Page 29 of The Endless War

Amelie was focused on packing her supplies into a kit. “Follow the noise. Jor sounds like a braying donkey when he laughs. You may feel free to tell him I said so.”

A real laugh escaped his lips, but Keris immediately bit down upon it.You have no right to laugh,he snarled at himself.No right to experience a heartbeat of happiness while Zarrah suffers in that hellhole for your sins.

Amelie’s eyes narrowed, and not wanting to answer any questions about whatever she’d seen on his face, Keris stepped out of the room and into the corridor. The building had an echoing quality to it, much as did the bridge, and he immediately picked up on the sound of laughter, though it was Dax’s distinct bellow that drew his attention.

“Bloody bastard is already drunk,” he muttered, following the noise down the corridor to the main staircase. Only to slide to a stop as a boy descended, the tail of a long, banded snake in one hand, the hissing creature’s head held away by a hook on a long stick.

“Mind yourself,” the boy announced. “She’s poisonous as they come.”

“Venomous,” Keris instinctively corrected. “Poison is something you ingest.”

The boy gave him a look of disgust. “Don’t rightly matter how it got inside of you if you’re dead, does it?”

The snake’s gaze fixed on Keris, mouth opening wide as it lunged, and he lurched back. “A fair point. Carry on.”

Waiting until boy and snake were down the stairs and out the main doors, Keris made his way to the main level, walking down a wide corridor, the doors lining it closed. A pair of servants passed, one girl curtseying and the other crossing her arms, though curiosity filled both their eyes. He nodded at them and kept walking, irritation filling his core as he faintly heard Dax say, “Took nearly an hour to scrape the bastard off the pavement. For such a skinny little fucker, he splattered like a bag of wet mortar.”

Someone said something in response, too low for Keris to make out, but Dax was gratingly loud as he said, “They were alone, so no one knows for sure. But given he was also alone with his brother when Prince Otis took his swan dive, I think it’s safe to say it’s unwise topiss off His Grace when you are in a high place.”

Thud.

Keris flinched, retracting his hand from the doorknob and then turning to press his back against the cool wall of the corridor, hunting for his fractured composure. Closing his eyes, he drew in several measured breaths, the last of which filled his nose with a subtle perfume.

“You didn’t push him, did you?” Lara asked.

Keris didn’t open his eyes, only shook his head. “Serin knew I was going to execute him, so he arranged for a message to be sent to the Empress of Valcotta upon his death. Took the opportunity to tell me he knew everything about Zarrah, then jumped. After what happened to Otis, no one believed that I didn’t push him.”

“Did you kill Otis?”

He hadn’t intended for his brother to fall. But that didn’t make Otis any less dead. “He discovered what was going on between Zarrah and me. Told me that either I killed her, or he would.”

Lara exhaled slowly. “How many people have you killed for her?”

His eyes snapped open, his gaze fixing on hers as he said, “Did the Magpie mean so much to you?”

“No. But Aren does.” Her throat moved as she swallowed. “And by involving him in this, you’re going to get him killed.”

Silence stretched between them, so thick he could hardly breathe, because what could he say? They’d be sailing into a trap set by the most powerful woman on the continent. Infiltrating an island populated by the worst of humanity. The odds of survival were poor. The odds for success even worse. Which had been the reason he’d wanted Lara’s help in the first place—she’d spent her life training to find weaknesses where everyone else saw strengths. “He’s not the one I need. You are.”

The muscles in Lara’s jaw bunched, but before she could answer, a deep voice said, “You made a promise, Lara.”

Keris cursed, turning to find Aren leaning against the doorway, the big man too stealthy by far.

“Besides,” Aren continued, “youdoneed me because you will need a ship and a crew.”

“You can provide those things and remain in Ithicana,” Lara answered. “This isn’t a good time for you to leave. Everything is too …fragile.”

“Together or not at all.” Aren crossed his arms. “You promised.”

“As much as I enjoy romantic declarations, she does have a point,” Keris said. “There is much to be said for you remaining in Ithicana and securing political stability while—”

“No.” Aren stepped into the corridor, facing Lara with his back to Keris. “Even if you hadn’t made the agreement, you just crawled out of what everyone thought would be your deathbed. If there is anyone who should stay put, it’s you, but I won’t ask that of you.”

Deathbed?How badly had she been injured?

“Then maybe we both stay put,” she snapped. “Let Keris shovel his own shit, because it’s not our problem.”

“Zarrah doesn’t deserve what has been done to her,” Aren said. “I owe her. Ithicana owes her.”

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