Page 61 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“And?” Vaara prompted. “We’re going to walk right up to the front door anyway?”

She gave him a sweet, condescending smile. “Oh, Vaara. You truly think very little of me, don’t you?”

“I thought that much was clear.”

She sighed and stopped in the shadows of an alley, away from the traffic of the street. “We’re going in through the cellar door in the back,” she murmured, scanning the road. “He doesn’t know I know about it, and he’d never barricade it off. It’s his escape route in case attackers come through the front door.”

She tilted her head to glance up at him. Something in her face tensed a little. Vaara got the feeling she was remembering the previous night. Neither of them had spoken of it.

She cleared her throat. “You remember the layout of the house?” She’d made him memorize a map of the building—a large house spread over two levels, plus a cellar—and had tested him on it far too many times that morning.

“Yes.”

“And you’ll be on the lookout for magic? He’s no mage, but enchantments are his tool of choice. Even I don’t know the full extent of his arsenal, so you must be careful.”

“Yes, I know. Where will you be when I come out?”

“What?”

“When I’m finished, where will you be waiting?”

She blinked. “I’ll be in there with you, idiot. You thought I was just going to wait outside?”

“Isn’t that why I’m here? To do it for you?”

“You’re here tohelpme do it. He’s not a fool—he has an enchantment that makes him immune to empathy, so I can’t do it alone. But I’m still going with you.”

She bit her lip. Her arm found his, and she hooked their elbows as she walked up the road, as if to steady herself. The flare of annoyance he usually felt when she touched him was absent today. He didn’t know if it was because of last night, or because she looked so desperately in need of someone to hold on to.

“When we get in there,” she began, then hesitated. “No matter what happens—no matter what else I say after this—you have to finish this. Do you understand?”

He looked down at her, bemused. “I don’t think I do.”

She frowned. “I’m saying that I can’t know for sure what will happen when we get to the house. There could be all kinds of magics at play here. If anything unexpected happens, your priority should be killing him. No matter what happens, you must kill him.”

He thought for a while about what that could possibly mean before giving up and replying simply, “All right.”

She slowed as they crested the top of a hill and started up a path toward an iron gate, behind which stood a large house and its extensive garden.

“Are you ready?” she asked, her voice soft.

“It will be done in five minutes,” he said. He wasn’t sure where the urge to comfort her came from. “You have nothing to worry about.”

She gave him a tiny smile—almost like she hadn’t noticed herself doing it. Different from the false smiles she gave to other people when she was trying to charm them. He found himself staring at her lips, studying the subtle shape they’d taken.

They passed by the hedge that marked the boundary of the property, and Vaara sensed movement behind him. He spun, and a sword came flashing down between himself and Crow.

He twisted aside in time to avoid the blade, but Crow yelped in pain. There was a neat cut through her jacket down to the flesh of her forearm. Blood quickly began to soak through her sleeve. Her eyes widened on the man in front of them.

“Toreg,” she said tightly.

The man sauntered toward her as she backed away, swinging his sword lazily at his side. He glanced in Vaara’s direction once, then promptly ignored him.

“It’s about time you got here. I’ve been waiting around for a day and a half. I was about to off myself just to end the boredom.”

“A pity you didn’t,” Crow said. She drew the knife from her belt. Suddenly there was nothing left of the nervous woman from a few minutes ago. She nodded to his sword. “I see you’ve made a switch from your preferred weapon, the bucket?”

He smiled. “One makes do with what’s around. Are you going to stab me with that?”

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