A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(84)

Then I notice that Jake and Grey’s “henchmen” have followed the creature into the room. So has Tycho. They look more alarmed at my reaction than at … that.

They’re not freaking out.

No one is freaking out.

Jake glances from me to the creature. “Oh.” He looks abashed and amused in the way only a brother can. “Hey, Harp. This is Iisak. He’s a scraver. And a friend.”

A scraver. I don’t understand how this place still has the capacity to shock me. Iisak is simultaneously terrifying and beautiful, shirtless and barefoot despite the cold, his skin the color of thunderclouds. He’s easily as tall as Grey, though his dark wings make him take up more space, and he’s lean, with corded muscle down his arms. His fingers end in talons.

“The Princess of Disi,” he says, and his voice is a dry rasp, the edges of fangs glinting in the light when he speaks. He offers me a bow, and I can’t quite tell for sure, but I think there’s a hint of mockery to it.

I swallow. “Hi?”

He eases farther into the room as I try to right myself. My weak leg is weaker still because of my injured ankle, and I feel clumsy and uncertain as I manage to get my feet underneath me. I’m completely off balance, which isn’t exactly all that rare, and my heart is still in my throat. Am I supposed to apologize? Curtsy? Run in terror?

I glance from Jake to Grey. “Is this—did you—” My eyes narrow as I try to think of what Lilith could do, the damage she could cause. I can’t shake the feeling that something like this chased me off the grounds of Ironrose. I didn’t see it clearly, but I remember heavy wings that blocked the moonlight, a dark shape that seemed to absorb the shadows. I thought it was Lilith—or something she created. “Is he real?” I ask Grey. “Is this—an enchantment?”

Grey frowns. “He is real.”

“An enchantment!” says Iisak, and at least he sounds amused, because I imagine if he was pissed off he could dismember me in seconds. He draws closer, and I brace myself.

He stops on the other side of the cot, and I can see that his eyes are truly black, no whites at all, and those fangs look razor-sharp. It takes my breath away, but I stand my ground.

“The young prince was right,” he says. “He once said you were brave. A princess in spirit if not by birth.”

The young prince. For a moment, I think he means Rhen, but I can’t make that add up in my head.

But he must mean Grey … which means Grey once said that about me. He’s been so cool and distant since I got here that I thought he’d cut off our friendship the way he once forswore his family, but maybe … maybe I was wrong.

I wet my lips. “I don’t know about brave.”

“You have come seeking assistance from a magesmith,” says Iisak. “You stand and face me, even though I can smell your fear.”

“Iisak,” says Grey, and there’s a warning note in his tone, but also a bit of long-suffering exasperation, too.

Iisak looks at him, and a cool breeze swirls through the room to make me shiver. “She has brought you a problem you cannot hack through with your sword.”

“She has brought a problem we are not bound to solve,” says Nolla Verin from her place by the wall.

A tiny squeaking sound near the floor draws my attention, and I glance down, ready for another nightmarish creature, but it’s Tycho’s tiny orange kitten. Salam. The kitten is winding itself through Iisak’s legs. The scraver scoops it into his hands in a fluid motion, and the kitten almost immediately relaxes against the creature’s chest and begins to purr. It’s disconcerting to see such a frightening creature be almost … tender.

“I have heard enough about this enchantress to believe you are bound to solve it,” Iisak says evenly. His pure black eyes look to my leg. “She has brought you a blade of Iishellasan steel, as well.”

I take a step back automatically, my hand falling over the hilt. “You know what it is?”

“I do.” He holds out a taloned hand. “May I?”

I hesitate.

“What is Iishellasan steel?” says Noah.

“It binds magic,” says Lia Mara.

“Yes,” says Grey. “I once had a bracelet fashioned by the enchantress that allowed me to cross over.”

“This dagger likely repels magic.” The scraver flexes his fingers, gesturing for the weapon. “May I, Princess?”

I don’t want to give it to him. I thought I’d come here with a plan to rescue Rhen, but instead I’ve found myself among no one I can trust.

Jake’s eyes find mine from across the room. “Harp,” my brother says quietly. “He’s okay. You can let him have it.”

I wet my lips, then draw the blade.

The scraver’s hands curl around the hilt. He gently sets the kitten on a cot. “Your hand?” he says to Grey.

Grey’s eyes don’t leave mine, but he holds out a hand fearlessly. The scraver swipes the blade across the back of his hand. One of the guards near the wall swears in their language.

Grey sucks in a breath and jerks back, slapping a hand over the wound. Blood drips behind his fingers. He looks from Iisak to me.

“As I said,” says Iisak, his voice a low growl. “It repels magic.”

Grey lifts his hand. The blood still flows freely. He stares at the wound with an expression of wonder mixed with frustration. “I cannot heal it.”