Page 27 of Our Vicious Oaths
The rest of the Nkita seated around the dining table returned eager cries for the fight that Leisha spoke of.
“While that all may be true, it doesn’t make me feel any less shittier that you’ve chained yourself to him in such a manner,” Samira said quietly.
“Perhaps our princess might enjoy chains in respect to …Malachi, is it?” Leisha winked at Kadeesha. “It is quite interesting that you call the Apollyon king by an intimate name and notMalachizrien.”
Kadeesha chose not to respond to Leisha’s unnecessary observation. She reached across the table instead and collected Samira’s hands. She impressed upon her sister, “What’s done is done. Put it out of your mind. Agonizing over it now will accomplish nothing.”
Leisha clasped Samira’s shoulder and said, “If you feel bad about anything, maybe it should be for using the termless shittier.” Samira scowled, even as Leisha continued, “Your Highness, if you’d only tell Samira that you’ll continue to thoroughly enjoyMalachi’scock as much as you did at Oleander House, she’ll get over the pity party, I think.”
Another member of Kadeesha’s Nkita, Rassa, giggled. The young woman with light brown skin, jade eyes, and silky gold braids seated beside Kadeesha had been a Nkita since the squadron’s inception, just as all of them had. Like the rest of the Nkita, Rassa wasn’t of noble birth. She was among the small crop of lowborn women who had answered Kadeesha’s call to seize a shot at becoming something greater, something symbolic and historic and mighty within a court that valued its males far more.
“But what is our end game?” Samira entreated. “How do wego about getting Kadeesha on the Aether throne and reclaiming our home from Rishaud? Somebody tell me that and I’ll begin to feel a great deal better about this entire pit of shit we find ourselves in.”
“About that …” Kadeesha said, dropping her voice to be sure it didn’t travel beyond the walls of the sitting room. “Malachi’s void magic is … impressive.” She paused to swallow the bad taste in her mouth left behind by admitting it out loud. “We all saw what he did in the arena today, and he displays a level of power that nobody who has only been alive for twenty-something years should be able to wield,” she stated succinctly. “And we saw him actually wound Rishaud during the wedding ceremony. Even Sylas didn’t manage that. Neither did I. So we use Malachi as a tool. Let him face off with Rishaud during the coming battle and hopefully slay him. Once Rishaud is out of the way, I’ll kill Malachi.”
In a measured fashion, Samira pointed out, “While I have all the faith in you, Archprincess, as you said, we were both in the arena today. How do you plan to go about killing someone like Malachizrien? He was fearless in the face of not only your aether flames but a kongamato’s fire, and he neutralized both.”
The reminder pissed Kadeesha off. It also left her stomach in knots because it was true.
Kadeesha took a slow sip of her wine, turning the latest revelation over in her mind. She decided that the best path forward was to stay the original course she’d sketched out. “I’ll use the oath Malachi insisted on me swearing against him,” she told her squadron. “I’d already planned to seduce Malachi in earnest. The greatest weakness of many men is their dicks, and Malachi is certainly that kind of male. By the time I finish with Malachi,he won’t know which way is up and which way is down. When he drops his guard, I’ll strike then.”
Leisha whistled. “Death by sex is ruthless. I like it.”
“Couldn’t your plan backfire?” Rassa asked. “What if you fall for Malachizrien in the process of making him fall for you?”
That thought was so insane Kadeesha laughed. “That will never happen,” she assured Rassa before drinking more wine.
THERE WAS SUCHa thing as too much day drinking. Kadeesha realized she’d surpassed the limit when she awoke in the middle of the night to a dagger against her throat without having been alerted to the intruder’s presence before then. Kadeesha’s attacker had their face concealed behind a bull mask. Even their eyes were obscured, the mask’s eyeholes having a mesh covering that didn’t allow Kadeesha to glimpse any trace of eye color in the darkness of her bedroom. Whoever it was, they took precautions to be completely unidentifiable. And they wanted Kadeesha to be afraid. Otherwise, they would’ve already dragged the dagger across her throat. Instead, they stood over her in silence, gazing down at her while they held her at blade point in her bed. She summoned her aether flames to char her attacker where they stood—and the flames didn’t pour forth. Her attacker chortled at her stricken expression.
“You’re a Null,” she growled. It was the only explanation for her magic faltering.
They inclined their head to the side in answer. “And you are dead, Archprincess.” Their voice was unfamiliar and gravelly.
“Then get on with trying,” Kadeesha ordered. She stared into the mask in challenge—let whoever was behind it know that even without her magic, she wouldn’t be an easy kill. She preferred to do battle with her aether flames, but she could take on an opponent without them if need be.
“You’re so eager to die,” her attacker returned, unperturbed. “Not yet. There is something I must confirm first.” They kept the dagger to her throat and yanked the bed furs off her. They laid their free hand against her stomach. She stiffened. Rage consumed her when she glimpsed the inkbrand and rune that were etched on the back of their hand. The inkbrand, a permanent marking, was of crossed swords with a cluster of hemlock leaves twining around them—the symbol worn by the Bane Guild assassins. The rune beside the bloody inking was one Kadeesha had seen Yashira sometimes use against Sylas’s other lovers to ensure they were not with child. Which meant whoever sent this assassin knew of the prophecy concerning Kadeesha, believed it, and feared it. The knowledge didn’t narrow the suspects down. Rishaud could’ve dispatched the assassin to kill her if she’d gotten pregnant with Malachi’s child, or someone from within Malachi’s own court, such as his cousin who eyed his throne, could be behind it.
Answers could come later. Kadeesha took advantage of the assassin’s momentary need to focus on the state of her womb. She drove her knee into their gut, forcing them back a step and the dagger away from her neck. She sprang to her feet and, standing in the center of the bed, slammed her heel into the nose of the assassin with enough force that bones crunched. They bellowed a vicious curse and hurled the dagger at Kadeesha. She flung herself mostly out of its path, but moved slow enough to let it embed in the fleshy part of her upper arm. Thecut wouldn’t do much damage and she needed a weapon if she was without her flames. She snatched the dagger out of her arm and leapt to the floor. The assassin had another dagger in hand by the time she did. Kadeesha’s instinct was to reach for her flames again. She smothered it, knowing it was a crutch that wouldn’t help here, and gripped her dagger tighter. She and the assassin circled each other, Kadeesha tracking how fluidly and precisely they moved. She didn’t bother asking who sent them, at least not yet. They were a professional and wouldn’t give up the information easily. Kadeesha despised being on the defensive in a fight, and she’d already had enough of it this night.
She slashed out toward the assassin, aiming for their heart. Their arm blocked the dagger from striking true and the blade impaled their thick forearm. Kadeesha hurriedly yanked out the blade before they attempted to wrest it away from her. A booted foot slammed into the side of her knee, making it nearly buckle, and it took every ounce of stubbornness and strength Kadeesha had to remain upright. If she went down, it placed her at too great a disadvantage. Yet even the focus it took to keep herself standing cost her.
The assassin’s dagger embedded in the center of her chest.
Blinding-hot pain erupted at the spot. She crashed to her knees. The assassin yanked the dagger out and moved to stab her again. Her left hand flew to the cross guard and stopped it just before it sank into her flesh. She gritted her teeth and pushed against the strength of the assassin. She fought for every inch of space she gained between her heart and the dagger. As she did, she gripped her own dagger and thrust it upward into her attacker’s chest. This time, she didn’t miss. The blade sank into their heart. They grunted, dropping to their knees. Kadeesha yanked the dagger out and slashed it across their throat.She stood and watched as her attacker bled out. The magical equivalent of apopreverberated around the room and her aether magic flooded her. Kadeesha welcomed the heat that suffused her chest, breathing easier as her magic healed her wound. She glowered down at the assassin. Purple fire blazed at her fingertips, but she didn’t incinerate the body yet. First, she wanted to get a look at her attacker’s face; she wanted to know exactly who sought to kill her. She crouched beside the body and yanked the bull mask off its head. As expected, she beheld an unremarkable and unfamiliar face that was free of any distinct markers. But if this male dwelled north of the Yunnas and was well-connected enough to receive a contract to carry out a kill inside the royal palace, then a fellow high-ranking northerner might recognize him. As Kadeesha considered her next steps, the only thing she was pretty sure of was that the attackdidn’tcome from Malachi himself. From what she’d gleaned of him, he wouldn’t dispatch someone else to do his dirty work. If Malachi had decided he wanted her dead up-front, Kadeesha was certain Malachi would’ve been the one in her room standing over her and intending to kill her himself.
That assessment of Malachi was why Kadeesha decided to apprise him of what happened instead of burning the assassin’s body and all evidence of his presence in her room to ash and keeping this between only her and her Nkita. Kadeesha stood up straight, stalked to the door, and called for a guard—or whoever else heard her—to bring their liege to her room. If this threat was one from within his court, maybe he would have some insights into who wanted her dead.
And if not, then Kadeesha would damn well discover the information on her own … and they’d pay in blood.
Chapter Fourteen
“THE SHADOWS CARRIED AN INTERESTING TIDBITabout your day’s activities to me,” Jakobi said in a smooth manner that let Malachi know his friend had decided he’d risk a void blade to the chest. “How does kongamato fire feel up close?” Jakobi asked, sporting a slick grin that stretched wide enough to reveal the dimple in his cheek. “Did you almost shit yourself?”
Leaning on the edge of the oak desk at his back, Malachi folded his arms over his chest, unamused. He wasn’t about to deign to answer that question. He was about to exact a bit of retribution, though. Jakobi held a worn book in his hand, of course, as he sprawled in one of the leather chairs positioned around Malachi’s study. Kiyun, Dedrick, Shionne, and Zayvier were also lounging in various states of repose in Malachi’s study, and they all looked interested in what Malachi’s response would be.
Malachi tipped his head toward Jakobi’s reading selection. “That looks like a lovely new gift from Trystin.” The cover and binding—dark green with gold lettering in a mostly extinct dialect of the faefolk’s tongue that was as ancient as the YunnaMountains themselves—were distinct enough that Malachi was positive he hadn’t seen Jakobi formerly reading it.
Jakobi snapped the book shut and clutched it to his chest, eyeing Malachi warily. “It is. He found it among the library ruins in the Unclaimed Lands.”
