Page 51 of Claiming Sarah

“Stellar performance in the arena, Jac,” Rex said, and clapped for me. “We should host you here more often.”

“Perhaps you should fight in the pit yourself, Rex,” I countered, still more than a little pissed off after everything that had transpired. “Try your luck.”

His dark eyes focused on me as he searched my body, making me very uncomfortable beneath his perusal. “There are so manyotherthings in this life that I would like to try. Stay the night on my estate. Sarah says she will only agree to it if her companions will join her.”

She smiled up at me, hope in her pretty brown eyes. “Say yes.”

“I will, on one condition.” I turned back to Rex. “You will take Leda back into your service and she is no longer tied to Sarah. And you will double her pay.” I would not give him something without getting the thing we came for.

He gave me a smile I did not trust one bit. “Done.”

“Then, yes,” I said, already knowing I was going to regret those words.

CHAPTER 15

Deacon

The carriage Omen and I were sitting in was smaller than the one we had ridden in to get to the arena—fit for only the two of us. When Rex’s guards had come for us, a pair escorted Leda elsewhere, while Omen and I were shuffled off to the small coach.

It floated along behind the skentha pulling us toward Rex’s estate. I did not bother to look out the windows at the city proper. I already knew everything was gray and dirty. But once the city noise had gone from a roar to a hum, that’s when I glanced down and saw that the scenery had changed from charcoal to emerald, looking much like the rest of Halla.

As we neared Rex’s residence, I shifted in my seat as trepidation twisted through me.

“Why are you so nervous?” Omen asked, sounding quite anxious herself.

“I am not speaking to you,” I muttered, still angry at her for putting Sarah in such a vulnerable position.

“Why again?” she asked, even though she knew my reasons.

I huffed out an annoyed breath. “I have already told you. You left Sarah and she was collected by Rex,” I growled. “You failed at your job, Omen.”

She glanced out her own window, her voice filled with contrition as she replied, “Not my proudest moment.”

There was no sense in berating her. She was a conduit who had failed her Mother.The guilt must be eating her.Had this been a normal circumstance, she would have offered her life to the Mother for such an offense. But these were not normal circumstances.

“I do not remember a river being anywhere near here,” Omen said, breaking up the tense silence that had settled once again between us.

Out the window was the widest, stillest river I had ever seen, and just beyond it, a manor that rivaled my mother’s grandiose home on Orhon. But while hers was glass and gold, Rex’s was pale gray stone and jewels. We crossed a bridge over the river, and I looked out the other window to see where the river led, but it curved tightly around his palace.

That’s when I realized what it actually was. “It’s not a river, Omen, it’s a moat.”

“A moat?” Her brows furrowed. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“In ancient times, Ladrians used them to block rivals from invading their lands,” I explained. “It was before swimming had become popular, so unless an army could swim and straightaway go into battle, generals had to be clever. Eventually, we introduced the concept to humans, but they weren’t as good at building them.”

“Strange.”

“How so?”

“If I had a moat, I would make sure it was teeming with monstrous creatures,” she said, already grasping the concept of what a moat was for. “But his is completely still, like there’s nothing in it.”

“Do not underestimate Rex. Not ever. I guarantee there is something in that water that would try to kill you. Could even been razoeeth or finipes.”

She laughed, like I had said something funny. But her face fell as she studied mine. “Who could even catch razoeeth or finipes and put them in there?”

“Like I said, Omen. Do not underestimate him.”

The carriage finally came to a stop when we arrived at the front of his manor. We were whisked away to separate bedrooms to prepare for supper.

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