Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Iris
Iexhaled heavily, cheeks rounding before I quirked my lips to the side and scanned the room for what felt like the hundredth time.
Portraits hung on every spare inch of the wall.
Most depicted the Gods—some portrayed them standing posed with gentle expressions, others showing great battles or scenes from the stories I had grown up learning.
Some portraits were small, reminding me of the kind I hung above vases or in my bathroom; others were massive, stretching five feet high.
They were all undeniably fine works of art, and I took them in with an appreciative hum.
“It's beautiful brushwork,” I complimented, crossing my arms over my chest as I took in the portrait of Zion and the other High Gods. “But it’s not what we’re looking for.”
Nikolai prowled through the room, eyes scanning over everything from the ceiling to the floorboards. “They wouldn’t have those guards in here just to protect paintings like this. Look for a trapdoor or something.”
I let my fingertips trail across the wall as I moved.
With a narrowed gaze, I took in each and every portrait, tracing over the frames as I desperately tried to notice any slight differences.
All the while, Nikolai tested his weight on different floorboards and tapped his knuckles against the wall, listening carefully for a hollow sound.
“What about this?” I asked, resting my hands on my hips as I stared at the painting in front of me.
Nikolai moved to stand by my side, observing the life-sized portrait of the High Gods Zion, Herea, Palaemon, Delia, and Harmonia.
Hyrax was obviously missing from the painting, but the others all stood happily looking at each other.
Zion’s sword rested casually in his hand, while Palaemon had his trident over his shoulder.
Herea’s throwing stars were nowhere to be seen, her arms filled instead with roses while Delia balanced a small, bundled infant on her hip, and Harmonia just smiled gracefully with her hands folded neatly in front of her.
“What about it?”
Rolling my eyes, I glared at him over my shoulder. “It’s odd, don’t you think?”
“Not particularly.” Nikolai shrugged, already turning away.
It seemed Nikolai, despite his taste for the finer things in life, was not an art aficionado.
I scoffed, seizing the fabric of his shirt sleeve and tugging him back towards me as I gestured wildly towards the painting.
“It’s big.”
Nikolai’s hand automatically landed on my lower back, sending a rush up my spine as he looked to the painting, back at me, and to the painting once more, brows furrowed in a frown. “And?”
For a treasure hunter, he really was overlooking the obvious.
Fighting the urge to sigh in exasperation, I flapped my hand desperately towards it once more. “It’s life-sized! It’s the only life-sized portrait in this entire room. And the frame extends completely to the floor. Don’t you think that’s a strange way to hang a portrait?”
His eyes scanned over it again, lingering at the place where the golden frame kissed the hardwood at our feet. His expression flashed with realization before an impressed smile lit his features. “It extends to the floor as a door would.”
When he glanced down, he looked at me as if I were the most incredible person he’d ever met, and I failed to hide my pleased grin as I lifted my chin.
“Exactly like a door would,” I agreed.
“Brilliant woman.”
After squeezing my hip, Nikolai stepped forward, tracing the golden frame with a careful touch.
I waited as patiently as I could, but couldn’t stop myself from bouncing giddily on the balls of my feet.
Finally, he found whatever groove or indent he was searching for and pressed down.
Within a moment, we heard the characteristic click of a latch unhooking, and the door flew open, revealing the treasure-filled space beyond it.
I readied myself to brag, unnecessarily boastful comments flying to my mouth, but before I could utter a single one, Nikolai rounded on me, pressing his lips to mine quickly before darting into the room.
“Well done, bird,” he called over his shoulder, his attention shifting to catalogue all the items inside the hidden room while I stood frozen on the threshold.
His words were absent-minded, as if he hadn’t realized that he had just kissed me—as if that was some natural form of intimacy that we shared all the time.
But I definitely realized.
And it took me a long, long minute for my heart to slow enough to allow me to pick my jaw up off the floor and follow him.
The room was oddly devoid of any scent, as if someone had meticulously kept it clean.
A chill hung in the air, noticeably icier than the portrait room had been.
Nikolai scanned over it all clinically, darting between the raised podiums that displayed the stolen artifacts and goods on delicate golden pillows.
Crystals, jewels, weapons, scrolls. Half of them were tagged and ready for auction, while others seemed untouched, covered by a thin coating of dust.
It was a private collection unlike anything I had seen.
Although I’d never seen the extent of Nikolai’s full collection.
“Will you show me your secret room?” The question escaped before I could think to stop it.
He turned to me with a raised brow. “My secret room?”
Blushing, I waved an arm around us. “You know, the place where you keep all of this stuff.”
He laughed lightly under his breath. “I will take you to whatever secret rooms or places you wish to see when this is over, little bird.”
I covered my smile by scratching my nose as he returned to searching each of the cases. When his steps quickened as he made his way to the corner of the room, I knew he had found them.
“There are two here!”
Eagerly, I marched towards where he stood, and sure enough, he stared happily down at two long daggers, both with matching ruby-encrusted hilts. Perfect pairs to the one currently strapped to my thigh that he had given me all those months ago.
“I had been hoping for more, but two is better than nothing.”
He shot me a crooked smile, that dimple in his cheek appearing briefly enough to steal my breath. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
The urge to launch myself forward and throw my arms around him struck me.
“I almost can’t believe it,” I mused to him, trying to crush down the emotions bubbling inside of me. “We did it. We actually found them.”
Nikolai’s grin grew, the whites of his teeth beginning to show. “Did you doubt me?”
“Never,” I answered honestly and without hesitation.
He blinked, a considering look falling over his features before he gave me a single nod. I watched the lump in his throat bob as he swallowed.
“Well, it all worked out in the end.”
The end.
Finding the blades meant that our mission was over. We would return to his estate—back to Clay and back to the war. I would return my focus to protecting my kingdom and defeating Hyrax, while Nikolai would return to...well, whatever it is he did with his days.
There would be no more nights spent sleeping next to one another, pretending I wasn’t deeply aware of every time he inhaled and exhaled.
There would be no more teasing smiles or flirtatious jokes.
No more nicknames or kisses given without realizing their significance.
My time with Nikolai was ending again, just as it had before.
That’s what I had wanted, though. It’s what I had demanded, in fact. I had insisted on it day after day. He’d made his interest in me clear, and I’d been just as clear that there was nothing between us but old memories.
That was all I could allow for there to be because anything more would end with me heartbroken again.
So, why did the knowledge that we’d finally found the blades now have me feeling oddly disappointed?
“You got some place to hide these?” he asked me softly, his voice as withdrawn as I felt. With a sigh, he lifted the lid on the case that held the blades and avoided my gaze.
My heart twinged with an unexplainable ache, but I ignored it, falling instead into a new role—one where I was just happy that we had made this contribution towards the war effort. I painted a fake smile onto my face and winked as I pulled up my skirt.
“Hand them over.”
My fingertips had just skimmed the leather strap across my right thigh when Nikolai reached to grab the first blade for me.
And that’s when I realized that for a moment, I stopped thinking like the strategic operative I’d been trained to be.
A mistake I would never forgive myself for.
If I had been more focused, less distracted by his damn dimple and the way his voice always seemed to make my core tighten, I would have realized that someone who cares enough to lock their valuables behind a secret door would be smart enough to protect them with more than just two guards that are easily disposed of.
The very second that Nikolai wrapped his fingers around the hilt and lifted it from its pillow, the energy in the room shifted. It was just a puff of air, really, that was the only small warning we had, and before I knew it, he had thrown me out of the way.
He moved with impossible speed, latching onto the second blade with one hand while his other shoved me forcefully to the ground. I stumbled, landing heavily on my rear just as an arrow pierced the space I had been standing in only moments ago and lodged itself in his side.
“Nikolai!”
My breath came in a ragged gasp while Nikolai grunted against the wound. The arrow shook as he jerked backward, and time seemed to slow. He stared down at the arrow as his fingers on the blade in his hand loosened. It clattered to the ground with an echo.
Panic rushed through me, an icy fear that left my eyes wide and heart lurching as I struggled back to my feet and instinctively rushed toward him, tucking myself under his arm and supporting his weight as best as I could.
“Rip it out,” he growled through a locked jaw, his eyes squeezing shut.
I glanced down at the wooden rod sticking out of him, my pulse pounding in my ears. “Are you insane?”
The second I pulled out that arrow, there would be nothing to plug the new hole in his body. His blood would coat the floor. He would bleed out right in front of me. And I...
I couldn’t handle that.
“We can’t walk out of here with an arrow in my side, little bird.” He said my nickname with more force than he ever had before. “And I imagine whatever spell just triggered it likely notified the owner that we’re in here.”
Blinking his eyes open, he met my gaze, the tiniest spark of fear visible in their depths.
“We need to go,” he groaned. “Now. And I need your help.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like a weight was pressing so tightly onto my chest that I was ready to suffocate under it.
He shifted, leaning on me even more.
I needed to focus.
A mask of indifference fell over me, dulling my emotions and anxieties.
Bending was awkward as I tried to hold on to Nikolai and reach to grasp the Blade of Arto that he had dropped.
I strapped it next to the two others on my thigh before twisting and bracing one hand on his shoulder while I wrapped my fingers around the shaft of the arrow.
I tried not to show my concern when he stiffened under my touch.
“It’ll hurt.”
“Just do it,” he insisted, his voice gruffer than I’d ever heard before.
My exhale was measured as I flexed my fingers against the arrow and readied myself.
I didn’t warn him—didn’t count down or ask if he was ready. I yanked.
Nikolai sagged forward, releasing an inhuman hiss of pain, and burying his face in the hollow of my throat.
He shook slightly, and I reached for him, running my hand through his hair, shushing him and muttering promises that it would be okay.
His strained breath was hot against my neck, coming in ragged bursts until he pressed his lips to the skin there, pulled back, and nodded, pressing a hand tightly against the wound.
“Let’s move.”
Ducking to his other side, I forced his arm over my shoulder and let him lean heavily on me as we made our way out of the secret room. Neither of us bothered to close the door behind us.
Shouts were already erupting in the hall.
My magic railed against me, threatening to drop the illusion as my fear drained away my control.
Still, I took his weight and led us through the throng of crowded, confused guests.
Already, guards were grabbing arms and demanding to search clothing.
We needed to get out of here, and quickly.
Nikolai stumbled, the dampness of his blood beginning to drip onto the floor as we walked.
“Stay with me,” I told him. “We’re almost there.”
I just needed to get him through this foyer, out of the courtyard, and onto a horse.
Then, I’d figure out a way to prevent that wound from taking him away from me permanently.