Page 160 of Thief of Silver and Souls

I draw my gaze up the central spire, the tallest one right in the center of the building. The jitter expands the higher I draw my gaze.

A clammy sensation wraps around my gut. Shit.

Someone’sup there. And I’d bet my riven soul that whatever they’re doing, they shouldn’t be.

I hesitate. I could go back to Stavros’s room or out into the courtyard and summon the others there. Try to convince them of what I’ve pieced together.

But I don’t know how long that’ll take. Stavros might not even have started talking to the king yet. Who knows where the other three are at this point?

My mind slips back to the moment we stood around the desk in the archive room, all of them listening to me, jumping to respond without question or argument.

I have no idea where I’ll stand with them once this is over or whether I should even let myself care. But I trust them to have my back in this.

I’ll go, they’ll follow, and we’ll tackle the threat together.

Without wasting another second, I sprint to the stairs.

Thirty-Eight

No one’s left in the stairwells. I make it out of the Domi unimpeded.

All the way across the inner courtyard and through the Quadring’s central hall, I keep my cloak tucked tightly around me to conceal both Esmae’s blood and Stavros’s royal sword.

Then I burst from that entranceway with only a hundred paces between me and the main gate and find Anya standing directly in my way.

In that first instant, she has her back to me. But as I move to dodge, one girl in the pack of friends that’s grown since I saw her earlier today notices me and raises her eyebrows.

Anya whirls around with a swish of her ample skirts.

At the sight of me, she makes a disdainful scoffing sound. “Where are you scurrying to so fast, country girl? You have the warrior skills to earn a spot working for General Stavros, but you run for the hills at the first sign of trouble?”

I bite my tongue against reminding her that the current catastrophe is more like the thousandth sign. “I have something to do in the city. Pardon me.”

I move to veer around her, but Anya sidesteps gracefully, beckoning her friends. The clot of them closes in a semi-circle around me.

Heads all around the courtyard have turned our way. The back of my neck prickles with the awareness of their gazes.

They’re all watching, evaluating how this confrontation goes down. And Anya is as aware of our spectators as I am.

Her lips curl in a sneer. “Oh, no. I think you’d better stay right here. You’ll make an excellent shield if we happen to need one.”

I glare back at her. What I’d like more than anything is to whip my favorite knife out of my boot and hold it to this wretched woman’s throat. But a deeper instinct holds my aggressive urges in check.

I don’t know how the next few hours will go down. I might have to come back here, might have to face all these blasted nobles again, move among them, learn more secrets.

If I threaten her with violence, I’ll look like an outright criminal. I can only imagine the murmurs that would spread from all the witnesses around us.

I could draw back my cloak and flash the royal crest on Stavros’s sword, but what kind of rumors wouldthatdisplay provoke? I’d be shining a spotlight on just how closely he’s working with me, pinning a target to his back.

I’m not sure Anya would believe the crest enough to respect it in my possession anyway.

My hands clench. I’m so tired of this harassment.

So tired of knowing that she and the rest of them would treat me ten times worse if they knew how lowly in status I actually am.

Take her down,Julita urges.Toss her right on her ass and show her who she’s messing with.

I give my head the slightest shake. I don’t for one second think there’s anything I could do to Anya that would frighten her into leaving me alone without setting tongues wagging all across the college.

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