Shades of Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #16) - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,47
were insulted by his questions, without even recognizing why he was asking. A disturbing realization. Mer-folk weren’t the toughest or the most skilled soldiers. There was no need since they were protected behind the powerful magic that guarded their isolated lair. But even untrained fey should have been able to sense a stranger sneaking up behind them. A certain sound. A smell. A change in the temperature in the air. Something.
That meant whoever it had been was so familiar to them that he or she hadn’t set off any alarms.
“What were you hit with?”
Lusca touched the back of his head, as if recalling the painful blow. “I don’t know. Some sort of club.”
“Or a trident?” Troy suggested.
Koral released a low hiss of anger. “Jord warned us you were trying to pin the Were’s escape on one of the guards. Obviously he was right.”
Ah. So that was what the merman had been telling them. Troy held the female’s angry gaze.
“If I intended to do that, why would I be down here asking questions? I could simply make my accusations.” He shifted his glance to Lusca. “I’m here for the truth. Nothing more, nothing less. Could it have been a trident?”
The male offered a grudging nod. “Yes.”
Koral clicked her tongue, as if angered that Troy had made them admit their attacker might have been one of their own.
“I’m not answering any more questions until we throw again.”
Troy waved a hand toward the target. She grabbed a dagger and positioned it in her fingers, taking several seconds to adjust her aim before throwing it toward the target. It twirled end over end, hitting next to his dagger in the bull’s-eye. Troy threw his own, hitting just outside the circle. With a shrug, he reached into a hidden pocket in his tight pants and pulled out a slender gold coin. Casually he tossed it toward the female.
She grabbed the money, eying him with suspicion. Did she realize he’d deliberately allowed her to win? Probably. She wasn’t stupid.
Taking another dagger from the case, she tossed it toward the target. This time she missed by a sliver. Troy barely waited for her dagger to reach the target before he took his turn. This time it was a direct strike.
Koral gaped in disbelief, but Troy was already turning his attention toward Lusca. “How long were you out?”
“Just a couple of minutes,” the male said.
“What did—”
“You asked your question,” Koral interrupted. “Throw.”
“Fine.” Troy impatiently tossed the dagger, hitting the bull’s-eye with enough force to cause the other daggers to clatter to the stone ground.
Biting her bottom lip, Koral concentrated on the target, eventually throwing her dagger. It was good enough to hit the edge of the bull’s-eye, but not good enough to beat Troy.
“What did you do when you woke?” Troy asked Lusca.
“The dungeon door was wide open, so we went in to check on the prisoner, but she was gone.”
“What about Riza?”
Lusca lost a bit of his frosty suspicion. Was he becoming curious about the direction of Troy’s questions? Troy hoped so. He needed information.
“What about him?” the male asked.
“Was he still unconscious?”
“Oh.” Lusca glanced toward Koral as if he couldn’t remember.
“He wasn’t there,” the female said, her tone firm.
“Wasn’t he on duty inside the dungeon?” Troy asked.
“Yes.” Koral visibly shuffled through her memories. “I guess he must have woken before us.”
Troy arched a brow. “And he didn’t try to help the two of you?”
The guards exchanged another glance. Clearly they hadn’t considered the missing guard until this moment.
“Maybe he was chasing after the prisoner,” Lusca at last suggested.
“What did you do next?”
Koral shook her head, grabbing a dagger to throw it at the target. Troy didn’t even look. Keeping his gaze locked on Lusca, he tossed the dagger over his shoulder, allowing Koral’s gasp of disbelief to assure him that he’d hit the exact center of the bull’s-eye.
“Well?” he urged the male to answer his question.
Something that might have been admiration softened the male’s expression. Obviously, the way to earn the male’s trust was throwing a tiny dagger.
Odd.
“We set off the alarm and went in search of Rimm.”
Troy nodded. “Was that standard protocol?”
Koral answered. “Yes.”
“So why didn’t Jord and Riza sound the alarm and go in search of Rimm?”
The two studied him with a matching expression of confusion. They didn’t have an answer. Which was all the answer Troy needed.
There was something funky going on with Jord and Riza.
He reached into his pocket to pull out another gold coin and tossed it toward Koral.