.”
Get it together , he chided himself. She looked up at him and furrowed her brow. Close. She was too close. “I’m sure there’s more in a journal somewhere.” She flipped through the book. “Or in this book. Do you think it’s worth searching the other rooms?”
Rion tried to clear his throat and finally stepped back. “We’re already here. It couldn’t hurt.” He eyed the desk, remembering how it felt to have her pressed against one.
Not his, not his, not his.
They proceeded down the hall to the next room, then the next and the next. Some held other potentially promising documents, but they all needed a key for decoding. A key they hadn’t found yet.
Selina took everything, stashing it in the bag at her side. Some items were probably personal, but since they didn’t intend to return, it didn’t hurt to confiscate them.
Downstairs, Selina sauntered over to a glass case filled with an assortment of expensive alcohols. She opened one, sniffed, and recoiled. “It wouldn’t take much of this to get the job done.”
“Surprised the guard outside didn’t take that with him, too.”
“I’m sure he sneaks a drink or two.” Selina turned the bottle in her hand and whistled. “This one is a few decades old.” She stuffed that into her bag as well.
Rion just rolled his eyes, running his hands along another desk when the front door opened.
Their eyes met across the room, and Selina ran for the nearest door. He followed close behind and found himself in a closet. How amateur. He wasn’t even sure why he’d followed Selina inside.
Rion wondered what someone would think if he found The Demon of Alastríona hiding in a closet with a female. A female who was standing very close to him.
Thick coats lined the space, their scent of old oak, likely from the chest at their feet. The heavy materials pushed against their bodies and forced the pair to remain close to the door and to one another.
Rion tried to step back, to give her room and separate himself from her scent, but he tripped and Selina grabbed his tunic to hold him steady.
Their breaths were too loud as they listened to the footsteps marching down the hall.
This was ridiculous. He was a Lord of Brónach. He should just step out and announce his arrival, tell them he was searching for—his mind froze when the male cursed from the hallway and slammed a door shut.
Selina’s body heat was seeping through his clothes. His heart began racing and he was drunk on her all over again. He knew she could hear every breath, feel every movement.
Whoever had entered didn’t linger. They grabbed something upstairs, then exited the door again without even waking the guard.
Another burglar? Or perhaps someone who’d forgotten something in their hurry home.
At least whatever they’d come looking for hadn’t been something Selina had stashed in her bag.
Rion shoved the closet door open and sucked down fresh air. He raced straight for the basement, refusing to let Selina see the heat that had crept up his neck.
Once again, Selina wrapped her cloak tightly around herself, but they exited without Rion having to rescue another eight-legged creature.
It had stopped raining by the time they emerged.
“Well, that was a close call.”
He nodded, still unable to speak. Close. She’d been too close.
Rion started toward the village, but Selina lingered, her gaze drifting toward the coastline. “Care for a detour?”
Rion raised a brow. “To where?”
“How often do you get to experience an ocean view?”
Rion eyed her pack. “Don’t we have documents to review?” And decode.
She shrugged. “Sometimes you have to live a little. We only do it once.”
“We live forever,” he reminded her.
“Not out in the field.”
Rion paused at the sudden grimness in her gaze and something in him faltered. “Lead the way.”
Her steps lightened again and she practically skipped toward the raging ocean in the distance. Rion could hear the waves crashing against a rocky shore. It didn’t take long for a cliffside to appear. Thankfully, Selina didn’t go anywhere near it. He didn’t trust that she wouldn’t try to dive off. Instead, she settled on the damp ground and withdrew a bottle of the stolen liquor.
Selina gave him a feline smile. “Are you going to make me drink alone?”
Rion sat beside her. “You’re a bad influence, you know that?”
She placed one hand over her chest. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Selina took a long drink from the bottle, then hissed and smacked her lips. “Now that is good.”
She passed him the bottle and Rion tried to ignore the fact that her lips had just been on the rim. He tried to ignore that it tasted like her, too. The amber liquid glided down his throat, leaving a pleasant burn in its wake. It reminded Rion of the bottle Saoirse had stolen for his sixteenth birthday. “I thought you said it was horrible?”
“The other one was horrible,” she corrected. “This,” she gestured to the bottle, “is liquid gold.”
He shrugged. “They all accomplish the same goal.”
“I’m going to pretend you did not just say that.”
Rion passed the bottle back to her. She took another long drink, then shifted her gaze to the heavens. They passed it back and forth, and Rion watched the clouds roll by overhead. No stars tonight.
The ocean roared from beneath the cliff and the salty air brushed his face. It was all a lullaby he didn’t want to resist.
He lost count of the drinks. Stopped thinking entirely as he laid back and tucked one hand behind his head. It had been too long since he’d allowed himself to relax. He ought to carve out more time to appreciate the world. Once again, moving to the countryside didn’t sound like such a bad idea.
A shadow passed over him, then Rion was looking up into Selina’s hooded gaze. Her eyes darted to his mouth. Once. Twice. His lips parted and he scarcely risked a breath as he reached a hand toward a loose tendril of her hair.
She stared at that hand and Rion froze entirely when she reached out and ran her fingertips through his hair. She did it again and let her hand linger there, playing with the short strands before her gaze dropped back to his face.
Her eyes darted to his lips. The curve of his jaw. His throat. She could have it. She could have him.
“Is this okay?” she whispered.
Rion nodded, unwilling to trust his voice. She was touching him. Selina was touching him and it didn’t have anything to do with the mission or fa?ades.
The way she was looking at him. Leaning closer. He hadn’t instigated.
Would she allow him to sit up and capture her lips in a gentle kiss? Would she balk if his arms slid around her slender frame?
Rion slowly pushed up onto his elbows, watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He listened to the flutter of her heartbeat, tasted the slight nervousness in the air.
It’s just the liquor , a voice in his head whispered.
But her hand lingered, drifted to his neck until those fingers rested just over his racing pulse. She leaned closer and the scent of wildflower dipped in whisky threatened to be his undoing. Gods, he wanted her. He wanted this female like he’d never wanted anything in his life.
Her lips parted, eyes wild and wary—a twig snapped to their left. He whirled, grabbing Selina and shoving her behind his body as his magic lifted to surround them on all sides. Rion palmed a knife, ready to launch it through the dark. Antlers emerged from within the trees ahead and a deer paused to stare at the pair. It lazily chewed on a piece of bark.
Rion exhaled through his teeth and fell back to the damp earth. He draped an arm over his eyes, dropped the knife in the grass, and struggled to calm his racing heart.
“Gods above,” Selina whispered.
“I know,” he groaned and peered around his arm. He contemplated putting the dagger through its hide just for ruining the moment.
“No. You. Gods, I didn’t even see you move .”
He smirked at that. “I told you I was fast.”
“That’s not fast. That’s god-like reflexes.”
“And I’m inebriated, so imagine me at my best.” His smile faltered when she didn’t return it.
“Right. The alcohol.” Her face pinched and he wondered if it had all been a mistake. Maybe he shouldn’t—Selina suddenly grabbed her stomach and, to his absolute horror, hurled all over the ground near his feet. Well, if the deer hadn’t ruined the moment, that certainly did.
Rion stumbled to his feet and turned away to give her some privacy.
She heaved again and Rion walked over to the edge of the cliff, peering down at the sheer fifty-foot drop. Rion tilted his head into the breeze, letting it ruffle his hair. The sea felt so powerful. It sang to him in a way nothing else ever had. He wondered if it always would.
After collecting herself, at least somewhat, they started back. Her face was still pale and a light sheen of sweat covered her brow. The pair slipped inside an inn under the cover of darkness. No one asked questions. Dawn wasn’t far off, but a few hours of sleep was better than nothing. If they were able to sleep.
Selina cleaned herself up in the bathroom. He busied himself by the fire. A cup of tea would help to calm her stomach.
Upon exiting, Selina went straight for her satchel and pushed the half empty bottle far away. She pulled out the documents and books and began spreading everything out in neat piles.
Right. They had information to go over but—
The room was silent as she combed through the documents, her brows furrowing as she tried to piece things together. Rion waited until the kettle was warm, pulled the tea from his own bag, and made them both a cup.
She took it without comment and kept reading.
Rion didn’t know how she could focus on the words. His mind was still reeling. Fantasizing what else they might be able to do in a room alone together.
He studied her. Was she waiting for him to break the silence? She’d initiated first, so perhaps she was waiting to see if he reciprocated.
Then again, maybe Rion shouldn’t allow himself to become distracted until after the mission was over. Maybe rifling through documents was the perfect distraction.
He downed his tea, letting it burn his throat, then refilled both their cups.
Rion sat in the small chair and waited. The fire crackled and shifted to embers. They emptied three more cups a piece. His head began to clear, the pleasant fog shifting to a pounding headache.
Selina finally clicked her tongue and let the papers fall from her hands.
“Good news?” Rion questioned.
“Yes.”
“Then why do you look so frustrated?”
“Because I was hoping we wouldn’t have to travel south again.”
“Whiteridge?” She nodded. “We suspected they were involved from the beginning. What now? Do we inform the others?”
Selina shook her head. “It would take too long to find them.” She tapped her chin. “It’ll just be you and me again. We can scope the place out and move on the solstice.”
Rion raised a brow. “Why the solstice?”
“For the same reasons as before. That’s when everyone lets their guard down. There will be Fae from all over the countryside coming to participate in the festivities. It’ll be the perfect cover.”
Rion tilted his mug, watching the remnants of leaves at the bottom. “Is there any clue as to where they gather?”
“The palace. Where else would you expect?”
“You realize it’s almost as large as the one in Nàdair, right?”
She pursed her lips. “I’ve seen it from the outside once.”
“It’s guarded just as well, too.”
“Yes, but you’re a Lord. Surely that entitles you to certain exceptions.”
“They still won’t let us go anywhere without an escort.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not in the slightest. However,” he studied the fire. “They’re always throwing parties in the main ballroom, especially around the solstice. I think there’s one every night.”
Selina perked up at that. “You mean I get to dress up, dance, eat good food, and infiltrate one of the most well-guarded places in Brónach? You might as well call this the best day of my life.”
Rion rolled his eyes. “I met their governor a few summers ago when I was out on an assignment with Saoirse. We didn’t think much of it at the time, but poison was being distributed back then.”
“The same stuff?”
“It wasn’t as strong, but I’m willing to bet it was a precursor to what they’re putting out now.”
“And where did the ones responsible go?”
“To prison, on Saoirse’s order.”
“You think they’re out?”
“Could be, or they’ve found a way to still pull the strings. Their governor wanted to overthrow my father. The two never got along. He even tried to break off from Nàdair and start his own country. Only threats of war have kept them in line.”
“War.” She tasted the word. “Brónach hasn’t experienced one of those in a long time.”
“Let’s hope we keep it that way.”
“All right, so the governor is suspect number one, noted.”
“That city has eyes and ears everywhere. We won’t be able to breathe a word about the mission, even if we think we’re safe.”
“Afraid I can’t keep it together?”
“You can be a bit . . . eccentric.”
“I resent that.” She crossed her arms and stared into her steaming mug. “Are you ready to take them all on?”
Rion flexed his fingers. “I’ve been itching for a good fight.”
Selina held up a finger. “No fighting until we have the information.”
“And food, I presume.”
She laughed. “I do think you’re getting to know me a little too well, Lord Rion.”