Page 79 of Vengeance Becomes Her

The woman snorted, laying her head back on the gravel. “You’re as arrogant as he is.”

“You know nothing about me. I will kill him whether you think it’s possible or not.” Rhiannon stood, extending a hand to help her up.

The woman took it, but seconds later she landed a hard punch to the side of Rhiannon’s face that broke her chapped skin.

Now Rhiannon was furious. She threw punches of her own, but the woman was fast on her feet and her lean, muscular frame was easy to miss. Instead, she let her tire herself out, then drew her blade, slashing the woman’s leg. She finally fell to her knees.

Rhiannon backed away putting distance between them. Now that she knew this woman was another one of Silas’ victims, she didn’t want to cause her more harm if shedidn’t have to.

“Stop fighting me. I don’t want to hurt you, I understand your anger and pain, but if you force me to choose between us, I will choose myself.” She waited until the woman brought her amber brown eyes to hers. “What will it be?”

Harsh exhales were the only sound between them for several beats. The woman searched Rhiannon’s face carefully. It would seem she found what she was looking for because she gave a single, sure nod. “I don’t trust you, but I won’t harm you unless you give me reason. For now.”

Rhiannon was only slightly comforted by their temporary truce, but she wanted to trust her. “What’s your name?” She tucked her dagger backin its holster.

“Kyra.” She rose up to full height, her body tense as she eyed her warily.

“Rhiannon.” She shook her hand. “You have two choices, Kyra. You can go back to Silas with nothing to show for your troubles, or you can stay here with me while we prepare. We’ll be leaving soon to continue north to find him. I’m assuming you can lead us straight to him.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I’m the answer to your problem. Working together will benefit us both. I get what I want, and you get what you need, Silas dead and no longer a threat.” Rhiannon turned her back to the woman, exiting the alley and heading back to the inn. Now was not the time to check on Samara, she needed to speak with Tristain.“You can come with me, or you can head back home. Silas already knows I’m coming so it doesn’t make much of a difference to me.”

Kyra only hesitated a moment before catching up with Rhiannon’s stride.

“Who’s this?” Tristain asked, looking up curiously from his plate of meat and vegetables.

“This is Kyra. She’s been acquainted with your brother.” She took a seat on the bench across from him, motioning for Kyra to sit next to her.

He cocked his head. “Is that so?”

Rhiannon nodded. “Silas knows we’re following him, and he would like us to stop.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the last part. He truly didn’t know her anymore.

“I see.” He shifted toward Kyra. “So, are you with him or with us?”

“I was never with him,” she spat out. “I had no choice but to come here. He’s threatened my family.”

“Why are you here then andnot with them?”

“I was sent here to kill Rhiannon. I’m reconsidering. She said that she was going to kill him—seemed pretty damn sure about it.”

Now they were both looking at Rhiannon, who met Tristain’s eyes, noting howhis jaw tensed.

“Did she now?” He sighed. “Well, you can be sure that Silas won’t be a threat to your family once we find him. I can guarantee that.”

Rhiannon bit her tongue, knowing another argument about Silas’ fate would get them nowhere and only dissuade Kyra from joining them and Rhiannon very much wanted that. She was quite skilled with her swords and could only be anasset to them.

She turned toward Kyra. “We’re going to need another room if you’re planning to stay.”

“I have my own room. I stayed here last night.”

“Very well.” Rhiannon shrugged.

“How did you know where to find us?” Tristain leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

“I’m not sure how he knew where to find you, but he told me that you would be in Norhavalta. This was the only inn with a room left last night when I arrived—it was a stroke of luck that I saw Rhiannon leaving this morning. I recognized her from his description.”

Rhiannon resisted the anger that wanted to rise up within her when she remembered how ready Kyra had been to kill her. But she tried to be understanding. She would have done the same if her own family had been in danger. As much as she wanted to feel betrayed by Kyra, she knew that wasn’t fair—she was just doing what she thought she had to do to protect herself and her loved ones. She didn’t even know Rhiannon.

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