Page 52 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

Chislon started to open his mouth, but I forestalled him. "Thank you again for your hospitality." I bowed to her, motioning for Chislon to head through the portal before me. I didn't trust Mistress Mingina not to close it on my assistant before he was all the way through.

Thankfully, Chislon followed my prompting, but not without a slightly petulant glance over his shoulder.

The moment I stepped through the portal into my palace’s entry hall, I knew something was wrong.

“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to touch the vase,” Chislon protested the moment the portal closed behind us. “How was I supposed to know my touch would contaminate it?”

“Hush.” I cut him off with an angry wave. “I need to concentrate.”

The wards on the palace were secure. I reached out toward my study. The perimeter still glowed with the intact ward, but I couldn’t sense the spelled necklace, which meant it wasn’t around Avril’s neck.

“The assassin has Avril.” Anger boiled in my gut. If he hurt her— I slid my fighting swords from their storage spell. The familiar weight of them calmed me slightly. “Also, Loriena is here.”

“How do you know?” Chislon asked as he drew closer. He produced a short sword forged from dragon steel, a black metal strong enough to slice through most other weapons.

“Someone has Avril,” I insisted. “Her personal ward isn’t active, and I sense four people, one of whom is Loriena, in my study. There should only be two at most.”

“But the others could be anyone,” Chislon pointed out.

I scanned the room. A tingling at the back of my head kept my guard up. Then I spotted it. A telltale shimmer coated the first three steps of the staircase to the second floor. I crouched and examined the spell work. Definitely shadow elf made. I motioned for Chislon to take my place and look as well.

“A warning spell,” my assistant whispered.

I set my blades soundlessly on the foyer table before slipping free of my restrictive coat and casting it aside. Rolling up my shirt sleeves, I adjusted the shirt's fit over my shoulders, loosening it. Freedom of movement could make me a hairbreadth faster, which could mean the difference between Avril’s life and her death.

“We fight?” Chislon asked as he quickly followed my lead.

“If we must.” Part of me wished I could just kill the assailant outright, but I couldn’t. Too many questions remained, and I needed Loriena compliant.

“What is the plan?”

“Get Avril back. I don’t share.”

“Very well.” My assistant rolled his shoulders and headed toward the stairs.

I cut him off with an arm. “Without triggering the warning spell.”

He nodded his understanding. Leaping with ease over the spelled stairs, he landed silently one stair above them. I followed. Then, we stalked up the stairs together.

We switched places upon reaching the study door, so I took the lead, hiding my swords behind my left leg. I opened the door with my right hand.

Light streamed through the far windows, outlining the dark form of a copper-skinned elf. In his shadow knelt Avril. One of the elf’s dark hands gripped her pale throat. The sun glinted off the edge of a long thin knife in his other hand. Behind them, Loriena paced, tossing a bottle from hand to hand.

“When are they coming back?” she demanded.

“Unknown,” Lynan replied. “I think you should poison her now and be done with it. Leave her carcass for him to find.”

“No,” Loriena held the bottle up to the light, admiring it. “I want him to watch her die.”

I forced myself to glance around the room, locating the still form of Odon lying in his own blood. He still lived. As I intuitively knew the location of every shadow elf in my service, I knew he lived. Yet, he wouldn’t for long if I didn’t summon help, which I did. Casimir still slept, but my summons brought him to his feet. Assured he would appear within minutes, I turned my attention to the elf in the center of the room.

“Lynan?”

The shadow elf straightened. “Move, and she dies.” His fingers around Avril’s throat constricted as he brought his knife to rest against the underside of her jaw. Avril’s eyes closed as she visibly fought panic. Only the shallow rise and fall of her chest still indicated that she lived.

“Hello, cousin.” Loriena’s voice dripped malice as she grinned at me. Bottle gone from her hands, she flashed her metallic claw fittings over her fingertips instead. “I heard you left your pet alone and came to keep her company.”

Slipping my swords into hiding, I raised both of my hands. “I am unarmed.”

---