She wanted to say, “Duh, I need you all the time,” but then his eyes moved behind her to the book. Lilly grinned. “Can you give me the condensed version? I mean, I realize at some point I should learn how to speak and read the warlock language, but I’m on some pretty severe time constraints at the moment.”
He walked over and picked up the book. His brow furrowed as he flipped it open. “Who brought you this?”
“Perizada.”
Cypher slowly turned to look at her, and she nearly took a step back. The anger in his face was frightening. “Why?” he rumbled.
“One of the clans is going to challenge my place as queen,” Lilly answered slowly. She could practically feel the rage rolling off him.
He stared at her for several heartbeats before carefully setting the book down. His movements were tightly controlled, as if he feared he might instead throw the tome across the room.
“Cypher, what’s wrong?” Lilly reached out and placed her hand on his arm. She nearly snatched it back when she felt the heat on his skin. Until this point, she’d felt no heat from his body. But now, his skin felt as if he was running a very high temperature. “Okay, that’s new. What is wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that I can’t protect you from this,” he said as he turned to her. “Who is it?”
“Lysander,” she answered, observing his reaction to the name. He didn’t disappoint as he cursed in his language and then in English as well. “I take it you know him.”
“He’s a sorry bastard.”
“Yes,” Lilly agreed. “He most definitely showed that at the banquet.”
“I didn’t expect any of them to actually go this far,” Cypher said. “I figured some would have concerns. There’s never been a ruler that wasn’t a warlock, but I believed they would respect my decision.”
His skin was cooling, and Lilly took that as a sign he was calming down. He reached for her and wrapped his powerful arms around her. “I am sorry, my sweet Lilly, that you must face this.”
“I raised a teen girl,” she said, trying to sound not terrified. “I think I can handle an asshat like Lysander.”
“I’ve no doubt you can handle him,” Cypher said. “It’s just something youshouldn’thave to deal with. He is aware of what is at stake and still he’s willing to cause division in the clans when they need to unite. I would skewer him myself if I could.”
Lilly patted his chest and then pulled him down to the couch. “Why don’t you tell me what I need to know, considering I can’t read the damn book? That way he can’t pull the wool over my eyes.”
They sat, and Lilly turned so that one leg was bent and propped up on the cushion so she could face him. He took one of her hands and entwined their fingers, stroking her palm with his thumb. “He’s going to challenge your rule with an ancient right. Basically, the law says that if someone of a new bloodline ascends to the warlock throne, any clan leader has the right to test the new king or queen’s power. If they prove unable to subdue the challenger, then the new ruler must step aside.”
“So it’s not, like, to the death?” Lilly asked.
“It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. The fightisto the death if the loser does not yield,” Cypher explained. “If you’re winning, you may have him at the end of your sword or held powerless by your magic. If he then refuses to submit, you can kill him … and you should. If you do not, he will only continue to be a thorn in your side. The warlocks cannot afford division, not with the Order out there trying to take over the damn world.”
“And what if he does yield?” Lilly asked.
“Then you have the right to take his life if you choose.”
“Would Lysander let me live if I yielded?”
“No, he’d kill you without a thought,” Cypher replied.
“Can I defeat him, Cypher? Be honest with me,” she told him.
“Yes,” he answered immediately. “First, you’re smarter than he is. Second, you have my power running through your veins.”
Lilly’s lips turned up. “I used your power to zap Peri.” She couldn’t help but sound proud.
Cypher chuckled. “I’m glad I could give you the ability to zap the high fae. She’s no doubt earned a few zappings in her time.”
Lilly glanced back at the book. “So that’s all the book says? That a clan leader can challenge a new royal bloodline ruler? Seems like an awfully big book for such a simple explanation.”
“There’s a bunch of rules,” Cypher said, “but what the asshat, as you called him, probably doesn’t remember or hasn’t bothered to research is that challenges are not to be made in times of war.”
“I would definitely consider this wartime,” said Lilly. “But that’s not going to be enough to stop him, is it?”
