He ran his hand over his face and sighed. “The lunar eclipse is approaching, and we have nothing to show my liege.” He looked right at me, and my stomach did a mini flip.
Ah, yeah. That particular worry had been giving me a dodgy curry belly the last couple of days too. Lucky for him, we didn’t share a bathroom.
I broke eye contact and carefully poured cocoa into two mugs. “It’s not like we haven’t tried.” I pointed out. “We trawled the catacombs beneath the mausoleum for two days. They’ve taken to ground somewhere else and until they make a move, we won’t know where that is. Thanks to Valance we still have two weeks to get something on the Shedim.”
I placed a mug in front of him and took the seat opposite regretting it immediately when he locked gazes with me. Shadows lurked in his irises, writhing and reaching for me. Dread bloomed like a black orchid in my chest, and my pulse skipped a beat. I hated how he was able to wrench these contradictory emotions from me, a delicate balance of attract and repel. I dropped my attention to my cocoa.
“It won’t matter what efforts we’ve made” His voice was rough, almost jagged. “She won’t care how hard we’ve tried if there are no results to show for our labors. She’ll make an example of us. I lost the dagger, the special dagger she forged just for this task. Elora doesn’t like to be disappointed.”
My heart beat picked up echoing his agitation. “Wait a second. She made the dagger just so you could capture Shedim? When? How did she know you’d get the chance to come this side of the border?”
“She didn’t. I’m the official face of Elora’s attack on the resistance. I’ve brought her many rebel Shedim who’ve skulked back into Draconi territory with a view to recruitment. I’ve seen her torture them, even when it is plain they will not break. I’m familiar with her brand of pain. It’s not something you recover from easily.”
Gooseflesh broke out up my arms. “Well that explains why the rogues wanted to hurt you so bad. You think you could have filled me in on that tidbit of info?”
“It hardly matters why they took me. What matters is what Elora will do to you. Are you listening to me?”
Of course I’d heard, but the facade, my unbreakable front wasn’t easily penetrated and any turmoil that lay beneath would remain hidden. “Yeah, I heard you. Pain like I’ve never known etcetera ... I think you’re underestimating my powers of persuasion.”
His face hardened. “This is no joke, Wila. She will hurt you. It’s what she knows. It’s what makes her who she is.”
A killer, that’s what she was. But not him. Not by choice. What hold did she have over him? “I don’t get it. You do her bidding, you go on about how she saved you, but right now you actually sound like you don’t like her very much.”
“Like doesn’t come into it. Leaders don’t get to where they are by being liked. They get to where they are by doing what must be done to ensure the survival of the many. Elora is an effective leader.”
Was this the shit they were being fed over the border? Man, he had it so twisted. “You’re wrong. A leader should inspire loyalty not just through fear and gratitude but through shared ideals. Do the Shedim truly share her views? Do you?”
He dropped his gaze to the steaming cup of cocoa, his fists clenched on the table top. “This is a pointless conversation. We will find the rogue Shedim, and we will return with the head of their leader. Elora will be appeased. There will be no punishment.”
“And so it has been said, and so it shall be done.” My voice was a sardonic boom.
His lips twisted in annoyance at my mocking tone, and there was a flash of doubt in his eyes. No. Not doubt. It was fear. I’d never seen him afraid, even when he’d been trapped in the ball of light under the mausoleum with one of the Shedim laying into him with a glowing whip. He’d been in pain, sure, but fear hadn’t crossed his brutal features. Now, in the relative safety of my kitchen, with a mug of hot cocoa at his fingertips, he was scared. Comprehension was a prickle across my skin. He was afraid, but not for himself. He was terrified for me.
My throat tightened. A scalding sip of cocoa did the trick, enough to plaster a faux smile on my face. “You’re right. They’ll make a false move soon and then we’ll have them, and don’t worry about pain, I’m sure there’s a potion somewhere that can numb that shit.”
He swallowed. “I hope so, Wila. I hope so.”
Early morning light crept across the kitchen and bathed the table in warmth.
Azren tipped back his head and gulped downed his cocoa, the thick column of his throat bobbing was suddenly the most mesmerizing thing I’d ever seen. I dropped my gaze to my mug tamping down the urge to reach out and touch him. He wasn’t mine to touch. He belonged to Elora, and there was no acting on the powerful attraction that was blooming between us. In fact, I’d probably be forgiven for thinking it was all in my head, because the past week Azren had done his best not to be in the same room with me unless he had to.
Azren set down his mug. “We should make another sweep of the catacombs. Maybe there is something we missed.”
There wouldn’t be, we’d combed the shit out of that place, but if it made him feel better. “Sure. Let’s go look for clues, Nancy Drew.”
Grab your copy now!
Other books by Debbie Cassidy
The Gatekeeper Chronicles
Coauthored with Jasmine Walt
Marked by Sin
Hunted by Sin
Claimed by Sin
The Witch Blood Chronicles
(Spin-off to the Gatekeeper Chronicles)
Binding Magick
Defying Magick
Embracing Magick
Unleashing Magick
The Fearless Destiny Series
Beyond Everlight
Into Evernight
Under Twilight
The Chronicles of Midnight
Protector of Midnight
Champion of Midnight
Secrets of Midnight
Shades of Midnight
Savior of Midnight
Chronicles of Arcana
City of Demons
City of the Lost
Novellas
Blood Blade
About the Author
Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes High Fantasy and Urban Fantasy.
Connect with Debbie via her website at debbiecassidyauthor.com or twitter @authordcassidy. Or sign up to her Newsletter to stay in the know.
City of Demons (Chronicles of Arcana Book 1) Page 20
