The Dawn and Its Light by Piper CJ

Author:Piper CJ
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks

Twenty-Four

Yazlyn was about to lose her mind.

She’d counted all of the bricks on the nearby wall. She’d plucked the tiny bits of grass between cobblestones. She’d looked for everything red. She’d played a game where, if she saw three birds in ten minutes, she won. There was no prize.

Hours had gone by, and she’d run out of things to seek. She was cold. There were no stray cats to call or even stones to skip across the alley. She tried numbering stars for a short while, but the fae lights that illuminated the many streets of Sulgrave dulled them, stealing their shimmer. She wished Ryu could have waited with her, but a high-profile comte would have stood out like a sore thumb. She’d have to make do with remembering the way Ryu had been leaning on the pillar outside of the Diplomatic Hall before their lunch. She’d busy herself with remembering the way their knees had brushed beneath the table, or how Ryu’s hand had lingered over her own just long enough to establish that there was no mistaking the nature of their shared meal.

She decided against letting her fantasies drift to the comte. The woman was too effective of a distraction, and if she bungled the mission because she was busy wondering how Ryu tasted, she’d blow her shot at a second date. She returned her eyes to the front of the sanctuary.

“I swear to the goddess, Nox, if you don’t come out in the next ten minutes, I’m going to burst into the church and drag you out by your ears,” she mumbled.

She swore it again ten minutes later. And ten minutes after that.

Relief dumped over her like a bucket of water when the doors burst open. The streets filled with noise as happy churchgoers left the sanctuary in their mix of finery and everyday attire, with the occasional vocational costumes of green, red, or gray. Yazlyn flattened herself into the shadows between buildings as she searched the crowd.

Their meeting place had been previously agreed upon. Nox should be on her way to this very alley any second. But as the crowd thinned and only a few stragglers remained, wandering out of the temple at their own leisurely pace, she’d seen no sign of the young queen.

“Where the hell are you?” she asked, peering through the shadows.

Something crimson caught her eye.

Dhamir. She would know where Nox was. She’d escorted her into the church, after all. If anyone would have answers as to what the hell was taking so long, it would be her.

Dhamir hadn’t seen her. Yazlyn didn’t exactly want to give away her hiding place, but she also wasn’t willing to spend another four hours in the dark without answers. She squinted at the figure in the shadows until she realized the comte was looking for something. The woman was scanning the shadows as if she knew to expect someone.

Yazlyn perked. She took her chance. “Psst,” Yazlyn hissed, feeling equal parts childish and desperate. It worked. The woman looked around, hearing the noise and searching for its source.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.