Page 197 of A Warrior's Fate

After a glance around a hallway’s corner, Isla wriggled the diadem piece from beneath the jacket she had slung over her arms and looked down at it in her hand.

Ezekiel had recoiled when Kai had picked it up like he’d been afraid of it. But why? Because of what it was, or because he was afraid the alpha would chuck it at his head?

As much as she’d rather the latter, her gut called for the former, especially in those heart-halting moments when she swore it hummed to her. Like its missing sisters, like the dagger. There was more to them than intricately crafted weaponry and embellishments—she realized as she touched her fingers to her forehead as the killer once had. They just needed to figure out how and why.

Isla came to a halt at the beginning of one of the many long bridges constructed to connect two of the three main buildings.

Kai had mentioned the location of the library while they were up in the study—somewhere amidst his explanation of the hall’s multi-faceted layout—but within the shuffle of the many rooms and histories of construction, she’d lost it. By a process of elimination, after figuring the Northern Hall was for business and the Western Hall, if she remembered correctly, mostly for entertaining guests and visitors, meant to house the galas and balls and various other crowd-wooing activities, the Eastern Hall was her best bet. She vaguely recalled claims of cultural enrichment. Close enough.

The carpet beneath her shoes whispered as she stepped into the empty passageway and took a moment to drift over to one of the many open windows feeding light onto the floor. She sighed and leaned against its stone encapsulation, embracing the pause, the split second of rest she’d allow herself. She hated feeling shameful as she closed her eyes and thought back to a simpler time. In Io—when that scorching heat during training sessions, games outside with the boys, or nights out where it melted her cosmetics were the greatest of her worries.

With the memories and the sense of homesickness, she ground her teeth.

“Isla?”

Isla started, eyes snapping open as she pushed off the stone. Her fingers splayed reflexively, but her wolf was still resistant and no claws emerged. It was safe to say her body was running on fumes and borrowed waking time.

The voice was vaguely familiar, though not clear enough, so she braced herself with a quick story and a plan to dash away. But all of it became nothing when she turned and found herself face to face with Zahra.

Isla’s heartbeat ratcheted up as the former luna—Kai’s mother—approached her. The older woman tilted her head, her dark hair, braided along the crown and held back by a silver comb, shining as it slid off her slim shoulder. A smile played along her lips. “It is Isla, correct?”

Isla couldn’t believe that she remembered.

She righted herself, her hands going up to fix her hair, even if it was hopeless.

Zahra stopped a few feet away, hands folding within the billowing sleeves of her housecoat, emerald green and finer than anything Isla had ever worn.

Effortless and stunning and regal. As Imperial Luna Marlane was.

Embarrassment formed in the warmth creeping up Isla’s neck. She tried not to look down at Kai’s too-large shirt. Or compare the glow of Zahra’s skin to the sallowness she imagined of her own. Or picture the dark circles she’d noticed under her eyes—maybe still a little bloodshot from crying—in the mirror.

She was in way over her head. Completely out of her league.

She was supposed to replace this woman in continental gatherings, in discourse with leaders of other packs?

As Zahra’s face contorted in suspicion, Isla forced herself to nod, to smile. “Uh, yes, that’s right. It’s Isla.”

Zahra’s eyes drew up and down her frame. No disgust crossed her face, thankfully, but the persistent intrigue was alarming. “May I ask what you’re doing here?”

“Do not stop or speak to anyone until you reach him. No staff, no council members, and if a Guard asks, you’re Marin’s guest.”

His mother hadn’t been on Kai’s list, but—

In her pause, Zahra took another step closer, and Isla gulped as she caught the former ruler’s nose twitch.

Goddess, did she smell of Kai?

“I’m a…I’m a guest of Marin’s.”

“Marin? I hadn’t known that you two knew each other.”

“We met at the banquet.”

Zahra’s brows raised. “One of her many maidens after my son’s hand?”

Isla opened and closed her mouth. She could tell her. She’d certainly learn, eventually. But instead, she answered quickly. Too quickly. “Oh, no. Definitely not.”

She swore she could hear Kai laughing in the back of her mind, ready with taunts of how easily he could have her putty in his hands and pursuing him with a few well-placed kisses and well-spoken words. Hell, even a look could get her.

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