Page 142 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“There’s no reason he wouldn’t be. According to what I saw in that guard’s mind, he has a very regular schedule. He’s probably asleep already.”

“If he is, we wake him up. I’m not killing him while he’s sleeping.”

Crow crossed her arms. “You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

“I’m not giving him the easy way out.” He faded again, and they kept moving.

The lack of windows made it feel like they were underground, adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere. The familiar smell of damp and dirt filled the halls. Crow could feel it sticking on her skin and sinking into her clothes already. So similar to the smell of a cellar. Or a crypt.

She passed other guards once in a while. She didn’t look at them except to give brief nods of acknowledgement, and she didn’t stop moving. None of them looked at her twice.

This glamour spell was even more useful than Vaara’s fading. Crow wondered what it would take to get Aruna to trade it to her.

They came to the door to the north wing. A pair of guards stood in front of it. They moved aside to let Crow through.

“Back already?” one of them said.

“Yeah,” she grunted, and went through the door. They closed it behind her. The hallway beyond was silent.

She looked around. There was a suspicious lack of movement, even for a Varai. “Vaara?” she whispered.

There was no answer. She cursed under her breath. He’d gotten stuck on the other side of the door. The hallway wasn’t as wide as the gate outside. It would be difficult for him to get past the guards without them noticing, even in shadow.

She opened the door again. Both guards looked at her in surprise.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where the nearest restroom is, would you?” she asked with a grin.

The glamour chose that moment to flicker. A ripple went through her, revealing her true appearance for a split second before the glamour restored itself.

“Astra’s guts,” hissed one of the guards. He drew his sword. The other one grabbed Crow before she could react, jerking her off balance and grabbing her other wrist before she could reach out to touch him.

Vaara’s sword emerged from the shadows and struck him through the throat, then whipped around to slice at the other one. Crow stumbled and fell as the guard’s hands slackened and released her.

They were both unconscious before they hit the floor, still bleeding.

Vaara turned to her, wiping the blood from his sword. He held out a hand to pull her to her feet.

“Ash, that was bad timing,” Crow muttered, looking down at the bodies with dismay.

“Aruna did say something about that glamour enchantment not being very reliable,” Vaara said.

“Did he, now? That would have been good to know ahead of time.”

“I told you the magic in the ring wouldn’t last long. It holds very little charge. It must be running out.”

Crow shifted back into her own body, but kept the ring on her finger. “Cover me, then. I’ll try to conserve its power.” She nodded toward the bodies. “We should hide them.”

“There’s blood everywhere. And anyone who comes by will know something is amiss when the guards are missing from their posts, anyway. I say we just leave them and get this done before anyone notices them.”

Crow didn’t like it, but she couldn’t argue with his reasoning.

He covered her with a fade, and she guided him through the halls on the route she’d seen in Natalio’s mind. They passed a dining room full of guards and other staff talking, laughing, and lounging. None of them so much as glanced at the doorway as they passed.

Crow’s heart began to beat a taut rhythm against her ribs as each step brought them closer to Alexei. Closer to the end of all of this. How would Vaara kill him? A simple sword to the throat? Something slower? Would he want to repay some of the pain he’d given Vaara over the past year? She hadn’t dared to ask.

And what if it wasn’t that easy? What if they fought? What if Vaara was injured? What if he was captured? It would be so easy for all of this to go wrong.

They rounded the corner, and the door to Alexei’s room was in sight. Yet another guard stood in front of it.

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