Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,95
arrow was clearly designed to do as much damage as possible. Even if you survived the initial impact, removing the arrowhead would be extremely painful, since its hooked barbs would tear out even more of a person’s flesh.
“Find something?” Leonidas asked, glancing over at me.
“An arrow.”
He nodded and continued with his own search, distracted by something on his table, but I kept staring at the arrow. Suspicion bloomed in my mind, and I twirled the weapon back and forth in my fingers. The arrow was a bright light gray, although it turned a dark midnight-blue when I moved it away from the light . . .
The arrow was made of tearstone.
Surprise shot through me. I’d heard Milo silently bragging to himself about his weapon at dinner, and I was certain this was it, although I was puzzled as to why he would think this arrow was something special. The small, compact design was wicked, to be sure, but it was still just a common weapon. It wasn’t even the first tearstone arrow I had seen. Alvis crafted them for Rhea from time to time.
So why was Milo so impressed with himself for creating this arrow? What could it do that a regular one couldn’t—
Across the workshop, a soft click sounded. I froze, recognizing the sound of a key turning in a lock.
Milo was here.
Chapter Nineteen
Click.
A key turned ominously in a second lock.
Leonidas whirled around to face me. “We have to get out of here!” he hissed. “Now!”
He sprinted over to the secret door, which was still standing open, and stopped inside the entrance, waiting for me.
I hesitated, wanting to put the arrow back where I’d found it, but there was no time to slide it under the stack of papers, so I shoved it into my pocket instead. Then I rounded the table and hurried toward Leonidas, keeping an eye on the closed doors at the front of the workshop—
My dress snagged on the corner of the table, jerking me to a stop. I grunted and tried to pull free, but neither my dress nor the table would budge. I couldn’t move forward, so I backed up, reached down, and yanked the fabric free.
Click.
A key turned in a third lock, and one of the double doors cracked opened. My gaze snapped over to Leonidas, who was still standing in the secret passageway.
“Hide!” he hissed again.
I whirled around, searching for a settee, a desk, or some other piece of furniture large enough to crouch behind, but there was nothing like that in here. No doors led out of these chambers, and there were no windows. Desperate, I spun around and around, trying to find someplace to go—
A gleam of glass caught my eye, and my head snapped up. There was a window in the workshop, but it was fifty feet up on the wall. Normally, I could have used my magic to float myself up to the glass, but if I tried it now, Milo would probably sense my power, storm into the workshop, and fry me with his lightning.
Still, it was the only chance I had, so I rushed over to that wall, the only place in the entire workshop where there was any liladorn. The vines looked weak and brittle, as if they were starved of sunlight, but I took hold of them anyway and started climbing. The vines were as hard and slick as ebony glass, and the long thorns scratched my hands and ripped into my dress, but I kept going.
Ten feet, twenty, thirty . . . I scrambled up the vines, climbing as high as I could, but the liladorn stopped about five feet short of the window. I stood on my tiptoes, stretching out and up, but I couldn’t reach the windowsill.
Move! Leonidas’s voice sounded in my mind. Before it’s too late!
I glanced down. One of the workshop doors was now standing wide open, but Milo wasn’t striding inside. Instead, a faint giggle sounded, along with the rustle of clothing.
I looked over my shoulder at Leonidas, whose mouth was set into a hard, grim line. He knew that I couldn’t reach the window. No doubt he would vanish into the passageway and save himself. After all, I was just an Andvarian spy he had foolishly brought to the palace. Totally expendable.
I didn’t know if he heard my snide thoughts, but Leonidas squared his shoulders and stepped forward, as though he was going to come and help me, and damn the consequences—