21. CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21

DANIELLA

We appeared in an alley only a block from the sorceress’s home. The night was quiet, and if I was honest, the loudest thing was the pounding of my heart. I had halfway expected the city to be in disarray as Cardian sent guards in search of Kalyll, but the night was quiet. Placid, even.

Kalyll made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat as he scanned the alley. It seemed he didn’t trust the quiet, so maybe my unrest was not misplaced.

“What is it?” I whispered so softly that I knew only his Fae ears would pick up my question.

He shook himself. “Nothing. I think it’s safe to go on.”

That surprised me because I’d been expecting him to say that a full battalion was waiting around the corner.

He interlaced his fingers with mine and walked out of the alley, his back ramrod straight and his steps confident. I mimicked him. It wouldn’t do for anyone nearby to see us skulking around. That would only raise their suspicions.

When we arrived at the front of Naesala Roka’s place, we stood in front of a massive wooden gate—one that didn’t allow a glimpse inside the residence.

“Do we knock?” I asked.

It seemed unlikely that she would be able to hear us all the way from where the house sat. Her estate was of a considerable size with the stables close to this entrance, and the house set further down from here. Moreover, she didn’t seem to have any servants—not unless one counted the bespelled brooms and shovels I’d seen come out of the stables the first time we were here.

Kalyll shrugged, raised his fist, and rapped softly.

She would definitely not hear that.

“She’s a sorceress. She likely has a spell that lets her know when someone is at her door,” Kalyll said as if reading my mind.

He was right, of course, and I should’ve thought of that.

We waited. No response. Kalyll knocked again, but after a few minutes, I felt pretty certain no one was coming.

“Maybe she’s not home,” I said.

“Maybe,” Kalyll repeated as he examined the gate and the surrounding wall. “We shouldn’t stay out here too long. Someone will notice us.”

“What are you thinking?” I knew what he was thinking, but sneaking in hardly seemed like the brightest idea. Surely, it wouldn’t be as easy as just climbing the wall. For all we knew, she had demonic Rottweilers—or better yet, demonic raptors—stashed somewhere, and they would attack as soon as we started climbing.

Sure enough, Kalyll made a beeline for the wall and tested it for footholds. I rolled my eyes. Really?! Were all males this senseless in all the realms? I rushed to his side and pulled him down by his torn pants.

“What are you doing?”

“Obviously, she’s not here, so we just go in and wait until she arrives.”

“That’s if you survive her raptors.”

“What raptors?”

“You know, the ones that will tear you to shreds the moment you reach the other side.”

“Why would she have raptors?”

“For intruders such as yourself.”

He frowned. “Elyndell is a safe place. No one has a need for raptors.”

“Not so safe when you have the king himself scaling walls to break in.”

“I’m not breaking in.”

“Oh, you’re not?”

“No. That’s ridiculous. I’m just… I’m just…”

I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

He gave me none. Instead, he proceeded to climb up the wall.

“Don’t come crying to me when a raptor snaps your head off.”

“I hardly think I would be crying without my head.”

“You’d be surprised.” I had seen some weird stuff in the ER while I was doing my residency. You could count on any number of strange things happening whenever Skews were involved.

As he climbed up the wall, I glanced all around, fearing someone would see him. There were a few houses across the street, but everything seemed quiet. Their doors were shuttered and no lights seeped through any of their windows.

I was squinting into the darkness when, suddenly, several knocking sounds reverberated through the night, followed by Kalyll yelping and falling on his ass right at my feet.

“Fucking Erilena!” he exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head. “Ouch.”

Kneeling next to him, I grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away. “What happened?”

I squinted at his forehead. There appeared to be a bump forming right next to one of his tattoos. “A raptor?”

“It was no raptor,” he said. “It was a damn broom.”

Pressing my lips together, I did my best to stifle a laugh, but it was no use. It came out, a full belly hackle that nearly dropped me on my ass.

“Would you not?” He glared at me, stood, and dusted the back of his trousers.

I continued laughing, unable to help myself.

Kalyll opened his mouth to say something, but a clanking sound had us whirling in its direction. The wooden gate was open a crack. We exchanged a wary glance, then slowly approached.

I peered inside through the gap but saw nothing. Kalyll pressed a hand to one side of the gate and widened the crack. Now, we could see the sorceress standing on the other side, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at us.

We hurried inside, and the gate closed behind us of its own accord.

“You are here,” I said. “We thought you were out for the night.”

“So you decided to break in?”

Kalyll huffed. “I was not breaking in.”

We both gave him raised eyebrows.

“For Erilena’s sake!” he exclaimed. “All right, I was breaking in. I wanted one of your enchanted brooms so badly that I figured I could steal one.” He rubbed the bruised spot on his forehead and rolled his eyes.

“You’re lucky you only had to face one of my brooms and not the raptors,” the sorceress said, giving me a quick wink that let me know she’d been listening to our conversation while Kalyll and I had been bickering.

Kalyll looked from the sorceress to me, then back again. He was judging us with narrowed eyes, suspecting that we were ganging up on him.

“Raptors, huh?” He thumped his chest with one fist. “Send them in, and I shall teach them a lesson.”

“Just like you taught that broom a lesson.” I gestured toward the retreating offender, which was sweeping its way back to the stables.

“Did you miss the part where I said I wanted one of the brooms?” he asked. “They’re a fantastic and easy way to keep things clean.”

“Cute, you two.” Naesala whirled on her heels and headed toward the house. “You have disrupted my beauty sleep, but I guess I’m glad to see you are all right. You know your way around the house. Make yourself comfortable.”

We made our way to the bedroom we’d shared the last time we were here. The first order of business was to take a hot shower, which quickly devolved into an intense session of kissing and groping and…

It seemed we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Once clean and refreshed, we fell asleep on the large bed, arms and legs tangled together, impossible to say where Kalyll began and I ended.