Page 92 of Spark of the Everflame

My gamble had paid off. I was certain Luther would never leave Maura alone with the King, and with only two guards at the door of the royal bedroom, I’d suspected he would only spare one to come after me. And I’d just evaded them with barely any effort.

A self-satisfied grin unfurled across my lips.

Step two, complete.

The confidence I projected was finally beginning to feel more real than pretend. First I’d stolen key documents from a powerful Descended arms dealer, and now I was roaming freely in the royal palace. Maybe I was born for the life of a Guardian, after all.

By some miracle of the gods, I spotted my satchel shoved into a shadowy corner. I slipped into the now-empty hallway and grabbed it, slinging it over my shoulder.

I pulled out the paper I’d concealed beneath my shirt and unfolded it. Over the decades, various Guardians had wormed their way into the palace as servants or tradesmen. Though the movement of mortals on royal grounds was always tightly limited, the rebels had managed to put together a primitive floorplan of the palace’s many wings and floors.

Much of the map was still blank or only roughly sketched from stolen glances. The wing I stood in now was nothing more than a rectangle scrawled with the words “Royal Residence.” Stairwells were noted, as well as a best guess of where guards would be posted. For the rest, I was on my own.

At the lower corner of the map, several floors down and beyond a maze of turns, a door was marked with a bright red circle.

According to Vance, hidden behind this door was a steep, algae-slicked spiral staircase that would end at an underground canal. Leashed to a pier along the water, I would find a small but heavily fortified boat—the Crown’s personal conveyance when traveling the Sacred Sea.

My task from the Guardians was to search the boat for a place where a stowaway might be able to hide unseen. Vance had refused to tell mewhyhe needed this information, only that it was necessary for a mission being coordinated by the rebel cell in Arboros. I had minutes at best to get there, get what I needed, and get back.

It was an impossible ask, but it would have to be enough.

I tucked the map away and set off at a jog in the general direction of the palace’s rear, aiming for a stairwell that had been marked as a servants’ passage. If I could get into the unguarded corridors used by the staff, I stood a chance at—

Footsteps.

Down the hall.

Slow and heavy and coming toward me.

I couldn’t see or hear anything except the drumbeat ofleft, right, left, right, but somehow... Somehow, I knew.

Luther.

Something deep within me hummed at the roll of his tremendous power as it filled the corridor. The hair along my arms stood on end, as if yearning to reach toward him.

I whipped around in search of a room or an alcove, any place I could hide, but two long, smooth walls stretched on either side.

I swore under my breath. Had I really been patting myself on the back for success minutes ago?

My eye caught on a tall stone column. It was a little narrow, and closer than I’d like to the light cast by the glowing orbs that dotted the ceilings. If he walked beyond the column, there would be no way to shield myself from view—but it was all I had. I tucked behind it and held my breath.

His footfalls moved closer, his pace strikingly slow. He seemed in no rush to get where he was going, as if he already knew he had me trapped like a mouse in a cage.

The steps stopped.

“Miss Bellator.”

My chest seized. I willed my body to be as small as possible behind the slim barrier. Had he already spotted me? Could he sense my presence, the way I could sense his?

“Whatever it is you’re up to, I assure you it’s in your best interest to reveal yourself immediately.”

Yeah, right. If my lungs weren’t about to explode with the effort of staying silent, I might actually have laughed.

“If the others find you before I do, there will only be so much I can do to protect you.”

Protect me?How gullible did he think I was? Did he really expect me to—

“Don’t end up like your mother. She betrayed me and lost my trust. You should learn from her mistakes.”

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