“Uh-huh. Where’s my pelt?”
She gave me a level stare. “We both know that is notyourpelt.”
“I have permission to borrow it.”
“Which selkie would allow such a thing?”
“A selkie who owed me a favor.” I was tired of sitting on the floor while the mermen surrounded me, and I slowly stood up. My body ached. Dying sure took a lot out of a girl.
I took a deep breath and explained my bargain with Mella and why I was here. Snorts sounded behind me. “You believe we will give you the golden sword?” one of the mermen almost choked on the words. I ignored him.
The queen held up one hand and everyone went silent. Cool trick. If I tried it on the demons, they’d probably crack their ribs laughing at me.
“You were prophesied to come to me, Underqueen.”
I didn’t bother correcting her. If she chose to believe I was the Underqueen, who was I to argue? I’d probably have a better chance at bargaining with her as Danica, Queen of the Underworld, than I would as Danica, ex bounty-hunter and cat owner.
“Oh yeah? And what did that prophecy have to say?”
Iloathedprophecies. All they’d ever done was complicate my life.
The queen tilted her head. “It says you will bring me the Mistilteinn Dagger.”
I froze, my hand automatically slid protectively over Misty. Behind me, the mermen went on high alert. The queen’s gaze landed over my shoulder, and she made a gesture that made the merman protest in low voices.
She ignored it all and made the same gesture again. All of the mermen filed out of the room.
“Why do you need the Dagger of Truth?”
She sighed. “I have ruled the merfolk for nine hundred years,” she said. “Before me, my mother ruled. And her mother before her.”
A maternal line of succession. I was here for it. Fuck the patriarchy and all that. But from the grief-stricken look on her face, things weren’t exactly hunky dory right now.
“What’s the problem?”
“I have three advisors who have been part of my family since I was a small child. They advised my mother, and when she died, they continued to advise me. However, over the past few decades, it has become clear that one of them is betraying me.”
I’d never get used to the way paranormals spoke about decades and centuries, the way I’d refer to weeks and months. “And you think the Dagger of Truth will help you find out who the traitor is? Have you considered torture, ‘cause Samael usually finds that works for him.”
A hint of amusement flickered through her eyes.
“Torture would break one of our greatest laws.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. These people had watched me die, but apparently torture was a hard no.
“So, what, you want to borrow Misty?”
“Misty?”
I felt my cheeks heat. “I gave it a nickname.”
She shook her head. “The Mistilteinn Dagger can’t be borrowed.” Her gaze studied my face. “Tell me, what exactly do you know about the dagger you stole from Samael’s hoard?”
It weirded me out that these people knew so much about my life, and, until recently, I hadn’t even known they’d existed.
“Um, I know it glows when you’re questioning someone and that someone decides to tell a lie.” I refused to tell her all of the other things Misty had done. Like, say, replicating a look-away spell that time I’d been stuck in Samael’s bedroom.
“That is a good idea,”Misty said in my head.
