City of Deceit by Claudie Arseneault

Author:Claudie Arseneault
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Kraken Collective
Published: 2022-12-03T15:54:45+00:00

A mountain of cookies awaited Hasryan at Sora’s home.

They were piled on top of one another in a precarious mound, more numerous than he’d expected, and certainly more than he could ever hope to eat. Hasryan had stopped short upon catching sight of them, so stunned that he didn’t notice Camilla springing to her feet with the energy of a young lady until she was sweeping him into a tight hug. Blessedly familiar lilac perfume filled his nose as she squeezed him, and Hasryan fought his rising tears. He wrapped Camilla in his arms, releasing a content sigh as he relaxed into her embrace.

“Ah, it is good to hold at least one of you,” she whispered.

Her voice was frailer than Hasryan had ever wanted to hear, but it was her words that stunned him. One of them? What them? Who could she be referring to, if not the missing Dathirii, either trapped in their homes or now holed up in the Brasten Tower?

Her family.

Hasryan forced a smirk upon his face and pulled back before the strength of the realization ripped tears out of him. How was he supposed to answer that? He’d known Camilla cared for him—of course she did, she had risked the Dathirii’s reputation and personal imprisonment to hide him—but to be so casually included with her family … The depth of the love dousing him threatened to drown him.

“Not even a hundred evil Myrian wizards could keep me from your delicious cookies,” he promised.

She laughed and stepped back, gesturing for him to reach for the plate. Hasryan sauntered over, taking his first good look at Sora’s home. A large central area was dominated by a table, with the kitchen’s counter to the side, while partitions separated a second room—probably her bedroom. To his right was a wooden cabinet, its doors opened to reveal a small altar consisting of a warrior’s statue, the Sapphire Guard’s seal, a handful of candles and coins, and a tiny dish currently containing two of Camilla’s cookies.

Sora cleared her throat as his gaze lingered. She had come in after him, closing the front door and shutting out the cold. “Here you are,” she said. “Nothing outstanding, but I spend almost all my time at the office or in the city.”

“Too busy investigating assassins to enjoy your cozy home?” He smirked when she huffed, then turned away from the altar and back towards the table. He snatched a cookie up. “I like it.”

It was certainly nicer than his small room in the Crescent Moon Headquarters had been, a dull affair with plain wooden furniture and a hard mattress. Hasryan had always been careful to leave no personal markers in it on the very slim chance that the Sapphire Guard searched the place and that Brune let them. He wondered if it’d been reassigned already or if it’d stayed empty, waiting pointlessly for his return. The former, probably. Brune was not the type to waste resources—not even her most trusted assassin. Hasryan chomped down on the cookie, burying bitter thoughts under the delicious butterscotch reminder of all he’d gained.

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