Page 60 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“Vaara?” came Crow’s crystalline voice.

He’d been walking behind her, his face turned toward the cobblestone street. When they’d first arrived in the city, he’d stared at everything. Since the previous night, he had scarcely lifted his gaze from the ground. It was too bright to properly see anything anyway, especially with the hood and scarf obstructing his already limited vision.

Valtos was significantly uglier during the day. Like everything in Ardani.

Crow was looking at him with those green-gold eyes that were so dull and lackluster the way human eyes always were—and yet he was starting to see their appeal, somehow. There was a depth to them. A warmth.

He made an effort not to let his gaze wander down the rest of her body. He couldn’t look at her anymore without thinking about how much he wanted to fuck her.

Just one contraceptive draught, she had said to the alchemist. Meaning it would not be happening again.

“It’s this way. Come.” She paused. “If it pleases you,” she added, in all seriousness.

That was the phrase she’d started using to soften the blow of her commands, to pretend they weren’t actually commands. To create the illusion of freedom while still retaining the comfort of complete control over him.

She was a terrible person.

But he couldn’t even summon anger toward her anymore. It was his own fault he was still in this situation. He had only himself to blame.

“Yes, mistress,” he droned, and was so disinterested that he didn’t even look up to enjoy the dirty look she would inevitably give him.

But as they hiked toward a wealthier part of the city through gradually emptier streets, he lengthened his strides a little to walk closer to her. They were nearing her master’s house. “Are you sure we should not wait until night?” he asked.

If all went well, Patros would be dead within the hour, and then…

Vaara didn’t know what would happen then. But at least they’d be done with this part.

She pulled her hood closer around her face, continually scanning the streets. “No. He sleeps during the day, mostly. He’s afraid of being attacked at night.”

“He’s afraid of the dark?”

“He’s afraid of many, many things.”

Vaara rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as they crossed through an arched tunnel under a bridge. For a brief moment, it was pleasantly dark again, and then the blazing white of the bright, clouded sky returned. “Shouldn’t I scout it first? I could go tonight and—”

“No. He would notice you. It would put him on guard.”

“I’m Varai, Crow.”

“He would notice,” she repeated. “We’re going to go in fast and get it done before he knows we’re coming. If we spend too much time lurking around beforehand, we’ll just end up fouling things up.”

She stared resolutely at the road ahead, her mouth set in a hard line. He wondered how much of this urgency was out of strategy and how much was out of fear and eagerness to have it done.

“How can you be sure he’ll be there?”

“He’s always there. He rarely steps foot outside the door.”

“How many guards?”

“None.”

He gave her a look.

“He doesn’t trust anyone enough to let them know where he lives, let alone give them access to his property. The only other person allowed in the house, ever, is me. He has other defenses—magical ones, mostly. So watch yourself.”

“He’ll guess you’re coming. He knows you’ve turned on him by now, doesn’t he?”

“Not necessarily. For all he knows, I simply ran into trouble that kept me from contacting him for the past few days.” She cocked an eyebrow up at him. “Although, he is probably aware that I left the prison with someone other than the person he sent me to get, which would definitely cause suspicion.”

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