Chapter 18 #2
Naomi rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Groaning, Raphael threw his hands overhead. “For God’s sake, I have been working so hard to be considerate with you, and still you mock me. Tell me, why is it that everyone has forgiven me except for you?”
Naomi gazed back at him, her lips parted. “I’m . . . I didn’t mean . . .”
Her voice trailed off, and Tobias cleared his throat. “We really do need to get going,” he said.
Grunting a brief parting, Raphael stormed off, and Yucana pushed Naomi’s cart from the room, not giving a second glance to her son. Delphi was the next to take leave, stopping at the doorway before casting one last glare Leila’s way. “You’re a bitch.”
“You’ll be so much happier here,” Leila said.
“Distracting me with courtesans is foul and duplicitous.”
She left the chamber in a huff, and Tobias immediately went limp in his seat, letting out a long, relieved exhale. Before Leila could mirror the sentiment, a soft rapping sounded off the doorframe, and Hylas poked his head inside.
“Pardon me.” He crept into the chamber, bowing once to Leila, then a second time to Tobias. “I couldn’t help but overhear . . .”
Leila raised an eyebrow. “Eavesdropping, were we?”
“Apologies.” His shoulders curled, but he stopped short and straightened. “Actually, I believe You’ll find my interest in Your favor.”
Leila couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Go on, then.”
The former senator stood tall, his chin high and chest out.
“I have committed my life to serving The One True Savior, and my commitment grew all the more steadfast the night You saved my life. I have spied for You, heavily abetted the liberation of Your staff, and withstood great bodily harm, all in aid to Your Holiness. I believe I can be a great asset to Your journey to Kovahr, and I would like to accompany You.”
Leila’s heart lurched. She stood from Her seat, taking his hands. “Hylas, no.”
“I am a man of mixed heritage with great knowledge of several cultures,” he added. “My father was a seasoned sailor and taught me of customs beyond our own. I speak several languages. Not Kovahrian I’m afraid, but I am a quick study and eager to learn.”
“I speak Kovahrian,” Leila said, “and I, too, am well-learned.”
“Then consider my close proximity to the sovereign during Your time away. All the meetings I attended, the strategies I overheard and absorbed.” His brown eyes grew larger, his tone uncharacteristically level and sure.
“The information You retrieved during Your late nights at the watchtower? It came from me. I am Your closest link to the sovereign’s agenda.
” He set his jaw. “And I am willing to kill if necessary.”
“He has a point,” Tobias said.
Leila bit back a growl. The bruise of Hylas’s eye had yellowed, and the sight of it stung. God, what he’d already endured for Her sake, and he was willing to bear far worse. Her mind grappled with Her heart, pulling Her in opposite directions.
The door flew open, and the three of them jumped. Ladon stood before them, eyes wide and aghast. “They’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Leila asked.
“Soldiers.”
Leila’s throat sealed shut, and Tobias cursed at Her side. They’d waited too long.
“H-how many?” Hylas barely croaked out.
“A squad, no more than ten,” Ladon said. “They’re performing a random inspection, said it’s mandated by law. We can’t refuse them.”
Leila’s stomach roiled, Her mind flashing with images of Her sister slaughtered, Tobias’s family in chains. “Tell the others,” She said. “Delphi, Naomi, Yucana, and Raphael.” She turned to Hylas. “Get Enzo.”
Both the courtesan and senator dashed from the room, and Leila rushed to close and lock the door behind them. She spun toward Tobias, who was straightening the sheets, then stuffing Raphael’s belongings into the wardrobe.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving the appearance of an unoccupied room.” He held the wardrobe door open, then beckoned Her forward. “Come.”
She followed, climbing up the bottom drawers and nestling within the wardrobe. Tobias took root at Her side, closing the doors and encasing them in darkness, save for the faint sliver of light between the two wooden slats.
“We’ll wait here,” Tobias whispered, his body pressed to Hers. “If they find us—”
“They will find us.”
“We’ll shadow walk away. Into the woods, behind the brothel. We’ll wait them out—”
“And leave your mother and sister behind?” Leila hissed. “Delphi? The others?”
“We should’ve left yesterday—”
Footsteps pattered outside the chamber, sending them both to silence.
This wasn’t the time for bickering. Tobias swept his arm around Her waist, pulling Her against his chest. She wasn’t sure how long they stood in that exact position, wincing at the slight creaking of wooden panels beneath their feet, listening for the clank of armor or hum of voices.
The heat between them became suffocating, their eyes trained on the single slit of light.
Nothing. No soldiers, no voices. Maybe they were gone.
Jangling sounded, and both Tobias and Leila flinched.
Someone was wrestling with the doorknob.
Leila held Her breath until the noise gave way to silence, and She loosened the slightest bit in Tobias’s arms. The quiet was a promise soon broken.
Someone pounded at the door, and Leila jumped, clasping Her hands over Her mouth while Tobias reached for the blade on his thigh.
A muffled voice barked orders from the corridor, followed by a foot kicking at the door.
Each strike barreled into Leila’s chest, harder, louder, until the door burst open, cracking against the opposite wall.
Footsteps filtered through the space, and Leila peered through the sliver of light.
Nothing—and then the soldier appeared, a spear in hand, eyes tracing the space.
Leila’s breath caught. The soldier studied the bed, running a hand over its sheets, then hunched low, inspecting its underside.
Tobias’s hand slinked into Leila’s, holding tight.
The soldier eyed the window, then glanced toward the door. He was leaving. Leila was sure of it.
Then the soldier turned, looking straight at the wardrobe.
A scream built in Leila’s throat. The soldier took a step closer, then readied his spear, holding it at his side.
Another step, and She could make out the hair along his arms and his narrowed eyes.
Tobias was right. Shadow walking was their only option.
She pressed Her palm into his, channeling Her power.
He must’ve felt the blaze of Her light because his fingers tightened around Hers, soaking up every last drop of magic.
The soldier came in closer, and She clenched Her jaw, imagining the nearby woods in Her mind’s eye.
The soldier’s head slammed against the wardrobe, his helmet cracking through one of the wooden doors.
Leila couldn’t help the screech that left Her lips, but it didn’t matter; the soldier was out of sight, reappearing in mere flashes of gleaming silver and flailing limbs.
Tobias shoved the doors open, and they both stumbled into the chamber, slack-jawed at the chaos before them.
Hylas stood in the doorway, and Enzo straddled the soldier, slamming the spear into the pit of his gut.
“Enzo!” Tobias barked. “What the hell are you doing?”
“He came to kill you.” Enzo angled the spear in the soldier’s belly, then shoved it upward, ending the man’s misery. A proud smirk swept his lips. “I kill him first.”
“We were going to shadow walk away,” Tobias said. “We wanted them to think we’re not here.”
“They cannot think if they are dead.”
“Quiet, both of you.” Leila massaged Her temples, fighting to still Her racing thoughts. “A soldier’s dead. The others will look for him.”
“Maybe they’ll assume he was distracted,” Hylas added, shifting from foot to foot beside the door. “That he found himself compelled to pursue . . . other activities.”
“Yes, yes.” Enzo hopped to his feet. “The fucking.”
“They won’t think he’s fucking if they find him in a pool of his blood,” Leila bit out through gritted teeth. “Which means—”
“We hide the body.” Tobias crouched low, hooking his arms beneath the soldier’s. “Help me lift him.”
With a grunt, Tobias hoisted the limp torso from the floor while Enzo took the legs, lifting them high with little effort. Blood seeped from the corpse into a growing puddle on the floor, and when the soldier’s head lolled to the side, crimson poured from his lips.
“Shit,” Tobias growled. “This is a fucking mess.”
“Hold on.” Leila rushed to the bed, stripping it of its sheets. She laid out one of the maroon throws, the fabric quickly saturating with blood. “Set him here.”
Tobias gently lowered the soldier while Enzo dropped his legs with a graceless thud. Together, all four of them rolled the body, wrapping it like seasoned meats in flatbread. Red streaked the floor, and Hylas went to work sopping up the stains with a spare sheet.
“Worry about that later,” Tobias said.
“Are you mad?” Leila spat. “We’re leaving a trail.”
“We shadow walk the soldier to the woods, then we clean.”
Enzo grabbed the body by the ankles, lurching it upright and sending blood spilling across the smeared floor. “I go.”
“You can’t go,” Tobias said. “You can’t shadow walk.”
“Don’t hold him upside down, you’re making it worse!” Leila hissed.
“I think perhaps we should take a moment to contain ourselves.” Hylas’s voice came out meek, his skin greying with sickness. “Things haven’t unfolded exactly to plan, and more soldiers—”
His voice died when the door flew open. Three soldiers stood before them, their eyes panning between Leila, Tobias, and the bloody body in Enzo’s arms.
“Shit,” Leila said.
She didn’t wait for them to ready their spears. Light pulsed through Her veins, and She summoned all of it, clasping the blade on Her thigh. Blood had already been spilled, and their path forward was clear. There was nothing to do but end them all.
Behind them.