Page 19 of Draekora

“I didn’t tell you my name,” she said. “But it’s Alex.”

“Alex,” he repeated, drawing the two syllables out with clear amusement.

“Niyx,” Roka snarled, losing patience.

The prisoner waved a lazy hand in the air. “Ask your questions,”

he carelessly offered. “My time is, apparently, all yours.”

Surprised by his easy—perhapstooeasy—acquiescence, Alex turned to Roka. He too looked suspicious, but he moved a step closer and asked, “Tell us what you know about Aven’s current plans. Where he’s hiding. How he’s communicating with theGarseth.”

Immediately Niyx threw back his head and burst out laughing.

“Look around you,my prince,” he said between guffaws, still managing to add venom to the mocking title he afforded Roka. “Does it seem like I’m in a position to provide any of those answers?”

Roka stepped forward again. “I know he’s been communicating with you. And you with him.”

Niyx raised one dark brow. “Is that so?” He turned to Alex and asked, “What do you have to say about this, my young friend?”

“I say you need to stop calling me that,” she replied instantly. “I’m not your friend. I never have been, and I most definitely never will be.”

Niyx’s unique purple eyes danced with dark humour. “I find it fascinating that you, of all people, would say that. Especially given our… history.”

Shaking her head—in pity or bewilderment, she wasn’t quite sure which—Alex said, “Niyx, I met you once for a total of about five minutes, tops. That hardly counts as history.”

If anything, his humour only increased. He turned to Roka and said, “I’ll make you a deal,kregon. Give me five minutes alone with her and I’ll answer one question. That’s all you get—take it or leave it.”

“No chance,” Roka said, voice hard. He reached for Alex and said, “I was wrong to bring you here. Let’s go.”

“Roka, wait,” Alex said, digging her feet in as he started dragging her from the room. “Maybe we should—”

“Alex, no,” Roka said firmly. “I refuse to leave you alone with him.”

Biting her lip, Alex looked from Niyx, who was reclining casually and looking more like a king in his palace than a prisoner rotting in a cell, to Roka, who was as cold and rigid as thetraesoswalls surrounding them. It wasn’t right that her friend was so tense while their enemy was so relaxed. Niyx wasn’t supposed to have it easy.Hewas the bad guy.

“You brought me here for a reason,” she whispered to Roka, releasing herself from his pincer-grip on her forearm and giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Let me do my job.”

“Alex—”

“You keep reminding me to trust you, Roka,” she said, holding his concerned, golden gaze. “Now it’s time for you to trustme.”

“But—”

“And besides,” she interrupted again, “you’ll be just on the other side of the door. You’ll be able to hear if I need you.”

Roka shook his head. “Thetraesosis nearly soundproof. Even with my hearing, I’ll only be able to hear murmurs, not actual words. Five minutes is a long time. I won’t have any idea if you’re in trouble.”

“Sure you will,” Alex said, mustering up a quirky grin that she didn’t quite feel, given the knots in her stomach. “If you stop hearing the murmurs, you’ll know we’ve stopped talking and he’s probably trying to kill me.” She patted him on the chest, bringing her point home. “That’swhen you step in.”

“Alex—”

“Roka, we need this,” she told him, determined. “You said it yourself. So stop babying me and let me do this so I can go back to my ridiculously comfortable bed and get a few more hours of sleep before you haul me out again to dump me in a forest. Okay?”

The prince’s jaw was hard for most of her mini speech, but towards the end his muscles relaxed and his eyes began to lighten. “You know,” he mused, “I believe my brother just might be in more trouble than I’ve anticipated.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Roka chuckled softly, and the sound made Alex feel as if she’d won an almost-but-not-quite-Meyarin-of-the-year award.

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