Chapter 12 #3
Not just lied, but betrayed and deceived him, my people, and my soldier oath.
Sedition in the eyes of HDF.
Punishable by death.
Istvan would never let my disloyalty go—unless he was planning to use it against me somehow.
Voices coming from down the hall jolted me.
Fear and adrenaline chugged through my bloodstream, my heart thudding, palms sweating.
My gaze darted desperately down to the evidence of my crimes in front of me.
Shuffling all pictures and papers together, I started to shove them back into the safe.
But one of them slipped from my grasp and onto the floor.
The file with some kind of formula and notes spread out over the rug.
Fuck!
I thrust the other two inside, about to pick up the fallen file.
Footsteps stopped at the door, voices muttering, speeding up my pulse.
Baszd meg!
Forgetting it, I pressed the safe closed, slipping back the false front.
The door handle rattled. Panic drove me to sweep up the folder and dart to the curtain I used to hide behind as a young girl.
Bunching up my huge skirt to my chest, I tried to flatten myself into the wall, the documents pressing into my skin.
“Come in.” Istvan’s voice rang through the room, my heart thumping as I noticed the curtain still swaying from my movement. Gritting my teeth, I hoped he either wouldn’t notice or think he caused it by stepping in. “Have a seat.”
“I’d rather not.” Flat and low, the other man’s voice tapped at the back of my head. I knew it, but I wasn’t sure from where. “I’d prefer to get straight to business.”
“Yes, very well,” Istvan replied as he moved behind his desk. “Have you found anything more?”
“I have been watching her, trying to find any kind of communication between them, but so far, I have found nothing.” The man sounded irritated by this discovery. “Does not mean she won’t. She could be waiting until things calm down.”
“Yes, she’s smart. She wouldn’t do anything foolish.” Istvan sighed, sounding tired. “I raised her to be clever; now it’s coming back to bite me.”
I realized they were talking about me. Istvan had someone tracking me, watching my every move.
“Her betrayal has cut deep. I dedicated so much time to her education, hoping she wouldn’t turn out like him . . . but I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Istvan huffed.
Like him? Did he mean my dad? My father had been his best friend. His faithful general, taken from my side months at a time to serve him, lead his armies, and then eventually taken from my life.
“How would you want me to proceed, sir?”
Istvan inhaled thoughtfully, as if contemplating his options.
“My son will lose all focus if anything happens to her right now. He has become weak when it comes to her. Foolish. Plus, I want to watch how this will play out, see if she’ll reach out to her fae lover.
Otherwise, she is no longer of use to me.
She may be stunning, but now with the rumors swirling around about her time in Halálház, no influential noble wants her near their family.
My only hope is Prime Minister Leon in Prague, but if he rejects my offer for her, she is useless.
” Istvan went quiet, the room filling with heavy silence.
My heart pounded so loudly I was sure someone would hear it.
“Sir?”
“What I want, Kalaraja . . .” His name slithered so deeply down into my gut I had to force myself not to gasp aloud or drop to my knees in terror.
Kalaraja. His name meant the Lord of Death.
The name they called him because of his occupation.
He was General Markos’ private spy and assassin. I had met him a handful of times in Istvan’s office over the years. His eyes were dark and flat. Soulless. Scarred face, bald, and blank of life, he could easily blend into the darkness.
Whenever he had walked by me, chills ran down my body. He was one of the only men I had been truly afraid of. I’d heard stories of his victims—the art and dedication he had, not in merely murdering someone, but torturing them. It was his only passion.
“I’d like—”
“Shh,” Kalaraja snipped out.
“What—”
Whatever the assassin did, Istvan shut up.
My lids squeezed together for a moment, petrified. Not a muscle moved as my lungs strained to hold in the last bits of air. And possibly my final moments of life.
Seconds ticked by like hours, dread burning through me. Just a flick of the curtain and I would be exposed.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
My heartbeat struck with the clock.
A woman’s squealed laugh from outside reached our ears, followed by a man’s murmuring.
“It’s only drunk guests outside,” Istvan barked.
“Calm down, Kalaraja. You are about to attack my plant in the corner.” The swish of fabric told me Istvan was moving.
The drawer to his desk opened. “I want you to continue to watch her. Report anything you see. I mean everything. Normal or . . . abnormal.”
“What do you mean abnormal, sir?”
“Qualities you might find odd or different in a human.”
A fist drove through my chest, barreling down into my gut, my heart squeezing in pain and fear.
In one sentence, with a shift in his tone, I realized I was no longer the daughter he once considered me.
I was an enemy.
In a world of suspicion, distrust, and hatred, Istvan was always looking for betrayal, but I did not expect how fast he would turn on me.
“And if nothing happens, sir?” Kalaraja replied blankly. “Can I just force her to talk?”
“She may appear like a feeble woman, but I trained her well. She’s tougher than most male soldiers. She will not break.”
“You underestimate me, sir.”
I heard the sound of something hit the surface of the desk. “Here. Your payment for your services so far. When the time comes, there will be a bonus if you make it look as if the fae were the ones to kill her. That will really provoke Caden.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, I must return to my son’s engagement,” Istvan said.
“Her death will burn his hate for the fae even more, and then he will help me lead the new wave of humans to destroy the fae and take back our land. Our world. I know him. Once he learns of her death, he will do it without question. It’s amazing how powerful a broken heart can be. ”
Feet moved to the door, followed by the swish of it opening, footsteps receding, then the door clicking shut.
Shock swelled in my lungs, clogging my throat with emotion, fear, rage, grief, and heartbreak.
A man I thought of as family had so easily ordered my torture and death, turning against me without hesitation. For one moment, I wanted to curl on the ground and let the little girl, who grew up under his care, sob in grief feeling broken and terrified.
Run, my brain screamed at me. You are no longer safe. Go!
Instinct kicked me forward, flattening the folder to my chest. I peered around the curtain, searching for a threat before slipping out and heading for the exit.
I peered back at his safe, the false front a little askew, then down at my item in my hands.
A tiny part of me still wanted to be obedient to Istvan, prove I was the soldier and girl he raised so he would be proud of me.
“Once he learns of her death, he will do it without question. It’s amazing how powerful a broken heart can be.”
Terror twisted in my soul at his cruelty. Tucking the folder under my gown and wrapping it in the layers of fabric, I slinked out, knowing what I had to do.
And I could never come back from it.