Page 47 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

I grab onto the back of a bench, shaken. I don’t need Tati’s examples of Rian’s wickedness. I know Rian’s crimes frontward and backward.

I have to warn Basten—before it’s too late.

Chapter 13

Basten

For three days, I track Kendan through the streets of Old Coros, from Hekkelveld Castle to the Temple of Immortal Meric. From a three-story manor house in Lommer District to an opium den known for its eye-watering Wicked Weed.

As I move throughout the city, the fear in the streets is palpable. Doors are locked and barred, and windows are boarded up against looters. Every alleyway shrine to the ten gods overflows with offerings of victuals, coins, and even silverware as desperate citizens try to buy the rising fae’s favor. Entire neighborhoods are vacant, left empty for the rats to move in by those seeking the safety of the countryside.

I can taste it like the energy before a battle: Tangy fear mixed with a sweet burst of excitement, about to bubble over into a boil.

As the Valor Bell tolls midnight, I shuffle back into my room, ready to fall into the sheets and sleep likethe dead. I unfasten the First Sword brooch. I strip off my wrist guard and unwind the bandages, assessing whether I need to treat the cuts with vinegar to prevent infection, when distant footsteps give me pause.

They’re one story down, moving east through the castle hallway toward the royal library. The person moves carefully, not making much sound on the creaky floors. This is no guard switching shifts. And all the maids are in bed.

I crack my bedroom door just enough to scent the air. Since the person is an entire floor away, their smell is faint even for me, but if I concentrate, I pick up on a trace of orange tea spiced with clove oil.

So, it’s not a Valvere, either.They all drown themselves in sandalwood incense.

I grab my woolen cloak, shrouding myself as I make my way downstairs. As First Sword, I’m responsible for the king’s well-being. He has a fleet of bodyguards, sure, but those stiff-spined asses are all about ceremony. They’d barely know which end of the sword to use against an assassin—only how to polish it.

I keep to the edges of the hallways, where the floorboards don’t creak as loudly. I hunker in the shadows, moving silently down the stairs and onto the second-floor hallway in time to see a figure in a silk cloak unlock the library door with a large brass key.

Now that I’m closer, I can pick up on a whiff of lavender hair oil mixed with the orange tea scent.

That and the key tell me exactly who I’m following.

My shoulders ease—this is no assassin. Rian isn’t in danger. And my bed is calling for me.

Still, curiosity pushes me to slip into the library behindthe woman. Her heart is beating so loudly that she doesn’t hear me until I press my palm against her mouth from behind to silence her.

“Lady Suri—do not scream,” I murmur. “It is only me.”

The whites of Suri’s eyes flash as she twists to see me in her peripheral vision. Our eyes meet, and I give a slow nod. Her pulse beneath my grasp slows back to normal, and she matches my nod.

I remove my hand, taking a step back.

“What are you doing here, Wolf?” she demands in a harsh whisper.

“What areyoudoing here?” I counter.

The library’s hush presses around us as we stare one another down, and then she finally raises her arms toward the shelves.

“What do you think? I’m looking for the book Sabine told me about.”

I glance at the shelves. There must be fifty thousand volumes. “You’ll be looking for years at this rate. Let me at least help you. I can read the titles on the highest shelves without a ladder.”

She nods.

We each take a different section of the library. Suri starts at the low shelves flanking the fireplace, and I scan the uppermost ones. The library’s calm, unnerving at first, becomes more comfortable by the time I finish the C’s and move onto the D’s.

She keeps turning toward me, on the verge of speaking, but then returns to the books.

Finally, she blurts out in a loud whisper, “Why is Rian such an utterass?”

As I continue down the D’s to the next shelf, I suppressan eye roll. I have to remind myself that Suri doesn’t know much about Rian’s past. “Look at his family. Considering who raised him, you have to give him some grace, right? He’s an ass, sure. But hetriesnot to be the typical Valvere viper.”

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