Free Taste of Darkness (An Avry of Kazan Novel - Book 3) by Maria V. Snyder Page A

toxin.”
    Hogan glanced at Odd with a “do you believe this?” look.
    “I’ve ceased being surprised when it comes to Avry,” Odd said.
    Now it was my turn to gaze at him. Did Odd mean that in a good or bad way?
    “Oh, come on. You can’t deny that you’ve been full of surprises since we’ve met, Sergeant Irina. ”
    He had me there. I’d worn a disguise and joined Estrid’s holy army using the name Irina from Gubkin Realm to gather information. “But I had good reasons.” And they benefited the most by learning how to go silent in the forest.
    “I didn’t say you didn’t. You just keep things...interesting. Like today, for example.”
    Uh-oh. Time for the lecture.
    “I’m torn over how to feel. If you hadn’t insisted on going to that Death Lily, we wouldn’t know about Cellina’s plans. But when we were captured, my thoughts about your impulsiveness weren’t all warm and fuzzy.”
    I’d bet.
    Odd spread his hands out. “I figured we were done for. The only bit of hope was that you might escape and tell Prince Ryne what we encountered. But then you dropped out of that Lily, and I thought you were insane.”
    “I couldn’t let them take you,” I said. “They were going to feed you to the ufas. Talk about cruel.”
    “Yeah, that would have been horrifying.”
    “I agree. Those poor ufas.”
    “Hey.” Odd bumped me with his shoulder.
    I shoved him back. He pushed again.
    Hogan cleared his throat and gazed at us. We stopped as if scolded.
    After a few minutes of silence, Hogan asked, “Who’s Sergeant Irina?”
    Odd’s laughter echoed off the hard stone walls. “Oh, man, it’ll take too long to explain. Trust me.”
    * * *
    “Clever. She’s being smart. Damn it,” Ryne said, throwing his stylus down.
    Odd, Hogan, and I stood on the opposite side of the conference table in the factory. We had reported in and now faced a very angry prince.
    “Did you check all the exits?” Ryne asked.
    “No,” Hogan said. “There is still one left.”
    We’d headed straight back after the encounter with Cellina’s squad. It had taken us a full day.
    “All right. Get out of here and wait for your orders. I need to think,” Ryne said.
    I turned.
    “Not you, Avry. Stay.”
    Odd shot me a smirk before he hurried away. I smoothed my expression and returned to the table. Ryne studied me as if he debated between strangling me or stabbing me. I braced for his reprimand.
    He shook his head. “I don’t... I can’t... Here.” He handed me a piece of charcoal. “There’s a map of Pomyt Realm over on that desk.” He gestured to the left. “Mark where you saw the Death Lilys and Cellina’s troops on it.”
    “I’m not sure if I can remember them all,” I said.
    “Just mark what you can.” His lips moved, but his teeth remained firmly clamped.
    “Okay.” Even though a question about his plans for the attack on Zabin pushed up my throat, I retreated.
    I spent the night drawing squiggles for Lilys and Xs for the squads. When the sunlight shone from under the metal doors, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. My head pounded with fatigue and I rested it on my arms for just a moment. At least, that was the plan.
    Standing in the middle of King Zavier’s throne room, I turned in a slow circle, marveling at all his expensive treasures. Tohon lounged on his father’s jewel-encrusted throne, watching me with a predatory glint.
    “So nice to see you aggravating Ryne, my dear,” Tohon said with a soft chuckle. “The poor guy doesn’t quite know what to do with you. You have rendered all his diplomatic training useless. You’re unexpected and don’t follow Ryne’s notion of logic at all.” He tsked. “Not that I have any good advice for him. I completely underestimated you. A mistake I won’t make again.”
    “Because you can’t. You’re out of commission, Tohon,” I said.
    “Are you sure? I am having this lovely conversation with you, my dear.”
    “You’re a result of my worries and