Page 34 of Thief of Hearts

That was a nonsensical answer. Instead of following up on it, I asked him the other thing I’d been thinking about. “How did you seduce that woman?”

“I can’t tell you my trade secrets.” I could hear that he was smiling. “What if I wanted to use them on you?”

He didn’t need trade secrets for that. “Are you saying you haven’t used them on me yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Oh, that was bad. At least that would have explained why I was responding this way to him.

“Did you want me to?” he asked, and his voice was as silky as my dress.

“No!” That had been too obvious and forceful. I tried again. “What I meant to say was no, thank you.”

He laughed. It was like he could see right through me. I wondered if I’d be able to hide anything from him.

“Why are you so inquisitive all of a sudden?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. He’d said he wanted to know more about me and I was discovering that I felt the same way. He was interesting and I wanted to know more. But if I told him that, I was fairly certain he would never let me live it down.

“People talking helps me fall asleep. I have twelve brothers and sisters and someone was always being loud when it was bedtime.” I closed my eyes and listened to Dagger snore. It was a soothing sound.

“Then I will tell you about the time a Jacharian hired me to steal a ruby the size of your fist from the maharaja of Parthia. He found me at a gambling hall and offered me my weight in gold if I would find the ruby and give it to him. I often let myself be contracted out because other people know where treasures are that I’ve never even heard of. We signed the contract and I demanded half my payment up front. I had to travel all the way to Parthia, crossing part of the Wastelands, and it nearly killed my horse . . .”

I fell asleep to the sound of his voice.

Lightning crashed above me, turning the sky a bright purple. Thunder shook the ground around me.

How did I get outside?

I sat up and saw that I was surrounded by vast mountains. I didn’t know where I was. The lightning storm continued to rage around me as I stood, trying to get my bearings.

Someone began to walk toward me. As they got closer, I saw that it was an impossibly tall woman—quite a bit taller than me. Her features came into focus. She had pulled her red hair back into multiple war braids, as if preparing for battle. She wore steel armor that fit her perfectly, and it gleamed in the darkness.

When she was only a few feet away, I saw that she was impossibly beautiful. Her eyes were a steel gray that matched her armor.

Invara.

The name whispered itself in my mind. I was too shocked to move, to respond. What did one do when faced with their goddess?

There was movement to the right of her, several feet back. A man stood there, even taller than the goddess, with hair so black it seemed to absorb light. It struck me as strange that he had wings on his sandals. He crossed his arms over his chest, studying me. He was prepared for battle, too.

Who was he?

Lia had told me about meeting her goddess and how loving and kind Dea had been.

Invara looked like she wanted to rip my throat out, and I wondered what I had done to offend her. I was about to ask when a single word sounded in my head.

Win.

I awoke with a start, gasping as I sat up. Dagger grunted in his sleep and turned on his side.

Zain was gone.

What time was it? The window was shut but the light was bright behind it. I quickly got up and heard a strange noise when I put my feet down. I bent over and picked up a pile of papyrus, along with a piece of lead.

He had left these here for me. So that I could draw. I ignored the way that made my heart sigh.

The top papyrus had markings on it but I set everything down on my cot and ran to the empty washroom down the hall, then back to my room to change. How late was it? Had I missed the race?