Page 91 of Of Song and Scepter
Odissa, dead? The scales on my neck tingle. “Show me the body,” I say. I won’t believe it until I see the corpse, dead and dissolving. This could be an act, a ploy to lure the prince close enough to stab him.
The captain blinks at me in surprise, a smile curling the corners of her mouth.
Soren squeezes my hand. “You sure?”
“I’m not a helpless female, pretty prince.” I shoot him a dark look. “Show me the blood.”
The captain turns back the way she came and leads us through the darkening corridors. Sconces flicker with low flames, casting long shadows that stretch and dance as we walk past. The palace settles with a deathly silence, as if holding its breath before the scream.
“Clio was near the guest wing,” Nara whispers as we ascend the marble staircase.
The sickness in my stomach returns, twisting with renewed intuition. “Clio?” I whisper.
Nara nods. “That’s right. Poor thing.”
I trail my hand along the golden rail, walking the same path I’ve followed a hundred times. I can smell the blood from here, sharp and metallic. My pulse flutters in anticipation, loud in my ears.
Nara pushes open the door to the hallway. Odissa’s old room is the last door on the right. And outside it, face-first in a pool of blood, the housekeeper lies with a messy gash in her neck. Clio’s large blue ears, once fluttering with expression, droop lifelessly onto the floor. Her hand curls into a fist, save one finger, stretching to point toward the door.
She wasn’t an awful person. She was annoying and clingy, and she had a bad habit of disapproving everything I did, but she didn’t deserve to go like this. My throat tightens the longer I look at her.
How soft I’ve become.
“Nasty way to go.” The captain grunts. “May the gods accept her gladly.”
Soren murmurs something similar, his fists balling tightly at his sides.
I kneel next to the housekeeper’s body and ruffle through her wound, assessing the nature of the kill. No blade would leave a gash like this. Clio died by tooth and hand. The imprint of the killer’s round teeth surrounds the wound. The flesh is ragged and torn.
There’s nothing clean about this kill. I lean on my hand for support as I scan the hallway for signs of Odissa. That tricky little bitch. I should have known a cell would never hold her. She may look like a royal on the outside, but at her core, she’s just as much death-dealer as I am. And her clock is ticking.
“You’re not safe here.” I turn to Soren. He stares at the housekeeper with a blank expression.
“It was her, wasn’t it?”
I nod, fingering the flesh of Clio’s wound. “Odissa is messy. No one else would kill this way.”
“Right.” The captain lets out a hissing breath. “Your Highness, we must get you to safety.”
Chapter fifty-eight
Soren
“Nara, find someone tocare for the body. A proper dissolvement.”
Nara shoots me an empathetic wince. “Understood, Your Highness, but your safety is my first concern.”
“Here I am, in the middle of my own palace, with the two fiercest females in the sea. I’m not worried.”
Enna stands, wiping her bloody hands on her clean, white skirt. “There must be somewhere secure for you to hide, Soren. Just for tonight. The danger will pass after high tide. She’ll be looking for you until then.”
I draw her hands into mine, rubbing my thumbs over the back. Her spines flex in and out, restless. “And for you.”
“She only came here for your throne, and now you’ve taken it away from her. She will kill you, given the chance.”
“Neither of you are safe,” Nara says. “I’ll see what I can do to track her down before then. I cannot allow a killer to run loose through the palace, endangering my staff, just because we think some goddess will descend from the sky.”
Enna shakes her head again, so I pinch her chin, stopping the refusal in its tracks. Her jaw clenches under my touch. “I’ll track her.” She flicks her eyes to the captain. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. But I know Odissa’s ticks.”
