2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

CHAPTER
32
In the end, only Amren and I joined Rhys, Cassian having failed to sway his High Lord,
Azriel still off overseeing his network of spies and investigating the human realm, and
Mor tasked with guarding Velaris. Rhys would winnow us directly into Adriata, the castlecity
of the Summer Court—and there we would stay, for however long it took me to detect
and then steal the first half of the Book.
As Rhys’s newest pet, I would be granted tours of the city and the High Lord’s personal
residence. If we were lucky, none of them would realize that Rhys’s lapdog was actually a
bloodhound.
And it was a very, very good disguise.
Rhys and Amren stood in the town house foyer the next day, the rich morning sunlight
streaming through the windows and pooling on the ornate carpet. Amren wore her usual
shades of gray—her loose pants cut to just beneath her navel, the billowing top cropped to
show the barest slice of skin along her midriff. Alluring as a calm sea under a cloudy sky.
Rhys was in head-to-toe black accented with silver thread—no wings. The cool,
cultured male I’d first met. His favorite mask.
For my own, I’d selected a flowing lilac dress, its skirts floating on a phantom wind
beneath the silver-and-pearl-crusted belt at my waist. Matching night-blooming silver
flowers had been embroidered to climb from the hem to brush my thighs, and a few more
twined down the folds at my shoulders. The perfect gown to combat the warmth of the
Summer Court.
It swished and sighed as I descended the last two stairs into the foyer. Rhys surveyed
me with a long, unreadable sweep from my silver-slippered feet to my half-up hair. Nuala
had curled the strands that had been left down—soft, supple curls that brought out the gold
in my hair.
Rhys simply said, “Good. Let’s go.”
My mouth popped open, but Amren explained with a broad, feline smile, “He’s pissy
this morning.”
“Why?” I asked, watching Amren take Rhys’s hand, her delicate fingers dwarfed by his.
He held out the other to me.
“Because,” Rhys answered for her, “I stayed out late with Cassian and Azriel, and they
took me for all I was worth in cards.”
“Sore loser?” I gripped his hand. His calluses scraped against my own—the only
reminder of the trained warrior beneath the clothes and veneer.