Page 80 of Shade of Ruin

The little black gemstone doesn’t shimmer in the light. In fact, no matter how the light hits it, it refuses to shine. Like it absorbs the light, negating any chance to draw attention to it.

“So I could trade the ring to save Hazel?”

Cole shrugs. “It’s valuable. I don’t know why Calyr wouldn’t take it.”

I nod slowly. “Now we just need to come up with a plan to get me into Calyr’s cave.”

I’m not sure if Cole’s grin should worry me or make me happy. “Oh, I already have a plan for that. It mostly just involves waiting. In a little more than two weeks, my father is hosting the event he called me back to Draenyth for. Everyone will be there. The guards will be focused on what’s happening. You’ll have the best chance to get in, talk to Calyr, and get out then. I can have Darian and Lee waiting for you so that they can fly you out of the city and back to Aerwyn as soon as you’re done.”

I blink. It sounds like Cole has it all planned out. I should be happy about that. When Cole has a plan, it usually seems to work out well. But something seems wrong about all of this, and I don’t know what it is.

“So we just sit around until your father’s event?”

He nods, a wide grin on his face. “Well, we’ll keep training, and maybe you can show me what you know about your shadow magic. Other than that, we try not to draw any attention to ourselves.”

That sounds too simple. Too neat and tidy. Then he says, “Well, there is one other thing we’ll need to do. There’s a ball the night before the event. I’ll need you to go with me. We’ll have to dance a few times, and then we can leave. Just enough that everyone can see us together. My father will take notice if we aren’t there.”

The way he says it, I realize that this is the part that he was hesitant to tell me. This is why it had felt wrong. “What’s so bad about that?”

“You won’t just be dancing with me, Maeve. It would be exceptionally rude and noticeable if you refused to dance with anyone else.”

One-on-one with an unknown number of the most dangerous males in the world. Unable to be armored. Forced to go into a room filled with people just as cruel as Casimir Cyrus. “How do I stay safe?” I whisper. “They’ll be close enough that they’ll smell me, won’t they?”

Cole shakes his head. “No, you’ll smell like me. You don’t have to worry about that. The only thing you’ll need to worry about is… not being caught in a lie. We’re going to have to figure out some very convincing explanations for why we’re betrothed.”

I’m going to have to get to know Cole enough to convince an entire room of very clever, very old Immortals who are goingto be trying very hard to get information out of me. Talk about walking on a razor’s edge.

“Then I guess we aren’t just going to sit around and relax for these last few days.”

Cole’s eyes change again. The darkness fading and turning into something unusual. Not frustration or confusion. No, this is something else. “No. I guess not.” It’s sadness. He wanted to spend at least a few more days relaxing with me.

That tingle down my spine pushes me. I don’t know why, but everything inside me is desperate to make that sadness go away. I reach out and take his hand in mine, my fingers running along the coarse callouses of his hands as I hold them tight. “We won’t have to work the whole time. Maybe we can make this fun.”

The thought of my cousin when we were young flashes through my mind. Fun.

Ever since I’ve known him, he’s been so determined that it felt almost like he couldn’t comprehend doing anything else.

He looks at me, at least a little hopeful. “I don’t know. There are a lot of things you need to learn.”

The corner of my lip curls up. “I’m sure we can even make learning fun, Cole.”

At that, he arches an eyebrow, and I pull my hand away. I have his attention now, but I don’t have any idea how to actually do it. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

And I’ll just have to figure it out as we go.

Chapter 35

My hands no longer feel the blades I wield. We are one. The cold steel under my fingers is how I find comfort. The song of their movement is a lullaby. We are one.

The Thrones are failing, and death is the only answer.

Death to Roderic. Death to Brenna.

Death to Casimir. Death to me.

But they will not go willingly.

And my son is not strong enough…

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