The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter FORTY-SEVEN: Liss

"Nolene should have given you a different dress."

Liss stood beside Zan in the lengthening line into Nightfair as twilight darkened the sky like a bruise. Since they'd left the forest, he hadn't stopped talking. 

Well, mindspeaking. "A different fabric, at least. Something less... pale."

Liss was silent, staring at the back of the person's head in front of them—a human woman with gray streaks shot through long raven locks that matched her all-black attire. The woman and her male escort were placing bets on the night's death toll. Not whether there would be one, but how high it would go.

Liss shivered, pressing her hand to the locket tucked under the tight layers of her dress. She still had mixed feelings about the Stone of Understanding. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. 

Zan was right about her dress, though. A dark shade would have blended into the crowd better. Luckily, she wasn't the only one boasting color under her cloak. Several of the wealthier looking ladies were in vibrant shades that put Nolene's design to shame. A few of them were even pink.

"You were determined to see me in this thing," she reminded Zan in a whisper too soft for human ears. And she'd only obliged because her weathered tunic and trousers were pitifully ill-suited for the occasion. Fortunately, the reverse side of the Fexes' enchanted cloak served as an elegant façade and barrier against the evening's chill.

"That was before I realized you'd stick out like a boil on a crone's nose!"

"Wow. I look that bad? Thanks."

"What? No. Gods! Sorry, that was a horrible comparison." A rumble of frustration rose from his throat, almost like a purr. "You look the complete opposite of bad. That's the problem. No one will be able to take their eyes off you!"

"Somehow, I doubt that." But she couldn't help smiling at his exasperated compliment.

His altered gaze fastened on her, as if in defense of his theory, and flutters tickled her stomach, adding to the undercurrent of panic she'd harbored all day. "Your suit isn't exactly dull either, you know? How many hearts are you planning on breaking tonight, Mr. Blackclaw?"

"All of them except yours."

The edge of his sleeve brushed her wrist, recalling memories from last night—of his soft fur against her cheek, drying her midnight tears. The inconvenient flutters rose into her chest and tingled down her arm. She hoped Zan would assume her trembling fingers were a side effect of their harebrained plan and not an embarrassing reaction to the earnestness of his confession.

Hona help her. She would keep him safe tonight. She would.

"Domira won't parade my sister for a while. According to Ayer, the witches like to get the revelers thoroughly intoxicated first. But you and I will only pretend to drink. Especially you."

His teasing tone snapped her out of it. How had the line in front of them gotten so short—? And why were the previously bustling streets of Nightfair empty?

"Once everyone's into their cups, no one will notice if you disappear behind your cloak or I trade places with a rodent." That was their plan, the long and short of it. Zan would Change into a rat to scale the chandelier and steal Ayer's zizhi. Then, they would hide beneath the Fexes' cloak long enough to return the stolen princess' magic to her.

There wasn't a backup plan other than claws and fire, if the situation escalated. Liss didn't want to think about what might happen if Zan failed to get Ayer's zizhi, or someone noticed her cloak was more than it seemed. There was also the possibility that Nolene's vision was inevitable and Liss would end up creating a scene before the end of the night.