her back tentatively.
Sighing, he pulled away again. A flush tinted his pale skin and his hand on her waist tightened a fraction. He pressed his forehead to hers.
“The understanding I had in mind was one that kept you safer than this, towy d?imyka,” he said, voice rueful.
“Oh so boring. I grew up in a monastery, I’ve been safe all my life,” Nadya replied.
An achingly mournful half smile caught at his lips and it took all of Nadya’s willpower not to kiss him again. He was struggling with the same pull. He lifted a hand and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, his touch burning down her cheek. His gaze tracked over her face, searching for something, but she wasn’t sure what.
Anyone but him, she thought again desperately, but she was still drowning from the touch of his lips.
She thought of the echoes of power she had drawn on during the duel. Her expression must have changed because Malachiasz’s eyes narrowed.
“Nadya?”
His spell book was still at her side and her hand moved to shift it onto her lap. She trailed her fingers over the cover. How did she put to words that she had tasted the darkness he harnessed and she was terrified? How best to let him know there was still a part of him that she found viscerally unsettling? She flipped it open, landing on a spell scrawled page.
“Did you feel it?” she asked.
He paled and leaned back on his heels, swallowing hard. He nodded.
“You knew this could happen.”
“I … did not. I thought nothing at all would happen if there was … no…”
“Blood,” she finished for him. “Except this is all a grand performance, no? So, of course there was.”
He seemed troubled for exactly seven seconds before the feral gleam returned to his eyes. “And? What was it like?”
“Horrible.”
He hesitated, then lifted his hand and gently pressed his fingers over hers. She wanted to move away, she wanted to pull him closer.
They stared at each other. He smiled slightly. “It helped, right? You never would have gotten out of that duel alive if not for my magic.”
The tension broke. She whacked his shoulder. He laughed.
“I have to go,” he said, straightening up. There was so much of him to straighten; he was so tall. “We’ll talk about this later? I’ll be honest, I have no idea what it means.”
“If we have a later,” Nadya muttered.
He softly ran a hand through her hair. “Even so. Dazzle the monsters, Nadya. You’ve already charmed the worst of the lot; the rest should be easy.”
She looked up at him, startled. He winked at her.
“I’m still mad at you,” she said, but the words felt flat.
“I know.” He grinned as he slipped his mask back over his face. He was gone before she could say anything more.
She pressed a hand to her lips, wrenching her eyes shut. There would be hell to pay for this.
22
SEREFIN
MELESKI
Svoyatovi Leonid Barentsev: A cleric of Horz, he lived in Komyazalov as an academic who taught the Codex of the Divine. It is believed Tranavian assassins poisoned him, but his body was never recovered nor found.
—Vasiliev’s Book of Saints
Serefin’s stomach dropped when he opened his door and Kacper staggered in. He looked haggard, like he hadn’t slept in days. Serefin steadied him, pulling him into his rooms and shutting the door.
It wasn’t safe for them to speak here and he had to be at dinner in an hour.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Kacper leaned back against the door and slowly slid to the floor. “I was stopped in the hall by one of the Vultures that’s been shadowing your father.”
Serefin felt dizzy all of a sudden. He hadn’t even had anything to drink in hours. He glanced cautiously at the seam where the wall met the ceiling.
“And?”
Kacper shook his head. “Nothing. A warning? I don’t know.” He sighed. “I’m supposed to attend to you this evening,” he said, his eyes flickering shut.
“Ostyia will be fine on her own.”
Kacper raised an eyebrow, eyes opening. “Historically speaking, multiple people will die tonight.”
“Historically speaking, it probably won’t be me. Besides, you look terrible.” He pulled on his coat, black with red epaulets and gold buttons down the front. He checked to make sure his razors were still sewn into the sleeves. “All right, tell me what you’ve found.”
“You know how I mentioned I was going to look into the list of participating nobles?”
Serefin nodded.
“A number of them haven’t backed out due to nerves, but are missing entirely.” Kacper reached