Chapter 64
Carver
Carver left Amryn with Jayveh. Their only goodbye was a soft brush of his lips against hers.
Then he locked down his emotions and descended into the prison. He had turned down his father’s offer of help. If this went as he expected, he did not want any witnesses.
When he found Ford outside Tam’s cell, his friend was grim. Word had spread quickly about the emperor’s murder.
“Go get some rest,” Carver told his friend.
Ford’s eyebrows drew together. “You don’t have to do this,” he said quietly. “I can interrogate her.”
Torture was not what Carver had in mind tonight. But gratitude stirred inside him at Ford’s offer to shield him. “This is something I need to do,” he said.
Ford didn’t dispute that. He inclined his head, then stepped away from the door.
As his footsteps faded, Carver took a final, bracing breath. The knife on his hip was heavy as he walked into the cell.
Tam was awake. She sat on the bench along the back wall, the lantern on a hook near the door casting her face half in shadow. Manacles encircled her wrists, the chain lying across her lap before trailing to an anchor in the stone wall. When her eyes fell on Carver, her posture stiffened.
His mask was firmly in place. It was the one he’d worn on too many battlefields to count. The one that had made his reputation stretch to every corner of the empire and beyond. The one that inspired instant terror in his enemies and gave weight to the nickname he loathed, but bore all the same.
Tam’s eyes widened as she took him in, her breaths quickening as Carver used his heel to nudge the door closed. It shut almost gently, the latch a soft click.
Her tongue darted over her lips. “I suppose I should have expected it would be you.”
Carver said nothing. He just moved closer, his steps measured.
Fear sparked in Tam’s eyes, though she made a valiant effort not to show it.
“It seems your wife is a liar,” she said, her tone almost conversational—except for the tension that infused each word.
“She said her poison would kill me.” She snorted.
“Perhaps we’re even. We’ve both failed at poisoning each other now. ”
Carver ignored that. “Where is Argent’s body?”
Tam blinked, her thoughts clearly racing. “Who says he’s dead?”
Carver drew his blade.
Tam’s eyes flew wide. Chains clinked as she scrambled to her feet. “You don’t want to hurt me. There are things I can tell you—about Argent.”
“Tell me where you left his body,” Carver said, his voice so dark he hardly recognized it.
“He isn’t dead.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not!”
“If you won’t tell me where you left him, then there’s nothing else for us to discuss.” His hold on the knife tightened.
Tam balked. “You’re here to kill me?”
Carver said nothing. But the look in his eyes said everything.
Tam paled. She shifted back, moving to stand beside the bench, shoulder blades pressed to the stone wall. As far as she could get from him, with the chain clinging to her. “You can’t just kill me.”
Carver took a step forward. His stomach knotted, but he refused to feel anything but resolve.
You’re standing on a bridge.
He would tell Jayveh it was an accident. That he went too far. He would be reprimanded—possibly even lose his rank, and certainly Jayveh’s trust—but Amryn’s secret would be protected.
He’d made the decision long before he’d entered the prison. Tam wasn’t going to leave this room alive.
Desperation tore across her face as he advanced. “Wait. Stop! The things I can tell you—they’re not just about Argent. There’s something you don’t know about Amryn. Something dangerous!”
Carver’s steps didn’t falter. He didn’t acknowledge her words, but something must have shown on his face because Tam’s eyes slowly rounded. “Oh,” she breathed. “You know. Don’t you?”
He paused two paces in front of her.
A slow smile curved her lips. “You know she’s an empath. And you haven’t turned her in. Oh, Saints, this is delicious. The emperor’s favored general, protecting an empath.” Her eyes fairly gleamed in the lamplight. “If anyone finds out, you’ll lose everything.”
“You’re only giving me more reasons to kill you,” Carver ground out.
Tam bit her lip, her thoughts clearly racing as she stared at him. “What if I promise to keep your secret—and Amryn’s—in exchange for my life?”
“You’ll stay silent if you’re dead.”
“You can’t kill me.” Panic made her words come out fast. “I can take you to Argent. I was going to transfer him to the Rowan, but I can give him to you instead!”
“Argent is dead. You killed him.”
“I didn’t. I swear!”
“I don’t believe you, so your promises mean nothing.” He shifted his grip on his dagger, drawing her eye to the sharp blade. “Last chance, Tam. Tell me where Argent’s body is, and I’ll make it quick.”
“Wait!” She lifted her hands in a staying gesture, the chains around her wrists rattling. “I’m not lying. Argent is alive. He’s with some of my men right now. But if they don’t hear from me in one week, they’ll kill him.”
Carver ground his teeth. “A convenient story for you.”
“Are you really willing to risk Argent’s life like this? Just consider it. What if I am telling the truth? What if you had the chance to save his life, and you didn’t take it?”
Carver hesitated.
Tam latched onto that. “If you spare my life, I’ll take you to Argent.”
“Just tell me where he is.”
“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped. “If I tell you, you’ll kill me. The only way this works is if you take me with you. I’ll guide you there one step at a time. When you’ve got Argent, I go free.”
Carver laughed once, the sound hard. “You think any of us are going to let you walk away? Jayveh wants to kill you more than I do.”
“But I bet she wants Argent back more than she wants me dead,” Tam countered. Her hands fisted. “That’s the deal, Carver. Argent’s life for mine. But you’d better decide soon. It will take us four days to reach Argent, so time isn’t on his side.”
Carver stared at her, his thoughts racing. He didn’t trust Tam. Not for a moment. She was playing a desperate game. Saying anything she could to preserve her life.
“What if you had the chance to save his life, and you didn’t take it?”
His fingers clenched around the hilt of his dagger. He knew Argent was dead. Amryn had confirmed that, with the bloodstone’s help. But Jayveh would never know peace if Carver didn’t allow this to play out. Suddenly, that was something he couldn’t stomach.
He exhaled, his sharp eyes digging into Tam. “The second you try to utter a word about my wife, I will slit your throat.”
The skin around her eyes tightened. “I’ll stay silent.”
His eyes narrowed. “If Argent isn’t there, I will also slit your throat.”
Tam’s throat flexed as she swallowed. “He’s there.”
Carver had no idea what she would lead them to. Argent’s body, a trap, or nothing at all. The only thing he knew for certain was, at the end of this, Tam would be dead.
“She’s just trying to torture Jayveh,” Amryn said, the tightness in her voice communicating her anger.
“I know,” Carver said, throwing the last essentials into his saddlebag.
Jayveh had wanted to go with them, but Cregon succeeded in dissuading her. It was highly likely this was a trap, but more than that, it wasn’t safe for Jayveh—or her unborn child—to leave the palace right now. Not so soon after the emperor’s murder.
“Argent wouldn’t want you to take such a risk,” Cregon had said softly.
Jayveh had reluctantly relented. But the hope in her eyes was agonizing to witness. Especially because Carver knew that—wherever Tam ultimately guided them—it would not be to Argent.
Carver didn’t want to leave Amryn, even though he knew Ivan would look after her. The Wolf had earned Carver’s trust, at least in this. Still, he’d nearly asked Ford to remain with her.
Amryn had been the one to talk him out of it. “Ford needs to do this,” she’d said. “He needs closure, too.”
And so, the morning after his conversation with Tam, Carver was packed.
He still wasn’t ready to go.
He reached out, his hand settling against the side of Amryn’s neck. “I want you to avoid Rhone while I’m gone.”
Her eyebrow lifted. “I always try to avoid him.”
“I know, just . . . humor me.”
Rhone had cornered Carver just as he’d come out of Tam’s cell last night. The knight had been livid that Carver had conducted the interrogation without him. “You put yourself at risk,” Rhone snapped. “She could be the empath we’ve been searching for.”
The next moments had been the most tense of Carver’s life. Rhone had insisted on seeing Tam. Carver had gone in with him, his eyes sharp on Tam.
She’d instantly realized who Rhone was. He looked too much like Rivard for there to be any doubt, and his crimson uniform made it clear why he was there.
Tam had given Carver a small smile, but she’d stayed silent about Amryn.
The knight had been seething by the time he concluded questioning Tam. “It’s not her,” he’d growled to Carver. That he still wanted to kill the woman who’d murdered his brother had remained glaringly obvious.
Carver held Amryn’s gaze, his palm catching the heat of her skin. “He’s going to be even more suspicious of everyone now that he knows Tam isn’t the empath. Maybe you can claim an illness, and you can stay in the apartment while I’m gone.”
Her eyes softened. “I know you’re worried, but I’ve got the bloodstone,” she reminded him. “I’ll be fine. And I can’t abandon Jayveh.”
Carver respected her loyalty, but it caused him more stress than he cared to admit.
She laid a hand against his chest, directly over his heart. The sight of the gold bracelet around her wrist caused his chest to heat. “I’ll be perfectly safe,” she said. “You’re the one walking into potential danger.” Worry crept into her eyes as she searched his. “Be careful, Carver.”
His hand shifted, moving to cup her cheek. Meeting her gaze steadily, he said, “Nothing will keep me from coming back to you.”
Some of her tension eased. “Good. Because if you don’t, I’ll embrace my harpy side you’re always talking about and hunt you down.”
He chuckled, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheek. “That’s not much of a threat, sweetheart. I’d love to be hunted by you.”
She cracked a smile, but it fell away too quickly. “This is the first time we’ve ever truly been apart,” she whispered. “I don’t think I’m going to like it.”
“I’m going to bloody hate it.”
She tried to smile, but failed.
It was instinct to lean in and press a kiss to her faltering lips. And yet, it was she who stole his breath as she kissed him back with such fervency and love that she took yet another piece of his heart.
He felt her fingertips trace the arwyd encircling his wrist. The braided cuff was a perfect representation of the peace she’d given him, and a tangible piece of her he could always have with him. His fingers slid into her hair as he deepened the angle of their kiss.
But even as he lost himself in her, he knew time wasn’t on their side. He needed to collect Tam, since he trusted no one else with her. And his father would be waiting in the courtyard with Ford and a small contingent of highly skilled and fully trusted men.
Still, it took far too much of Carver’s willpower to pull back. To end the kiss he knew would haunt him until he returned. To step away and shoulder his pack.
When he turned back to her, Amryn stood with her arms folded across her middle. “I love you,” she told him.
Such simple words, but he would cling to them as he finally put his best friend to rest.