Page 88 of Sands of Atonement

“What do you mean?”

“I—I’m not sure exactly what I mean. All I know is that his face has been seen in Zyriah by Shunai and Ismael,” Amr spat out, eyes wide.

“You’re telling me that Targon, who has been presumed dead for years, is suddenly back?”

Amr pursed his lips and threw his hands in the air. “Listen, I’m questioning it myself. If it were just Shunai, I would have kicked him in the balls and said to shut up, old fuck. But when Ismael the next day said the same thing…” Amr shook his head again. “I had to come find you.”

I brushed a hand over my short beard. “Where was he last seen?”

“From Zyriah traveling to Tehara.”

“What the fuck, Amr!”

“I know! That’s why I’m here, telling you!”

“Damn.” I found two of my fingers at the bridge of my nose, breathing controlled. “Keep an eye out. Maintain control. We need to know what he’s looking for—what he wants. There’s a reason he’s just appeared out of nowhere.”

I’m not giving up the Atrove, even if the bastard is back. If it really was him, he abandoned his people. He doesn’t deserve them.

“You got it,” Amr said with a distant look. He stepped through the threshold.

“And Amr?”

“Yeah?”

“If you see him, kill him.” That man deserved it. “I want his head. There isn’t room for two Atrovian leaders in these lands.”

Amr nodded and left without another word.

I inhaled another controlled breath. That fucker had been dead for years, and I was planning on keeping it that way.

“I heard you,” Eshe hissed at me as we continued deeper into the cave after the meeting with Amr.

“Not surprised.”

“You’re not taking me anywhere,” she snapped at me, twisting her elbow to release herself from me.

I didn’t respond. I could feel the heat radiating from her body.

My knee suddenly buckled forward, but my impulse was not to let her go when she kicked the back of my knee. We both fell forward, tumbling down on limestone, my skin scraping on the rock. My hand launched for my knife, and I saw at that moment she had one of mine in her palm.

God, a snake!

She had a knife below my jaw, but before I could give her this win, I jammed my forearm on her arm, causing the knife to fling from her hand. Eshe reached for the knife on the floor, but couldn’t when I flung her beneath me.

I pressed my body on top of hers.

“Is this what you wanted? God, you’re so predictable. All you had to do was ask.”

Her face reddened, her hand still reaching for the knife to the left of me. With my leg, I kicked it further, completely out of reach.

I wasn’t sure about her skills. Maybe whoever trained her taught her how to grow an extra arm.

The next moment, my balls exploded. Or that was how it felt when she threw her knee into them. I grunted forward into her hair, pressing my hips further to keep her from moving.

I’d never experienced so much pain in my fucking life.

The burning, excruciating sensation radiated throughout me, and I shivered in pain. I could throw up at this moment.