“Gone. We don’t have to worry about her anymore.”
“What do you mean gone? Was she here?”
“She was, but we got rid of her. I threw her into one of their snares, and a patrol grabbed her. I was going to kill her immediately, but this way is actually better. Let her body rot up on the tembris like all the others.”
I stared at him, not believing what he had just told me. I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. “Tell me you’re lying, brother. Tell me you’re lying before I kill you!”
“Did you forget what she did to us? How she used us? She deserves what she got! How could you not know that?”
“How long ago?” I asked, desperately praying there was still time to go after her.
“Hours. This morning. She’s in a cell by now. Or maybe hanging already if we’re lucky.”
I shook my head. “No. No! She came here for help! Did you listen to her?”
“Why would I listen to anything she said? That’s what started all this! Listening to her lies! You listening to her lies! She’s been helping the king, for gods’ sakes! She earned her fate. What’s the matter with you?”
“Did you even give her a chance? She came to you! To the family! Did she tell you I was alive?”
“Yes, but—”
“That she was forced to say those things about me? That Lydia and Nash were safe?”
He didn’t answer, but his eyes were hard beads staring into mine. She had told him.
“You’re a fool, Gunner! A stubborn fool who never listens! Who doesn’t think before he acts! And this time you’ve gone too far!”
He jammed his hands against my chest, pushing me away. “What’s happened to you? Working with them and defending her against the family? I don’t even know who you are!”
I slammed him up against a tree, my hand around his throat, feeling like I could snap his neck with one squeeze. “I am the Patrei! And you will help me get her back or—”
“Or what, Jase? What are you going to do? I am your brother!”
My chest heaved. “And Kazi is my wife!”
CHAPTER FORTY
KAZI
Family listens. They will love you.
They will listen.
They will listen.
I had been staring at the fire for so long, I hardly knew the rest of the room existed.
It was lit with only a small fire in the hearth that was quickly dwindling down to coals. A chain around my neck was attached to the center pillar. I sat in a chair, one of the few pieces of furniture in the room. Against the wall was a bed covered with a rough-spun blanket, and a small pine chest sat beside it. They had dragged me up several flights of stairs. With open rafters above me, I decided it was an attic room, maybe a servant’s quarters. A small window high on the wall where the pitched roof met was black with night now. Besides the chain around my neck, my hands were tied to the arms, and my ankles to the legs of the chair. I was not going anywhere.
Banques had told me to wait for the king, like I had a choice. “He wants to have a little talk with you.”
He laughed as he yanked the chain, then left.
The room closed in. Shadows danced on the walls. The inn was deathly quiet. Not even timbers or floors creaked. The fire didn’t crackle. There was only the glowing burn.
I heard the slow tick of a clock in my head. Time running out. No more second chances. I pulled at the ropes on my wrists and ankles. They only cut deeper into my skin.
There is always a way out, Kazi. Blink last. Die tomorrow. I twisted and pulled at the ropes again, but they didn’t give, just as they hadn’t every time I tested them.