Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,12

warm corners of the ceiling.

But no soldierlike sounds. No methodical pacing inside or outside the boiler room. No idle conversation between bored guards.

And there weren’t any prisoner noises either.

Fairy crept out from behind the boiler, stiletto knives in each hand. “Your Majesty, are you here?” she whispered.

The only answer was the rhythmic bursts of steam in the pipes. Dammit. Fairy lowered her knives. The chances had been slim of her guessing correctly on the first try where Empress Aki was hidden, but the failure was still disappointing.

If the empress wasn’t here, then it meant the main boiler room door wouldn’t be locked or guarded. Fairy might as well exit the mess hall that way. Fewer cobwebs.

She took one last pass around the boiler room, then headed up the stairs. She listened to make sure there was no one outside the door before she snuck out.

As soon as she was on the other side, the rich aroma of braised beef stew embraced her. Fairy’s stomach rumbled. She’d only had a few crackers and picked at a piece of fish jerky earlier. Now she realized she was ravenous.

I’ll just sneak into the kitchen and steal a bite, she thought. And maybe, if it was busy enough that the staff wouldn’t notice another body in their midst, she could get some provisions for Broomstick, Wolf, and Spirit. They’d be hungry when they reconvened.

Someone was coming down the hall. No, several someones. Fairy tucked herself into a corner.

Three women hurried by. They were dressed in plain brown tunics and trousers, white aprons around their waists, hair pulled back in neat buns. The Society employed an entire staff of non-taigas like these kitchen girls to help the Citadel run. Fairy recognized one of them as Mariko, who was friends with Broomstick and often would give him extra cookies when the baker made too many.

“Psst, Mariko!” Fairy whispered. Hells, she knew it was risky, but maybe they could help her. Or if they tried to fight, Fairy could easily take out three untrained girls in two seconds. Four seconds, at most.

No, definitely two.

The girls passed her, though, chattering excitedly about cooking for Emperor Gin.

Had they been hypnotized?

If so, maybe Fairy shouldn’t call out to Mariko. She did follow them down the long corridor, though. After all, it looked like they were heading to the kitchen, which was exactly where Fairy’s stomach wanted her to be.

The kitchen was bustling, preparing for dinner in a couple hours. It smelled not only of stewed beef but also dumplings, fried noodles, and roasted vegetables. Fairy’s stomach threatened to stage a revolt if she didn’t eat something soon.

She stepped into a nook with shelves lined with folded uniforms. Fairy grabbed one of the starchy white tops and buttoned it over her black tunic and pulled a matching white apron over it. Now she looked just like Mariko and the other girls.

Fairy emerged into the main part of the kitchen, next to a counter lined with baskets of rolls ready to be set on the long rows of tables in the mess hall. The rolls were shaped like triplicate whorls, the symbol the goddess Luna used to mark those she blessed as taigas. Fairy clenched her jaw. How dare the ryuu use the taigas’ symbol! She had half a mind to poison their meal, and she began to reach for the satchel on her belt.

But then she stopped. If she poisoned the food, she’d kill not only Prince Gin’s ryuu but also the innocent taigas who’d been hypnotized.

Gods dammit.

She left her satchel alone but grabbed a roll and crammed it into her mouth. The buttery dough seemed to melt on her tongue, and she almost moaned aloud, catching herself at the last moment. She gobbled up three more rolls to silence herself. Then she found an empty rice sack next to the counter and upended a couple baskets of bread into the bag to bring to her friends.

“Hello, servants,” a gruff voice said from the entryway to the kitchen.

Fairy looked up to see three ryuu—a man and two women. She didn’t recognize them.

“Master Ram,” the head chef said, bowing and fawning. “And Masters Quill and Edgewood. How can we be of service?”

They stormed into the kitchen and began snatching dumplings out of pans and sticking their fingers in bowls of sauce to taste them. “We want snacks in the sparring arena in five minutes,” Quill barked.

Fairy seethed. When the taigas had been in charge here, they were always respectful and grateful to