Reign of Darkness (The Prince's Assassin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,41

and decided to take it.

And here they all were, dealing with that ancient fuck-up to this very day.

This was all beginning to reek of lies, and Niko was in the dark. Again. “That fucking snake.”

Yasir winced. “Isn’t that why he brought you with him, your family and the connection to the flame?” Yasir trailed off at Niko’s glare. “I see this has all just occurred to you,” he mumbled, hastily drinking more wine.

“He didn’t bring me. I fucking chose to be here.” Had any of it been a real choice? The palace fire, the guards at the cottage. A few nudges here and there and Vasili could have maneuvered those pieces into place. You will return.

Niko shoved from the table and rubbed at his face, trying to clear his thoughts. “The Yazdans are the shirdals? The people who protect the flame?”

“I, er…” Yasir’s gaze darted.

“Fucking lie to me and you won’t be on this ship when it leaves.”

“Yes. I mean, they claim to be protectors of the dark flame and all that, but it’s more family legend than actual practice. If they really did care, they’d be all over what happened at Loreen with Talos and er… his sons.”

All that time on the road, Yasir and Vasili had been discussing the Yazdans and they’d had one right alongside them the whole time. That wasn’t a coincidence.

“I brought half the dark flame to their doorstep.” Gods, he’d brought Vasili here, right to the Yazdans, to what could possibly be an enemy. Was that why Vasili had dragged his own Yazdan along? Was Niko leverage? “I can’t trust anything he says…” He paced as the past few weeks unraveled in his head. And that damned kiss. Was that a lie too? Vasili used everyone. “He brought me here for my name. To use me to get among them.”

“Oh, the Yazdans don’t know you’re here.” Yasir confidently waved a hand.

“How do you know that?” Niko stopped pacing and glared.

“I…” Yasir swallowed. “They purchase my silk and a bit of spice here and there. I see them… regularly.”

“Regularly?” He veered around the desk and leaned against its edge, deliberately inside Yasir’s personal space, making him tilt his head up.

He nodded tightly. “They have no reason to know about you or the prince.”

Then if they didn’t know, Niko could get the jump on Vasili. Everything he knew was filtered through the prince. He needed to get to the source first. “Can I meet them?”

“I… Maybe you can… I suppose.”

“As Lycus from Loreen, not Vasili’s Nikolas.” Whatever the fuck Vasili’s Nikolas meant.

“Yes, yes. I can do that. Tomorrow, the family is hosting a gathering. A summer event. You can be my companion?” His grin bloomed again. “A grand idea! Their gatherings are stunning. Free food and wine, and—”

Niko slapped Yasir’s shoulder, making him jump. “Wonderful. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Will Vasili be attending?” he carefully asked.

“Vasili doesn’t need to know any of this.” If Vasili was going to keep secrets, then so could Niko. “Where shall I meet you?”

“On the dock. We’ll take a carriage up to the Yazdan house.”

Good. This felt like progress. Niko would investigate the Yazdans and get the truth before Vasili could twist it. He was done being Vasili’s puppet. Tomorrow, he’d meet his possible family on his terms.

Chapter 15

Niko used half his wages to purchase a handsome high-collared red-and-black-patterned satin shirt with hidden fasteners and the rest to hire a tailor to hastily create some flattering velvet-trimmed trousers.

After dressing in the fresh clothes and lining his eyes in kohl, as Yasir had suggested, he stared at the stranger in the mirror. That man looked nothing like the soldier who’d fought on the front line or the blacksmith who regularly went to bed with coal buried under his nails, but he did look like he belonged on the exotic streets of Seran.

Floorboards creaked above.

He should tell Vasili he was attending a gathering, a half-truth.

After making a few final adjustments to the clothes and tugging on the polished black boots, he stood outside the prince’s door, trying to form the right words in his head. He hadn’t spoken to Vasili in a week, not since he’d been ordered out of his rooms. They’d passed each other on the stairs like two strangers passing in the street.

The door abruptly opened.

Vasili froze at the threshold, eyebrow raised. He looked splendid again, better than he’d ever looked in Loreen. Shirt billowing, earrings glinting, mouth tilted in such a way that Niko had to root himself to