27. Enna
Chapter twenty-seven
Enna
Odissa grips my throat, pinning me against her chamber wall. I gasp as my eyes refocus. Round white teeth clench in front of my nose, her breath spilling over my face.
I struggle against her, but I’m half-awake and weary from my late-night wandering, and she’s grown in her strength. All I can manage is a few pathetic kicks, connecting with nothing but air.
“Talk,” she demands, squeezing. The curtains are out of reach, lit by the morning sun. I eye the chair next to her, and she frowns, kicking it out of the way.
With her other hand, she reaches behind me, unsheathing my knives one by one and tossing them across the room. One punctures the soft bedcover, and tufts of feathers scatter into the air.
“Talk,” she says again, pressing harder.
I cough against her hand, and my voice strains. “Hard to talk, like this.” Hard to use magic, either. I focus my intent, pushing a zap of lighting through my throat. Odissa’s hair statics, lifting from her scalp, but it’s all I can manage.
She throws me to the floor. I hit the marble hard, and pain sears through my aching body. “I heard you were with the prince last night. Alone in the kitchen. Explain.”
She pins a piece of my skirt to the ground with her foot. I reach for my waist belt, lifting the attachment point with fumbling fingers. She snarls and kicks my elbow. Pain explodes.
“ Fuck , Odissa! That’s going to leave a mark.”
“Your gloves will cover it,” she says. “Ensure my every success. That is the oath you made. Have you forgotten the price if I fail?”
I glare up at her, hugging my arm to my chest.
“I don’t know about you, but becoming Tephra’s breakfast doesn’t sound like a beach walk to me.”
“And lying to an entire foreign court is, what? By comparison.” My voice rasps.
“She speaks!” Odissa narrows her eyes. “I haven’t talked to the prince in two weeks. Two fucking weeks , and you’re having a late night pow-wow with him in the kitchen.”
“I was hungry. Late-night snack, nothing more.” My throat burns as I push my words through it. I cough, spitting blood onto the floor—dark against clean white.
She pouts. “Aw, the little pet is starving.” She pinches my cheek, testing the fat that’s accumulated there since our arrival. “Have you so easily forgotten the Drink? That I’m the one who got us out? And this is the thanks you give me. Perhaps this isn’t your last job. Perhaps I keep you forever. Is that what you want?”
I bare my fangs, disguising the despair that twists in my stomach.
“He wants to take you out, Odissa. He mentioned a restaurant with a fancy menu in the reef districts. By the goddess , calm down.”
I cough again. Too many words, that time. More blood sprays onto the marble. I push onto my hands and knees, slowly retrieving my knives under her scrutiny. When I stand and remove the blade from her coverlet, feathers spill out of the gash.
Odissa crosses her arms. “You could have just said that.”
I sheath each knife, resting my hand on the hilt of my father’s dagger briefly before I hide it beneath my skirts. “Yeah, well. Your hand was on my fucking throat.” We match our glares, both hating each other and needing each other all at once.
“You need a better game plan,” I say.
“Fine. What move would you play next?”
“You could start by being a little more…” I narrow my eyes. “Attractive. Personality wise. It’s not just your looks that will win him over. He’s a prince with honor. You tried to fuck him, and he didn’t talk to you for two weeks, Odissa. You’re after his heart, not his cock.”
She flinches. “And what do you know about winning someone over? You have the personality of a prickerfish.”
I smile, sliding a finger up the length of my spines. It may be true, but the prince did ask for my opinion of the tavern first—a detail I conveniently left out of my tale.