Page 78 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

Water rushed in his ears. Annoyed, he reluctantly grabbed onto the bench to hold himself under. He heard a female voice from the door across the room, and Crow’s muffled reply. She laughed at something the other woman said.

They kept talking for longer than seemed necessary, and his lungs started to burn. He squeezed Crow’s hand. She just patted him annoyingly in response.

Finally he heard the door close again, and Crow let him go. He burst from the surface, taking in a sharp breath. She gave him a guilty look, trying and failing to hide her amusement.

He ran a hand over his head, pushing wet hair behind his ears. “There are easier ways to kill someone, if that’s what you’re after.”

“The maid,” she said. “She wouldn’t leave. Kept asking if we needed more towels or candles or firewood.”

Suddenly, he’d lost his appetite for her. He climbed out of the pool, making sure to splash in her direction as he went. She laughed and gave a cry of complaint as she wiped water from her eyes.

He tugged on pants and then, after opening the door a crack and peering outside to make sure the maid was really gone, shut the door hard behind him. He wrung out his hair as he took the steps up to the main floor.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the feel of her skin under his hand, soft and yielding and hot, or the look on her face as his fingers had reached for the apex of her thighs, or the sounds she’d made when he was inside her the day before. He wanted to make her make those expressions and those sounds again. He wanted to make her lose control with pleasure. Even if it cost him his pride. What was the point of pride anymore, anyway?

The most concerning part of all this was that he didn’t think it was only because he’d gone so long without touching a woman. He was beginning to suspect that there was something particular to Crow that fascinated him more than other women did.

He reached the top of the stairs and stopped short. There was someone else in the room. Several someones.

“Quite a romantic place,” said Alexei. He was seated in a chair by the window. Four other guards, each holding swords, were spread around the room. “That Ashara must really like you, to have brought you here.”

Chapter 21

Vaara drew his sword, dropping the rest of his things to the floor.

“I cannot understand what you could have done to win her affections so quickly,” Alexei said.

“Draw your weapon if you mean to fight me.”

Alexei looked amused. “I have no interest in fighting you, elf.” He got up from his chair. “I hope you enjoyed this diversion while it lasted, because it’s over now.”

Vaara whirled and jabbed. His sword buried itself in the throat of the closest guard. He spun to face another in time to parry a powerful blow that knocked him to the ground, and then Alexei was there, standing over him.

Before he could get up, Alexei raised a hand and threw a puff of dark powder into his face.

Vaara coughed. Shimmering particles floated around him, coating his skin and sticking in his nose and throat. He was hit with a wave of dizziness, and then his body grew weak. He dropped his sword. His vision spotted with black.

There was a horrifying moment, just before it happened, when he realized he was going to pass out and that there was nothing he could do about it.

The last thought he had was of Crow, downstairs, unaware that Alexei was waiting here for her. He tried to shout to warn her, and no sound would come from his throat.

He was unconscious before his head hit the floor.

* * *

Consciousness swamin and out of his grasp. He felt hands under his arms, dragging him. He tried to move, and his limbs refused to respond.

“Upstairs,” a voice said, sounding somehow distant and close at the same time.

He struggled to open his eye and look up. A number of dim figures moved around him. He was in a dark room, and then a hallway, going up stairs.

“…find her and bring her here,” said a voice that sent a chill through him. Alexei. “Deal with the watch, if they try to intervene.”

“Sir? Should we…”

The voices faded away as he dropped into unconsciousness again.

When he next awoke, he was propped in a chair in a dark, empty room. A lantern burned on a table against the wall.

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