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We all turned as Malina skipped over to us with a smug look on her face.
“Care to take a spin, Kya? It’s fun!” she said.
“Maybe some other time. I’d rather focus on the book that wasstolen.” I gave a pointed look to Arra.
“MyLordrequested it. I will only hand it over to him, and certainly not another Worthy. Mate or not.”
Bitch.
Ryker rushed over then. “Sorry, but I need to head back,” he said to me with hard eyes and began to usher us all away. “Arra, do you have the book with you?”
She shook her head. “It’s back at the Vaavi base.”
“Alright, bring the book to the meeting tomorrow.”
“Actually, I would feel more comfortable if I had it.” I looked up at him.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Arra said mockingly. Ryker didn’t seem to notice. “I’ll bring it to my home tonight. It’s perfectly safe with me.” She put a hand on her chest.
I narrowed my eyes.
We’ll see about that.
Malina and I exchanged a glance. She gave me a subtle nod, which I returned. I let Ryker whisk us away, back to the palace.
Once we got back, Ryker flew off to deal with some skirmish along the northern end along the Ulrik border. The bond grew taut as he got farther and farther away.
Malina made herself busy while I took Nik out to the training area, where we met with Odarum. I practiced with my wings just like Ryker had suggested, as well as working with my invisibility and throwing in what little manipulation I could, needing to work on doing both at the same time.
Ryker didn’t return until after dark. I lay in his bed and pretended to be asleep when he came in. I could feel him standing at the end of the bed. He stayed there for a few moments before I heard the soft click of the bathing room door shut.
Sometime later, he came back into the room. I felt the brush of lips against my head and a heavy weight sinking into the bed behind me. I nestled into Ryker’s warm body when he placed a protective arm around my midsection. His thumb made rhythmic circles over my skin.
“I belong to you,” he whispered so softly I barely heard it.
And I belong to you.
I waited until his breaths grew deep and even before I carefully crawled out from underneath him and quickly dressed in the clothes I had stashed under the bed, twisted my hair into a braid, then crept across the room and slipped out the door without making a sound.
Malina leaned against the wall in the hallway dressed in her Roav leathers with her mask up, concealing her face. We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to. I pulled up my own mask, and we silently left the palace.
Keeping to the shadows, Malina and I watched the house from the other side of the street. All was quiet and deserted at that hour. There hadn’t been any movement since we arrived over an hour earlier. Malina and I looked at each other and, with a nod of our heads, we bolted across the street. I followed her lead.
It was where she had been all day and why I had insisted that Nikan come to train with me—so that he wouldn’t notice her absence. We needed Nikan to be oblivious, otherwise he would have interfered.
Malina led us to a small window on the back side of the stone and mud house and unsheathed one of her daggers to pry open the window soundlessly. I kept watch while she hoisted herself over the lip of the sill. Once she was in and stepped back, I followed.
We stepped quietly through the house. The halls and rooms were too dark to see well so Malina placed a hand on my shoulder as I navigated our way through to the targeted room she had pointed out to me earlier. When we reached the door, I paused and bent down to place my hand on the stone floor.
No movement from inside.
Slowly, we entered the room. I nodded to Malina and she made her way along the edges while I stalked to the center of the room.
Standing at the side of the bed, I stared down at the female that lay in it. Only then did I use my invisibility. When Malina signaled she had found what we came for, lightly tapping her foot on the floor two times then leaving the room, I pulled out my dagger. I held it against the female’s neck and clasped my hand over her mouth.
Arra’s eyes snapped wide open as she looked around frantically. She began to struggle until she noticed the blade at her throat. Her face paled and she panted against my glove.
“Is this how you think those innocent, defenseless Scholars felt? Someone invading their home and slitting their throats as they tried to simply stop a thief?” I pressed the blade down until a drop of blood trickled down the column of her throat. “They were slit so deep, they barely had their heads still attached.”
