“Come in, come in. Coffee?”
I shook my head. “We don’t have time. I’m just stopping by–”
“To ask if I can represent the seelie for your counter spell.”
I nodded, studying his face. “Well, yeah.”
“Yes, I can.”
I raised one eyebrow and waited him out. Either he’d keep that on the down-low from Taraghlan, or it was some political move on the seelie court’s part that was too sophisticated for me to understand.
Aubrey sighed. “There’s another reason I asked you here. And I have a feeling it’s important. I believe my king may not have disclosed everything you need for the counter spell.”
My ears began to ring as the blood slowly drained from my face. Aubrey grabbed my arm and led me into a small sitting room, Kyla trailing behind us.
Within moments, I was sitting in a plush armchair. Some of the dizziness left me, and Aubrey’s concerned face came into view. “When was the last time you got some actual sleep?”
I shrugged. “What do you mean he didn’t disclose everything?” My voice came out high and thready. “The counter spell has to be performed tonight.”
Aubrey sighed. Across the room, Kyla took a wary step away from a vine which was hanging from the ceiling, slowly creeping toward her. Aubrey gave the vine a warning look and it stopped moving.
“By now, you’re well aware of the hatred between the seelie and unseelie kings. I won’t go into the reasons why, as that would take hours. But I will say that I believe my king isn’t thinking as clearly as usual.” He frowned, as if saying such a thing was blasphemous. “Taraghlan has been receiving advice from those who may not have his best intentions at heart.”
I couldn’t care less about that dipshit’s personal problems. “What does that mean for Samael?”
A line appeared between Aubrey’s eyebrows, and he squatted in front of me, his gaze intent. “My king is playing a dangerous game—giving you only some of the information so that if the counter spell does not work, no one can blame him, and yet he will benefit from Samael’s death.”
“Why are you telling me this? Isn’t your loyalty to Taraghlan?”
His lips firmed. “Yes. And that’s why I must protect him from himself. If you and Samael both died, and then your people learned of his deception after you risked your life to find the sword…”
“War,” Kyla finished, and Aubrey nodded.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What do I need to do?”
“The counter spell requires one more element. And it’s why the Spell of Three has been so successful in its evil over the centuries. It benefits the witches for the other factions to kill each other, you see.”
I waited him out, barely resisting the urge to scream at him to get to the goldarned point. He gave me a faint, apologetic smile.
“A witch bone.”
I got to my feet, fury making my hands shake. I wanted Taraghlan dead for this. But I didn’t have time to rage about it. I needed to go negotiate with Gemma if I was going to save Samael’s life.
The success of the counter spell would depend on my ability to convince her to help me.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said. “Out of curiosity, how close are you to the throne?”
He smiled at me. “Not close enough for you to kill the seelie king and plant my rather exceptional arse on that throne. I think you have quite enough to do without playing kingmaker, Danica.”
I gave him a slow smile. It was going on my list anyway.
Aubrey shook his head. “I’ll see you tonight.”
I appreciated that he clearly believed I’d get what I needed. I nodded and glanced at Kyla. “Let’s go.”
22
DANICA
