Only hours ago, I would have eagerly accepted her offer. But now, I asked, “Did Lucy leave anything with you?”
Her brows dropped as she examined my face. “Is she okay?”
I swallowed and took a gamble. “She sent me to get her belt.”
Her face cleared. “Oh, yes. I wondered why she left it with me, but I owe you guys for saving my skin. I have it hidden in a special place.” She opened her robe, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of all four breasts harnessed by a sheer bit of lace…
My grandmother’s moneybelt was around her waist. Much jiggling ensued while she undid it and handed it to me.
“Sure you don’t want to come in for tea?” she asked.
I quirked a brow. “Do you actually have tea?”
She opened the front of her robe wider. “No, but I have something else.”
I sketched up a smile. “Another time, maybe.”
She pouted and then tilted her head. Her eyes examined my cloak. The blood had mostly washed out with the rain, but that part of the cloth was still suspiciously stained. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“I’m good, thanks. Go back to sleep.”
She yawned and smiled at me, but didn’t pull her robe closed. I turned away, headed back toward our room, and waited for her door to click shut before redirecting to the stairs.
Moments later, I was crouched on the roof, opening my grandmother’s moneybelt. In it, I found coins, and her backup set of stilettos, sheathed in the pins she’d used to bind her long hair.
And wrapped in a note, the earcuff.
I hadn’t even realized I no longer had it in my pocket. She’d never commented that I wasn’t wearing it—when she’d bought it, I’d assumed she wanted me to change my mind about wearing ornamentation.
Now, I stared down at it. The metal warmed in my hand, as though it was alive. And for the first time, I noticed the shape twining around the metal wasn’t a Dragon.
It was a serpent with feathers, coiled around a sword.
The note simply said, “Follow your heart, Nokoneuh.”
Follow your heart, my son.
That very heart now constricted, and my eyes pricked with tears that I refused to shed. I would wear it—to honor her. Raising the earcuff, I fastened it in place using the flexible metal clips along the inside.
It wrapped around my ear as though custom-built for it, and it seemed to absorb heat from me, growing even warmer. The ache in my heart eased, just a little, but my mind raced.
My grandmother had left the moneybelt for me to find because she’dknown. She’d known the Priesthood would not stop looking until they found something.
We’d gone out for breakfast because she’d been sure the fucking Priests would come.
They’d found her.
And now, I walked the realms alone.
3
Riggs
Cara led us to the gate.
I stood near Breana and watched as Tyrez and Ash prepared to go through first. They would wait for us at a secret destination of Cara’s, a place where our targets could be hidden away.
They both stood with Dani for a moment, heads close together. Tyrez kissed her with so much passion I had to look away.
