Chapter 11
Rannora
All he needed was one look. Just one. Dain pressed against the side of the building, surrounded by the shadows of the night, as he sought the one he couldn’t stop thinking about.
He scanned the occupants of The Crossing, his gaze pausing each time he spotted dark hair.
But none held the depth of color Reva’s possessed.
He had already been by her flat. She only ever went to the pub and home.
Unless… Had she gone to dinner with that bastard?
They were coworkers. That should be frowned upon.
What was Sidiq doing, allowing them to be together in such a way?
His fingers curled into fists as he thought about Darshan and Reva dining together. Dain imagined punching the human in the face. Nay. That wouldn’t be enough. A hit to the ribs might do. Then again, if he really wanted to cause damage, he could just castrate the pile of dung.
The fantasies of how much he could hurt Darshan fizzled when he saw the object of his hatred walking up to the bar for another order. If the man was at work, then where was Reva? Fear seized Dain’s heart. He took a step forward, ready to barge into the pub and…
The laugh, soft and tinkling, reached him.
He forgot all about the carnage he had been about to exact as his panic eased at the sound of Reva’s laugh.
Then he saw her beside a table of women, taking their orders.
Her hair was gathered at the base of her neck by a red ribbon, while the wealth of her brunette tresses fell down the middle of her back.
Her red tunic was new, as were the black trousers.
He followed her with his gaze as she walked to the bar.
Her smile was easy, her stride relaxed—if a bit hurried.
He watched as she and Sidiq exchanged words as the elf filled glasses with ale.
How Dain envied him. Dain had once been able to talk to Reva any time he wanted, but he had given up that right.
Nay, that wasn’t true. He had walked away from her to keep her safe.
Sidiq had been right to question him about it.
Dain stilled, suddenly aware of someone directly behind him. He palmed a dagger with one hand while gathering magic in the other. Then he spun and came face-to-face with Salil. The Wood Elf had the gall to smile, his hazel eyes filled with amusement.
“I knew I’d find you here,” Salil said.
Dain pressed the tip of his dagger into Salil’s side. “Sneak up on me like that again, and I’ll slit you open.”
Salil’s gaze slid past him to The Crossing’s doorway before he looked at Dain again. Dain waited for a sarcastic comment. They might be fighting on the same side, but that didn’t mean he would listen to any comments about Reva.
In the next breath, the smile vanished from Salil’s face. “Durga has been looking for you.”
“I don’t have any more information than I did two days ago,” Dain said as he sheathed his blade and recalled his magic.
“This isn’t about that. We have a problem.”
“With?” Dain demanded.
Salil held his gaze. “Let’s get to Durga’s so she can fill you in.”
Dain stepped back and gathered his shadows. As he was leaving, he heard Salil say, “I knew you’d leave me, you bastard.”
It was Dain’s turn to smile. Salil deserved that for sneaking up on him. No one snuck up on him. At least, not usually. He forgot everything else when it came to Reva. Just one more reason he had been right to sever her working relationship with him.
Dain checked Durga’s office at the DIA headquarters. When he found that empty, he went to her house. Dain parted his shadows inside Durga’s home office to find her and Arya bent over a table, looking at a map.
Arya’s head snapped up first. “Where have you been?”
Durga lifted hazel eyes and slowly straightened. Her brown hair was in its usual bun, but she had removed her earrings, ear caps, bracelets, and rings and set them off to the side. Stress caused her mouth to form a hard line.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Dain said as he looked between the two women. “What’s going on?”
It was Arya who answered. “Kalyani is gone.”
“What?” Dain must not have heard that right. “Are you sure?”
Durga nodded, the light catching on her coppery skin. “We’re sure.”
Dain strode to the table and saw a map of Shecrish and the surrounding terrain, including the Amrata Ocean. He found the location of Serenia along the coast and then peered at the vast water beyond.
“As you can imagine, Rohan isn’t handling this well,” Durga said.
Dain raised his gaze to the Wood Elf. No matter how many times he had asked, Durga wouldn’t tell him her exact title in the DIA.
Whatever position she held, it was one of extreme importance, because she always got what she needed—that and the fact that there was always one elf with her, and about a dozen more nobody ever saw.
He turned to his protégé. “I need details.”
“There aren’t many,” Arya said. “We don’t know what time Kalyani went into the water. It was hours before any of us realized she was gone.”
Dain looked at the map again. “Are we sure she went into the water?”
“She doesn’t go anywhere else,” Arya stated. “And we’re sure. Yaz told us.”
He nodded, understanding exactly what she wouldn’t put into words in case anyone was listening.
“No one found us,” Arya said, knowing his next question.
Dain quirked a brow as he looked between the females. “Tell me everything.”
It didn’t take long for Arya to spill everything. He ran a hand down his face as he sighed.
“You know as well as I do that if the Sea Elves took Kalyani, she’s dead,” Durga said.
He did know that. Everyone called the Dark bastards, but the Sea Elves were the most brutal of all the races.
Arya shook her head. “Yaz said she wasn’t in danger.”
“Things could’ve changed,” Durga argued.
Dain thought about the Sea Elf they had released from Mortham. “I think they’ll take anyone. I’ll head to Serenia now.”
“Good. Maybe you can stop Rohan from trying to swim out to find her,” Arya said before vanishing into the shadows.
Durga grabbed his arm before he could follow.
He met her gaze. “What is it?”
“Something feels off. Be careful,” Durga said before she released him.
Dain dipped his head. “I always am.”