tan hides with thick white stripes across their backs. Nestled between oversize ears, a morganite stub cast a faint peach glow across each of their ivory manes. They were hardier than horses, even though the magic had been bred out of them over the years. If we took the horses instead, our two-day trek would stretch into three. Maybe four. Which meant less time dedicated to finding and taming the Myad and more time with these assassins. A predicament I did not want to face.
Turning my back on the outside world, I stared at a more immediate concern—our shared room. Eastrend was a logging town. Bordering on Lightwood Forest, its primary export was wood, and only a few hundred locals lived here. They survived off game from the forest and fresh vegetables grown in the few farmland plots on the outskirts of town. Buildings were sparse. It wasn’t exactly lively, and because most only visited Ortega Key by taking a scenic and much costlier route via ship, lodgings weren’t a high priority. The inn was a mere two stories with half a dozen rooms, only one of which was available.
Supposedly, it slept six.
My eyes traveled over the two sets of bunks and a floor-bound mattress covered in calfskin hides and down blankets. I sank into the bottom mattress of the first bunk bed, and the springs creaked beneath my weight. Arms spread wide, I could graze both opposing bunks with my fingertips. Shiplap with black swirled patterns ran horizontally along the walls. Candlelit iron fixtures clung to either side of the door, casting a flickering light that made shadows dance at my feet.
Those shadows. I couldn’t shake the way they clung to Noc. If he wasn’t so damn menacing, he’d be attractive. I’d swear he’d peeked at my soul on the train, the way his obsidian eyes burned right through to my core. He knew pain, that much I could tell. There was a level of understanding in his gaze that couldn’t be faked. Certainly he’d done things, horrendous things, as an assassin. Did he regret them? He didn’t show any reservations about his role as the leader of Cruor. So what was it? What had he suffered that made it so easy for him to recognize that pain in me? Whatever it was, it hadn’t lasted. That same gaze had gone cold once I’d reemerged from the bathroom, and I was instantly reminded of his power. Of the nonchalance he so effortlessly wielded. His beauty didn’t outweigh his danger, and I wasn’t in the game of putting myself in harm’s way.
The bedroom door swung open, Ozias and Calem strolling in. Ozias came to a full stop. “When he only gave me one key, I thought he’d already given you a separate room.”
I shrugged. “Nope. This is all we’ve got.”
Calem shut the door behind him and dropped his bag on the floor. “Dibs on the top bunk.”
Ozias rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Leena.” He leaned against the wall, and the shoulders of his white tunic turned brown with dust.
“It’s all right.” I eyed the mound of blankets stretching across the mattress on the floor. Before anyone could claim it, I slid off the bed and dropped into the pillows.
“Here.” Ozias flipped over the tags on each bag before finding one with my name on it and setting it before me. “I don’t know what Kost packed, so whatever you do, don’t blame me.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“No sweat. I’m going to find the bathroom and clean up.” Slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, he left.
“You know, sharing rooms ain’t all that bad.” Calem winked and yanked off his tunic in one fell swoop. Heat traveled from the back of my neck to my cheeks at the display. The sun god had blessed him. Even with the low lighting of the wall-mounted candle fixtures, his tanned skin somehow glistened. Carved muscles flexed as he grinned and leaned toward me. “How about it?”
How about it? Out of all the murderers available to me, he might have been the easiest to work. He’d made his interest obvious before this brazen gesture. Plus, he wasn’t hard on the eyes, and I wasn’t a stranger to casual encounters. Maybe smooth talking and a romp in the sheets were all it would take to coerce him into handing over what I needed.
“Well—”
The bedroom door swung open before I could consider the thought further, and Noc and Kost froze in place. Murderous—there was no other word for the