The Bound (Ascension #2)(78)

The man grunted when he came to a stop at their feet. His light hair fell forward against his forehead as he hung his head and dropped into a crouch. He wore all black clothing, and a black mask mostly obscured his face.

Cyrene walked forward before anyone could say anything in protest and ripped the mask from his face. “Dean?” she gasped.

“Hello, Cyrene.”

When the rest of the room realized who it was, they relaxed their hold on their weapons and shifted back into a neutral stance. But Cyrene didn’t move. She just stared at him in surprise. She hadn’t seen him in weeks, and now, he was stalking them outside of the palace grounds.

“Why were you outside of that window?” she demanded. “Why are you here?”

He didn’t look sheepish even though she thought he should for spying on her. “You and Maelia left without anyone for protection, and I wanted to make sure you were all right, so I followed you.”

“I’m getting rusty,” Maelia breathed.

“You followed us because you wanted us to be safe?” Cyrene asked. “Don’t lie to me. You were spying on us. Otherwise, you would have made your presence known.”

“I did want you to be safe.”

“And…you wanted to spy. Why?”

She had the strange realization that she was interrogating the Prince of the country she was currently in, and one of her friends had just thrown him through a window. If he had other soldiers with him, then they were about to be in a lot of trouble.

Dean stretched up to his full height, towering over Cyrene. “I wanted to know where you were going and why you left the palace grounds.”

“I didn’t think I was a prisoner.”

“You’re not, but most people who don’t want to be found have something to hide. I don’t apologize for following you.”

“Just for getting caught?” she quipped.

He smiled, and she tried to ignore the dip in her stomach. “For trying to get closer to you.”

Her cheeks heated at that comment, and she tried to regain control of the situation. “There are other ways to get close to me without spying on me!”

“Is he with us or not?” Ceis’f asked.

Everyone turned to Cyrene for the answer. Dean had saved them back in Aurum. There was no reason for her not to trust him after he had risked himself to get them out of the city and then spoken on her behalf to Queen Cassia so that she could stay. But still…she didn’t like him snooping around.

Dean raised his eyebrows and awaited her decision. “Cyrene?”

“Is there anyone else with you?”

“No,” he answered immediately.

Ceis’f nodded his head in confirmation.

“Fine. Yes, of course he’s with us,” she said, turning to Dean. “But don’t spy on us again.”

Cyrene looked to Maelia, who always protested when they added new people to their group. “I know…you don’t trust him.”

Maelia frowned and then puzzled over Dean. “No. I think I do.”

Cyrene balked. “Well then, I guess you are in.”

“Can we get back to the matter at hand?” Orden asked.

And just like that, Dean was accepted into their group.

“Mind if I ask what exactly this is all about?” Dean asked. “Is this about the people you’re looking for?”

She took a deep breath. “Yes. I know you said you’d never heard of them, but my source told me that they were rumored to be in Eleysia.”

“And you’ve been what? Scouring the island for them?” he asked.

“Something like that.”

“I could have helped. I happen to have valuable resources at my disposal.”

Ahlvie snorted. “Cyrene is trusting, but even she wouldn’t alert the palace to this.”

“So, tell me everything about these women. What are their surnames? What do they look like? Where were they last seen?”

Cyrene frowned. “We don’t know any of that information.”

“So, you’ve been looking everywhere for these two people off of just names then?” Dean asked skeptically.

Ceis’f threw his hands out and leaned back against the window frame. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this entire thing is insane.”

“Look, Basille Selby told me that I should come here to find them. It must be for a reason. It’s not a wild goose chase, and I won’t stop looking.”

Dean startled forward.

Cyrene gave him an appraising look. “What?”

“Basille Selby? You’re sure?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I don’t know Matilde and Vera, but I know Basille Selby,” he said after a moment, “and I can take you to him.”





Cyrene was sequestered with Dean on a gondola in the late afternoon the next day. He had offered to take her to see Basille. He hadn’t heard whether or not Basille was back on the island, but most people would return for the holiday season, and it was only ten days away.

Ceis’f was trailing them under Avoca’s orders even though Cyrene had assured them it wasn’t necessary. She had seen Dean fight and knew he was quite capable.

Avoca had promised to look into ways to track people with her Leif powers, and Ahlvie had readily agreed to help her locate the supplies she would need to do so. Ceis’f had protested, but Ahlvie and Avoca had been out the door and on their way to the Market Sector before he could get a word in.