House of Pounding Hearts (The Kingdom of Crows #2)(42)

“Not yet.”

“Come.”

“I can show her to one, Antoni.” Catriona’s heels click as she follows him to the stairs. “I’m well acquainted with the house now.”

Without turning, he tosses out, “Now? Wasn’t Timeus one of your most devoted customers?”

Her steps falter while my nose wrinkles. To think that, for half a second, I actually contemplated sleeping with men for coin. I may have lost my faith in romance, but I could never have done Catriona’s job.

She perches her slim hands on her hips. “Women aren’t given many options to make a living in Luce, so avoid your chauvinistic commentaries, Greco.”

His back muscles bunch beneath his soaked black shirt and he finally looks over his shoulder at the glowering courtesan. “Fine. That was uncalled for. But until you prove your loyalty, you’ll have to excuse my suspicions. As for showing Fallon to a bedroom, this is my home, so I’ll do it. Fallon?”

I sidestep Catriona and trail him up the stairs. Eefah detaches herself from Riccio’s shadow to tail me. Although I admittedly like the Crow that Lorcan assigned to keep me safe, I don’t need her protection within these walls and pause on the landing to tell her so.

“I must keep eye on you.”

“But surely not inside Antoni’s home?”

Her dark gaze flicks toward the sea captain, then back toward me. “Unless he present, I must be.”

I gesture to the leader of the human resistance. “Antoni’s right here.”

“She’s not speaking about me, Fallon.” Antoni’s timbre is as cool as ice. “She means Lorcan.” After a pregnant pause, he says, “He still believes I could alter your destiny.”





Twenty-Two





My breath snags in my throat. Is Antoni alluding to me killing Dante? Is he aware of Bronwen’s latest prognostic? My thumb relentlessly traces the grooves in the little stone still tucked into my palm.

Antoni’s blue-blue stare settles on my wide-eyed violet one. “He still believes that you, Fallon Báeinach, could fall for the likes of an untitled rebel like me.”

Although his voice didn’t tip in question, the intensity with which he hunts my face for a reaction makes me wonder if Antoni still harbors feelings for me.

“’Xcept he dropped her off here, so he mustn’t be overly scared of you,” Riccio tosses out as he strides past us down the long corridor paneled in burgundy velvet shot through with gold. “Hey, Aoife, in case you ever get some downtime, my room’s the last door down this hall.”

“Downtime?” She repeats the word, putting an accent on the wrong syllable.

Riccio turns but keeps moving backward. “You know, free time?”

Eefah has the graciousness to smile. “I don’t think I get much downtime.”

Because Lorcan will be too busy wooing his Glacin princess . . . The thought lights up my mind like the gold sconces nailed into the wall covering, the ones that barely spill enough light to chase away the shadows.

“Sybille insisted that you get the room beside hers.” Antoni wheels around on his muddy boots and treads down the hallway, gait as rigid as his jaw. He comes to a stop in front of the third to last door and pumps the gold handle with more gusto than necessary. “Curtains stay closed. You want light, you go outside in the garden.” He sweeps the heavy wood open, granting me entry into a little living area fashioned in every shade of blue and turquoise. “Bed’s through here.” He pushes apart two carved, wooden panels.

Even the bedroom Lorcan lent me in the Sky Kingdom isn’t as grand as this one. Then again, Crows lead a much humbler life than Faeries. I don’t want to find anything that belonged to Timeus beautiful, but as I run my fingertips along the rich brocade backrest of the chaise in the living room, I cannot help but admire the plush richness of it all.

Out of habit, I inspect my fingertips for dust. I, obviously, find none. After all, the marquess, like all High Fae, had an army of servants. Since I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of a sprite or a human, I assume that Antoni didn’t keep anyone in his employ.

“Where’s your bedroom, Antoni?”

My question swells the black dots in the captain’s eyes until his pupils almost kiss the rims of his irises. “One floor up. Want a tour?”

Eefah doesn’t speak but wisps of smoke lift off her neck and skim the little black feather tattooed on her cheekbone. I’ve come to grasp Crow’s bodily reactions well enough to tell that she’s not fond of the captain’s offer.

I wonder if she’d outright stop me from going upstairs if I decided to follow him. “I’d really like to bathe and change into some clean clothes.”

His pupils retract.

“But maybe later?” I hunger to examine every centimeter of Timeus’s home. “Do you think I could—that I could get some clothes? I didn’t bring any.”

“Sybille and Catriona filled your closet this morning.”

I’m guessing I will find only gowns. Sure enough, after Antoni wishes me a relaxing bath and tells me that Syb will stop by to escort me to supper, I uncover a closet bursting with rainbow silks.

“It is not good idea to go upstairs.” Eefah stands in the entrance of my walk-in closet, wide shoulders almost scraping the sides of my doorframe. “Lorcan not like it.”