Kobra

CHAPTER 42

DAVINA

Two days ago

A SHARP KNOCK STARTLED ME AWAKE. Groaning, I rolled onto my side, squinting through the blinding sunlight. My eyelids felt heavier than stone.

“Lachlan, are you in there?”

I know that voice—

My head snapped to the side, horror filling me when I spotted the sun far above where it should have been through the tiny window.

By a rough guess, I was at least an hour late.

Which meant I’d missed the meeting time the captain and I had agreed on.

Which in turn explained why he was now pounding my door.

I dragged a hand down my face, futilely trying to rub the exhaustion away. I really should’ve taken my own advice and gotten more rest while I had the chance. I’d only collapsed onto the mattress when the first streaks of dawn had painted the sky.

Another knock, louder this time.

“Lachlan?” Concern laced Zephyr’s voice. At least, so I thought. It very well could have been suspicion instead.

And then it hit me. Leonidas. The temple. The creation.

Excitement burst from my chest like a firework. I shot upright, every trace of sleep incinerated by the surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

“Yes, yes! Sorry, coming!” I fumbled to the door, practically vibrating with anticipation.

Only at the last moment did I remember Zephyr couldn’t know where I’d gone last night. Or what I’d learned. I took a breath, shoved my excitement down, and schooled my features before opening the door.

I froze, all the sudden energy careening to a screeching halt. No sleep—or lack thereof—could’ve prepared me for what stood on the other side.

Zephyr, clad in his classic dark grey tank top, black vest, and matching cargoes. I should have been used to it by now. To the way the fabric seemed to cling onto him like roots to the soil. How, when the light was right, dark bronze strands shimmered amidst his tousled hair.

As my heart raced, I realized it was about time for me to accept that there was no getting used to Zephyr Kentar.

And the way he was looking at me, from beneath lowered eyebrows, arms behind his back, chin tucked toward his chest . . . sap above and below.

“Still open to that portrait . . .”

Heat rushed to my cheeks and I tore my gaze away.

“Asshole.” Then, with a sigh, “Sorry, I slept in. Can you give me ten minutes to get ready?”

When he didn’t respond, I risked a glance, bracing for that infuriatingly smug smirk. Only, there wasn’t one. Tension coiled tight in his jaw, and shadows danced in his eyes. His gaze burned, and it was drinking me in with the same intensity I’d just offered him.

And—oh, cursed sap. Only now did it occur to me what I was wearing. Thin sleep shorts and a strapless top which left a lot of bare skin in sight.

His nostrils flared and he swallowed slowly, like it took him a bit of time and a lot of effort to lift his eyes to mine. When he did, they were three tones darker than their usual vivid green.

No one spoke. No one moved.

Every nerve in my body hummed. The empty room at my back suddenly felt like a trap, echoing with the memory of how close we’d been to throwing ourselves over the line just two nights ago.

It could never happen again. Not when I was so damn close. And so, using the door as a barrier falling between us, I murmured, “Be there in ten.”

Nine minutes later, I pushed open the door of the administrative building and stepped into the searing daylight beyond. Clad in a sky-hued strapless jumpsuit, I felt ready to brave anything—even the captain of the King’s Army.

Zephyr’s gaze swept over me like a warm caress. I did my best to ignore it, reminding myself of what was at stake.

“I arranged access to the first three levels of the mines,” he said.

My steps faltered. Any residual heat from his attention cooled instantly.

The mines. Of course. Under normal circumstances, it’d have been the most obvious place to start. I’d have swallowed my fear of those tunnels and got on with it. Now, though, I knew for a fact there was no stash to be found in them.

I needed to get to that temple, ideally without him following my every step.

“I think we should split,” I said.

One dark eyebrow lifted. “I’m not letting you out of my sight, Lachlan.” His eyes traveled my frame again, lighting sparks where they’d just cooled. In them, I read ‘For more than one reason’.

He was good, damn him. “It’s just the two of us now. We’ll go faster if we split.”

He tilted his head, considering. “You know what? You’re right.” It took every ounce of training not to let my shock show. That’d been far too easy. “I’ll take the South and East. You can cover the North and West.”

No.

The temple was in the South.

“Actually,” I blurted, “I wanted to explore some ancient temple ruins in the South.”

His eyes narrowed. “Who told you about those?”

Well, shit.

“There was a strange smudge on the map I was given.” The lie was smooth. “So I asked about it when dinner was brought up. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Thankfully, I’d still been in my room waiting for night to fall fully when a young woman appeared with a tray, on Zephyr’s orders.

Of course, I hadn’t asked her anything about nonexistent map smudges.

But he had no way of knowing that. By the time he figured it out, I’d hopefully be deep in those ruins.

“Those are very old,” he said slowly, still watching me with narrowed eyes.

I knew I had to tread carefully. “I still want to see them.”

“What aren’t you telling me, Lachlan?” There was a low rumble in his voice that made the hairs at my nape rise.

I was walking a tightrope, and Zephyr was holding an axe. Whether I fell because I slipped, or because he swung, remained to be seen.

Figuring it’d serve me best, I opted for a partial truth. “All of Sircelen’s evidence has been hidden in secluded places, far from accidental discovery. This is his biggest secret yet, so I don’t believe for a second he’d stash it in a mine accessed by hundreds of workers every day.”

Zephyr’s lip bulged as he ran his tongue over his teeth, considering.

“You might be right.” His attention travelled past me and I twisted, following it up to the imposing height of the crater stretching further South.

“The terrain going up is complicated,” he said.

“Think you’ll manage to behave and follow my lead? ”

The urge to insist we went our separate ways was strong, but I quenched it. I’d already pushed too far. One more nudge, and his suspicion might as well become certainty.

I’d have to look into giving him the slip once there. And if I couldn’t . . . well, there was always Plan B.

Zephyr had been right on one thing—the hike up the crater was not for the faint of heart.

The treacherous half-volcanic, half-crumbling terrain had us struggling to find purchase at every step, the rocks providing our footing uneven and full of sharp edges.

I’d have heeded his request to behave even if he hadn’t posed it, all too happy to let him lead and paying careful attention to where he placed his feet in order to mirror them.

The landscape around us was as brutal as it was beautiful.

With nothing to obstruct the view, the sea unfolded on all sides, the shallow waters glinting like a jeweled ring encircling the island.

Yek had shrunk into a patchwork of buildings and dust trails far below, and the crater’s ridge ahead reached up to stroke the cloudless sky.

I understood then why Leonidas had struggled to extract whatever Sircelen had hidden in that temple. Kairis’ stark, barren expanse offered no cover.

The sole ally for such an endeavor would be the cover of the night.

My foot slipped, a sharp gasp falling from my lips as a pebble skittered down the crater’s edge, gaining speed with each bounce. One glance down the slope confirmed what the pebble already knew: hiking this path in the dark would be suicide.

I’d have to time it really fucking well if I wanted to return here undetected.

And then what?

Before, the answer would have been simple: get a message to Ludwig. He’d arrange transport, no questions asked. But now?

Now . . . I wasn’t sure I wanted that.

Focus on the present.

There would be time to figure out the future later.

Or so I hoped.

The climb grew steeper, until we had to use our hands as much as our feet, the volcanic rock’s sharp edges mercilessly denting our skin, and sometimes even slicing it open.

Progress became a crawl, the need to double check every purchase and foothold slowing us down.

Soon, sweat trickled down my spine, soaking the fabric at my back.

My calves and thighs screamed with each push upward.

Zephyr, sap damn him, wasn’t even breathing harder.

Hours passed before we finally crested the crater’s rim. I’d never feared heights before, but the sheer drop on either side of the five-foot-wide path made my stomach knot. Burying the unease, I trudged forward.

And there it was. The temple.

Or rather, what was left of it. Even in ruin, it radiated a majesty that stole my breath. Massive columns seemed to have sprouted from the very earth to hold partial lintels and arches that spoke of great reverence.

“Stunning,” I breathed at the sight.

“Yeah.”

Only, when I glanced up at the captain, I found his eyes on me. My heart struggled to keep pace with the demands of both the hike, and the sudden rush of heat blooming in my chest.

An ache was taking root in my stomach. I’d lost count of how many times I’d wished I’d met Zephyr under different circumstances.

At a bar, or walking down a quiet street.

Even a crowded ball, on one of the rare nights the Republic thought to splurge on its ranks, and—even rarer—when I bothered to show up.

A sad smile pulled at the corners of my mouth.

Even that wouldn’t have worked. Not unless I was a caterer and he was a visiting dignitary, wrapped in one of those formal suits I’d seen some Kobrants wear.

I’d offer him a flute of something expensive and fizzing, and he’d meet my eyes once . . . and that would be it.

A dream.

In this world, the only reality in our future was pain and betrayal. I might have started to feel something for Zephyr, the stoic man who saw too much and hid so much more. But Zephyr, the captain of the King of Kobra’s army, was someone I could never trust.

Least of all with my heart.

I didn’t want Ludwig getting his hands on whatever waited inside that temple. But I wanted it falling into Kobrant hands even less.

That ache flared, making something in my chest break painfully.

After today, I might never see him again.

My steps quickened inadvertently, the urge to finally put an end to this misery as solid as a cord tied around my waist, tugging me onward.

Zephyr moved methodically, scanning every column and scratch like they might suddenly reveal a hidden vault. Meanwhile, I focused on the ground, hunting for any trace of an entrance to the tunnels Leonidas had sworn were here.

You can’t miss it, he’d said.

Well, I very much was missing it.

“It was a good guess,” Zephyr said eventually, stepping around a column I was examining the base of. But the wrong one, he didn’t say aloud.

I ignored him, eyes narrowing at a pair of shallow lines in the stone.

“There’s nothing here, Lachlan. We’re just wasting time.” His voice carried the edge of frustration. I continued to scour every square inch of stone. “What’s gotten into you?”

Without standing, I pulled the map from my bag and unfolded it across my knees, searching for the smallest suggestion of another access point nearby.

“I just know it’s here,” I said absent-mindedly.

Too late I realized it was the wrong thing to say.

His voice grew sharp. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Just a hunch.” A very strong one.

A hand closed around my biceps and I froze.

His skin was warm, but it may as well have been a live wire.

The contact sent a tremor down my spine, my body reacting in a way that I couldn’t explain.

As if drawn by a magnetic pull I couldn’t resist, my gaze lifted to meet his.

There was a seriousness in his expression I hadn’t been ready for.

“This is more than a hunch,” he said. Forest-green eyes bore into mine with unsettling certainty. “What do you know?”

My jaw ticked. I was being cornered, and the predator in me bucked against the shift—against becoming prey. “I just refuse to give up until we’ve exhausted—”

A flick of his free hand and the map flew out of mine and into his. The sap circling his forearm gleamed as it moved, mocking me.

“Hey!” I surged forward.

Zephyr’s hold on my arm tightened infinitesimally. Not enough to hurt, but to draw my attention back to him. I yanked again, but he raised the map high over his head, well out of my reach.

“Give it back.”

“Not until you answer me.” The deep, clipped tone was his no-room-for-arguments one, its rumble further stoking the increasingly bothersome flames in my gut.

My head and heart waged a battle I did not understand as his gaze held mine, relentless in its attack. And then I saw it. A flicker passed through his expression. Barely there. Raw and honest. A crack in the wall, like a quiet plea.

A desire for truth, for trust.

My chest ached.

If only I could. If only there wasn’t so much at stake.

“I told you.” I wrenched free with a hard pull and took a step back—

The ground disappeared.

A cry tore from my throat as the stones gave way. My body lurched, gravity claiming me in its unforgiving grip, dragging me down the side of the crater.