Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart, #1)(76)

I watched him dig through my packs. I sighed. “Val.”

“Val. That Val?”

I nodded.

He snorted. “That must have been . . . interesting. What did he want?”

“Truly? I think he thought we could still be together.”

Les glanced at me, then went back to sorting the weapons. “Did he actually believe you’re so in love with him you could overlook the murder of your Family?”

“I think he meant what he said. That he was caught between his Family and me and had to make a quick decision. I was so angry at him, but is that fair? If our positions had been reversed, would I have picked him over my Family?”

“But what were his plans? That you’d go back with him and live among their nest of vipers and simply forget what they did?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think he had much time to think it through. Until yesterday he thought I was dead.”

“Yesterday?”

“I ran into a pair of Da Vias.”

Les stopped what he was doing and stared at me. “So there are other Loveran clippers skulking around the city? That’s it. You’re coming home with me tonight until it’s safer to leave tomorrow morning.”

I shook my head. “No. Marcello won’t allow it. We have an arrangement. . . .”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t I know about this?”

I could lie, but Les would probably drag the truth out of Marcello. “You didn’t know because it was when you were injured.”

“And?” He gestured for me to continue.

“And I promised him I’d stop training you, leave you alone.”

“What?” He lurched to his feet.

“Les . . .” I rubbed my cheek. “He was worried about you. And I was worried about you, too. He just . . . we didn’t want to see you getting hurt. More hurt.”

After a moment Les’s anger faded. “I know you were trying to look out for me, but I don’t need you to.”

“It seemed the only way at the time.”

“The only way to what?” He sat down again.

I pulled out the key Marcello had given me before I’d stashed it with my weapons. “To get the Da Vias’ Family home location. He only told me when I said I’d leave you alone.”

Les watched me until I started to shift under his scrutiny. Finally he exhaled. “We can still follow your plan. Just because the Da Vias are here, it doesn’t mean we can’t destroy their home. It might make it easier, actually, with some of them here.”

I paused. Val was here. And Nik and Grape Leaves. I knew how Nik and Val fought, and they were formidable. Presumably, Grape Leaves was, too. Three competent clippers not guarding their home. But both Grape Leaves and Val had left in a hurry. I figured Grape Leaves had gone to tell someone I wasn’t Rafeo. But what had set Val off?

“Lea?” Les asked, but I waved him away. I’d missed something, something important. Val had left too quickly when he’d come to bail me out. Something had become more important to him than me.

His Family, obviously. He’d made it clear he’d choose his Family over me. But what exactly had changed? I sifted through our conversation.

He’d been angry about the murder charge, angry that I’d left Lovero . . .

I gasped and squeezed Les’s arm.

“Lea, what is it?”

“They know.” My limbs grew heavy, and I closed my eyes. “The Da Vias know about Marcello. They know he’s here, hiding in the city. And they’ll find him.”





thirty-three


MARCELLO HAD STAYED HIDDEN FOR YEARS, AND I’D led the Da Vias to him.

At my words, only my grip on Les’s wrist stopped him from running home.

“What are you doing?” He pulled his hood over his head. “We have to go! They could have him already!”

“No, we have to be smart.” I tugged on his wrist, and he frowned. “I don’t know how many Da Vias are here. At least three. Maybe as many as ten. They can cover more of the city than us. If we go tearing off without any thought, we could run into them. And if it’s all of them, we won’t win that fight. They’ll kill us and take their time looking for Marcello. They know he’s a Saldana and that we prefer tunnels.”

Les rubbed his neck but nodded.

I released him. “We have to be careful so we don’t meet them. And we’ll have to move Marcello, probably out of the city.”

He shook his head. “He won’t like that.”

“He won’t have a choice, not unless he plans to greet Safraella.”

“They’ll kill him?” Les asked.

“Yes. Maybe. Maybe they’ll bring him home. Marcello told me the Da Vias killed my Family because of him, because of all this history between him and their Family. I’m sure there’s some truth to it, but that can’t be the whole story. No, something else was the final stab in the mark.”

“So you don’t actually know what they’ll do?”

“Oh, they’ll kill him. I’m just not sure if they’ll drag him back to Lovero first.”

“We can’t let them take him.” The worry leaked off Les like fog over the canals.

“We won’t,” I said. “We’ll use our knowledge of the city. Let’s take the canals. They won’t expect that.”