“The fuck you don’t,” I snapped. “I was protecting Avalon long before you even decided to set sail from your perch in the north.”
“Great job you did.”
This fucker!“I’m going to tear out your throat?—”
I was suddenly wrapped in bands of air and lifted high to the ceiling. “Air time out,” Vox stated.
I was going to take Avalon to bed later and make her moan my name and not let him join in, or even watch.Asshole.
“I think it’s extremely clear to everyone in this room that there is no way Avalon’s traveling anywhere without all of us, so I suggest you come up with a new cover story.”
Lierick rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
I slumped in the hold of Vox’s air, which honestly, was kind of comfortable. I’d watched him spread Avalon wide using this method, gently stretching her arms and legs like she was on one of the large wooden crosses the First Line liked to shackle people against for punishment. However, the only punishment Avalon had endured was the lap of my tongue against her core, until she screamed my name.
Okay,maybeI’d let Vox join in later. He definitely made things interesting.
“So, say you get Zier’s agreement, which I don’t think will be as simple as you believe. Then what? There’s no aid coming. No aid even committed by other Barons. You’re creating a supply line, but there are no supplies,” Vox pointed out.
Lierick grinned, leaning back and looking like the cocky ass he was. “That you know of, Heir to the First Line. You sit up there in Fortaare, like kings so far above the citizens, that you don’t see the very people you oppress chipping away at the foundations of your power.”
Vox’s eyes went flat. “Not my foundations. Not my power. I never had any intention of becoming the Baron.”
If everything went as planned, he might not have a choice. No one voiced that out loud, but I knew that it played on Vox’s mind. He’d never wanted to rule, but there was no one else in his family who could be trusted.
Lierick didn’t press. “Be that as it may, we have agents in Doend. That’s where the supplies will come from. We’ll funnel them through Boellium, and across the Western Inlet. From there, it’s up to Zier Tarrin to get them to Dragon’s Tooth–the border of three baronies in the Dragonspire Mountains–and to the Eleventh and Twelfth Lines, deep in the west.”
Vox nodded, while I tried to swim my way through the air toward Avalon. She looked concerned, and I could feel her worry in my chest. I wanted to console her, but was still hung up here like a prized boar.
“For fuck’s sake, Vox, let me down. I promise I won’t try and kill him again.”
He raised an eyebrow, but dropped me unceremoniously to the ground.Dick.
Moving across to Avie, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry. I think I have a way we can all get an invite to Eaglehoth without raising suspicion. Just leave it to me.” I had a plan, and it’d kill two birds with one stone.
Vox pinched the bridge of his nose. “That statement never ends well.”
Eleven
Avalon
Iwaited at the walls of Boellium, Alucius at my side. Braxus had huffed at being off duty for the day, but Hayle had merely told him that it was because Alucius was more likely to maim first and ask questions later. I wasn’t sure if that appeased Braxus, or just made him poutier.
Even Epsy had joined me, taking the opportunity to see his family. Or maybe he was just feeling neglected. It had been a crazy few weeks, and I didn’t think it was going to get any easier. I scratched the stolt under the chin, his head resting right beside my cheek as he lay curled around my neck like a scarf.
Alucius stood beside me, her eyes flicking constantly. She might be more serious and quicker to anger than Braxus, but she was just as devoted. They made a well-balanced pair.
“He’s late,” I told her, and she huffed an aggravated sigh, like the slight was grievous enough to eat him.
“Not late, just making an entrance,” Lierick’s voice said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder at the surprise Heir, and the way his hair shone beneath the early morning sun stole my breath. He looked down at my four-legged companions. “No bodyguards today?”
Neither Hayle nor Vox had been able to shuck their responsibilities today to babysit me. Vox had some kind of big meeting with Master Proxius, who’d finally returned to Boellium, and Hayle was up to something in order to secure a meeting with the Baron of the Eighth Line.
But I had Alucius, plus Quarry in the trees, and I had a suspicion that perhaps Hayle had more eyes and ears in these woods than normal. There was even a tiny little mouse that had tucked itself into the lower pocket of my pants this morning. I wasn’t sure how it was meant to protect me, considering it was napping in there, but whatever made Hayle happy.
I smirked at Lierick. “If you think I don’t have bodyguards out here, then you aren’t quite as knowledgeable as you pretend to be.”
He gave me a lopsided grin, waving a hand at the side gate that led into the woods. “Trust me, the Second Line has nothing but respect for the Third Line. There is a reason they’re Third, and that they’ve managed to keep the First Line under control for this long. Besides, the Second Line has very little control over the minds of animals. Your friend there could tear me to pieces if she wanted to.” He nodded respectfully at Alucius, who bared her teeth. I reached down and brushed my fingers across her long coat in thanks.
