Page 119 of Highland Spy

It was impossible to begrudge Percy her beauty as much as it was impossible to feel anger toward her. It was possible, however, to feel guilt—and its weight pressed hard against Ariana’s soul.

She had stolen. From Percy.

Shame scorched Ariana’s cheeks.

“I assume you’ve already been informed, then?” Percy asked.

Percy was not at all suspicious of what Ariana was doing, and somehow that made Ariana feel all the worse for her actions.

“I’ve been informed about what?” Ariana forced a casual tone to her voice.

Percy was closer now, bringing with her the delicate scent of violets. Her hand settled against Ariana’s arm, the grasp so light, the touch of her cool fingers was almost indiscernible.

A tingle of alarm hummed in the back of Ariana’s mind.

Percy’s brow flinched together in an almost sympathetic gesture and her kind blue eyes met Ariana’s. “You’re going on another mission.”

The words clotted in Ariana’s ears and made her head swim.

Another mission.

So soon?

“Will I be leaving with Delilah and Sylvi, then?” Ariana asked.

Percy shook her head. “You’ll be leaving with Connor for Urquhart.”

Ariana’s fingers tingled as if they’d been raked over ice. “When?”

“Tonight.” Percy took a deep breath and softly blew it out. “Connor told me what happened when you were there last.”

Ariana had to fight to keep her eyes from going wide. Now her entire body felt like it’d been dragged through snow and ice and everything else chilling and awful. Everything went cold and prickled with horror.

Surely Percy didn’t know about what Connor and she had shared at the castle…

“I killed someone once, too,” Percy whispered. “I had to, or he would have killed me. He almost did.”

The blue of Percy’s eyes already stood out against the subtle pink of her dress. Now tears lit them to the dazzling deep blue of a sapphire. Those tears tore at Ariana’s heart and made her want to put her arms around the other girl, to share the pain of a lost life.

But before Ariana had the chance, Percy moved away and opened a cabinet. “It was because I went on a mission by myself. It was what I’d been ordered to do. I made Connor promise two things—to never have any of us travel alone again, and to never send me out. He has honored that promise. But there are days I regret telling him to take me off missions, days I wished I’d pushed on instead.” She pulled a pair of brown shoes from an unseen shelf and settled them on the table with a thunk.

She strode across the room. “I don’t want you to regret not going out again.”

Going out again.

Those words drew tighter, like the knot of a noose around Ariana’s neck.

“You said tonight,” Ariana said. “When specifically?”

Percy pressed a small dagger into Ariana’s hand. “Within the hour.”

The noose went taut.

An hour. She’d only just seen Liv again, and helped Isabel get comfortable at Kindrochit.

“So soon?” Ariana’s question came out in a breathy exhale.

Percy stopped moving around the room and came to Ariana with a whispering swish of her skirt. She clasped Ariana’s hand in hers. “I know you don’t want to do this, but you know how dangerous it can be when you’re alone. Connor is strong, yes, but I still worry about him. I worry about all of you.”