A Girl in Black and White (Alyria 2)

“Are you familiar with why Roldan did what he did?”

“Murder me?” I asked with heat. “Yes, I’ve been told it was to save his daughter’s life.”

“Are you familiar with how and when the kings realized who you were?”

I shook my head, suddenly not able to look him in the eyes.

“Titan is located at a corner of Alyria—of civilization, anyway. Leaving only one more known area until the Winter Desert stretches westward to the ocean.”

“Is this a lesson of our land, then? I don’t really have time for—”

“Quiet.”

I frowned.

“Titan was built there for a purpose, to keep the Shadows of Dawn—”

I let go of the net to dunk under his arm in a quick move, but without even a glance in my direction, he grabbed my arm, slowly forcing me backward until I had to grab the net to keep from falling into it. Irritation burned in my chest.

“I wonder why only mentioning the Shadows offends you so,” he said like my act was amusing to him. “It seems you already know, you are only pretending otherwise.”

I focused my heated gaze on him.

“Haven’t even lost that insolence after death,” he said with a small chuckle as he went to rest his arms on either side of me, not trusting I wouldn’t make another escape attempt.

I kept my eyes on his chest. “I have somewhere to be, so if you could please get on with it.”

The church bell rang twice, announcing it was two in the morning—as if it were mocking the lie that I had anywhere to be at this hour. Stupid bell.

Weston’s lips tipped up in both corners as if he heard that thought. But I knew he hadn’t. He couldn’t, not anymore. “Witches must have full social calendars to have plans this late.”

“So full, I cannot keep up with it,” I said dryly.

His expression turned almost playful. “How long has it been? A year? Since you practically ran right into my arms in Cameron.”

My brows knitted tightly. “I did not run into your arms.” Technically, I did just that in that inn stairwell, but . . . semantics.

“Arms, clutches, same thing. Lucky move for you, otherwise my brother would have killed you that first night.”

“You only stopped him because you wanted me for your own nefarious plans. Don’t pretend to be the hero of this story.”

“And who is the hero? Maxim?” he said with venom.

“I am,” I snapped.

His voice calmed to only the slightest of turbulent waters. “Yea, I suppose you are, aren’t you?”

I averted my eyes, his gaze seeming to burn me.

“The Kings’ Council was only alerted of who you were by an intercepted magic signal. It was going past Titan,” his eyes watched me as I put it together, “to the only other society known to be further than us.”

The Shadows of Dawn.

“And? There were many different types of people searching for me.”

“No,” he said. “There was one magic signal, one, intercepted at different points all the way across the land to the Shadows.”

The inhuman rider . . .