Page 65 of Obsidian Throne
It felt like a warning.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ROWAN
We didn’t have to wait long for the other shoe to drop.
We had barely begun to pour another serving of vodka when an unearthly shriek sounded from the hallway.
Evander and I exchanged a single look before we both bolted for the door. We emerged into the hallway to find Ava trembling and pale, only held up by her guard.
Dread trickled through my limbs, numbing me from the inside out.
We weren’t the only ones who had come to investigate. Mikhail and Inessa’s father were in the hallway as well, both staring at Ava with apprehension.
“What’s happened?” the Viper lord asked.
“I went to the sauna,” she answered in a shaky voice. “And when I returned, I found him…” Ava trailed off when she saw Evander and me.
“This was you,” she said, venom coating her tone.
Evander didn’t even stop to acknowledge her. He just barreled past, into Aleksander’s room. I followed fast on his heels, hearing the dukes shuffle in behind us.
It shouldn’t have been surprising, given that there were few things that it would have made sense for Ava to be so upset about. But the sight still stole my breath.
Aleksander lay on the bed, unmoving, unblinking, as blood dripped from the mattress, staining the bearskin rug on the floor.
Evander came to a dead stop several feet from the bed, and I moved to stand next to him.
His gray eyes were wide, his lips parted, but it was more than shock. There was an edge of fury, and perhaps even panic, as he wordlessly stared down at his father…and the dagger protruding from his throat.
My mouth went dry, and the room spun.
Not just any dagger.
Mydagger.
My heart pounded in my chest, a halting, blaring rhythm that echoed in my ears.
It was you,Ava had said. Not to Evander. To me.
A gasp sounded behind us from one of the dukes, and Iiro’s voice floated down the hallway.
Just what we need.
I placed a hand on Evander’s shoulder, noticing the way his entire body thrummed with pent-up tension as Iiro burst into the room. Theo was right behind him, but he halted in shock when he beheld Aleksander’s body.
Evander pried the golden and jewel-studded dagger from his father’s body before covering him over with the rest of his blankets. His hand lingered on Aleksander’s shoulder uncertainly, and an ache went through me.
In spite of who Aleksander was, he was still Evander’s father. Before I could open my mouth to offer condolences or say anything remotely useful, Ava’s shrill voice assaulted my ears.
“It was her. That’s her dagger,” she exclaimed, her bony finger pointed at me.
I thought back to the day at the sauna in Bear, when she had clearly been rifling through my things. Whatever her purpose had been, she had to have seen the dagger.
The extremely recognizable, one-of-a-kind blade she knew I had on me at all times.
And then it had gone missing.