He had thick eyebrows and small, blue eyes. “For fun? We drink, and we fuck. Like everyone else.” His Clovian accent was thick, with rolling R’s. He nodded at the stairs. “But neither with you. You’re off limits. So keep moving.”
Off limits.
Drinking was the only idea I needed. By the time we got to my room, I was desperate to get away from them to concoct my little soporific potion.
Except when they opened the door, I found I wasn’t alone.
Lord Sourial sat at the large table, sipping from a flask. He’d also brought several bottles of wine with him, it seemed. In the hexagonal room, the candlelight danced back and forth over the stone walls, over Sourial’s bare chest.
“I’ve been waiting for you. Why do you look like you’re up to no good?”
17
Lila
The corner of his mouth quirked, and a lock of his wavy hair fell in front of his eyes. He struck a louche pose, his feet resting on a chair, a flask dangling from his hand. A little stack of books sat next to him on the table.
“What are you up to, Zahra? What are you hiding?”
Bollocks. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not sure I like that greeting. And here I thought we were friends.”
“It’s late. Shouldn’t we go to bed?”
An eyebrow quirked. “After only one kiss? It is sad when women get attached so quickly, but I suppose it’s the burden I must bear, given my godlike face.”
I gave him a sour smile. “Not together. I think I’ve had enough of men for one night.” I still clutched the deadly nightshade under my cloak.
He stretched one of his arms over his head, giving me a view of his abs. “You returned from the party early, and it’s not even nine. Who goes to bed before nine?”
I eyed the comfortable-looking bed. “Sounds lovely to me.”
“Well, I’m supposed to teach you to read.”
I needed him out of here. What would happen if he saw my fistfuls of poison? “Not tonight. I really need to sleep.”
Amusement glinted in his hazel eyes. “Oh, dear. Were you under the impression that you had the freedom to make choices for yourself here? I’m not sure how you got that idea. That’s not how any of this works.”
I gritted my teeth. It seemed I’d have to wait a bit before I could poison anyone, and I’d have to hide this. “Fine. But I’m drenched from the rain. I need to change my clothes.”
He waved a hand at me. “Oh good. I was worried this would be boring, but if you’re taking your clothes off, I suppose that makes things more interesting.”
“You need to leave the room.”
He cocked his head, frowning. “You’re awfully shy for a courtesan. It’s frankly a bit perplexing. Was it a hole in the sheet situation?”
“I’m a complex person. If you’re not going to leave the room, then close your eyes.”
Still clutching the nightshade under my cloak, I crossed to the wardrobe. I cast a quick look back at Sourial to make sure he was closing his eyes, and found him looking in the other direction, languidly sipping from his flask. I pulled open the wardrobe and dropped the nightshade in the bottom.
Then, I took off my cloak, wondering if Sourial was watching me. A quick look over my shoulder told me he was still looking away, so I pulled off my gray dress.
My mind kept going back to the fact that most of the servants had been killed. Most. Alice could have been one of them, assuming she worked here.
As I hung up the dress, I asked. “Sourial? Do you know about any servants here who were murdered?”
“How did you know that?” he asked sharply.
I felt my blood running colder, and dark anger slid through my bones. “Who murdered them?” I pulled on a fresh, simple gown of black. They hadn’t given me any underwear, so I’d just go without for now.
“Why are you so interested in servants? And how did you find out this bit of information?”
“I had a friend who might have worked here. Her name was Alice. I wanted to know what happened to her.”
When I turned to look at him again, I found that he was staring at me, shadows pooling in his eyes.
“They were massacred in the Tower of Bones.” Instead of lounging casually on the chair, his entire body had gone tense, leaning forward. “I don’t know what happened to them, or why. Someone killed them. I thought it was