I look at Seven. There’s so much to discuss. Is it safe for him? Once Godmother finds out that he’s the new king, will she try to banish him like she did Kieran, or worse, try to control him using their bargain? Does he have an obligation to Shadowvale and the unseelie there? What should be done about the mine and Rayrcore?
But the look he gives me tells me everything I need to know. Our problems will always be with us. There will always be some heavy weight regarding his company, our relationship, Arden, and now his position as fairy regent. But when we’re tired and we’ve had enough, sometimes it’s time for the prince and Cinderella to just go back to the castle, roll up the drawbridge, and enjoy being a family.
He rises first and helps us both to our feet. “Let’s go home.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
It’s early the next day when I make my way to Godmother’s Tearoom and ask the pixie behind the hostess stand to speak with her. I’ve come alone on purpose. Both Seven and I agree that him being in the same room as her at the moment is a bad idea. Because of their bargain, if she senses what he is, she’ll never let him go. Our only hope is to take advantage of the moment, when no one but us knows what occurred.
I’m shown back to her office and take a deep fortifying breath outside her door before being ushered inside. Dressed in a sophisticated yellow gown, Godmother looks like a queen, sitting behind a delicate curved-leg desk, signing something with her long, feathered quill.
She barely glances my way before saying, “Sophia Larkspur, to what do I owe the pleasure of your interruption?”
I sit down in one of the dainty chairs across the desk from her. “It’s time for you to release River from the safe house.”
Now she raises her dark gaze and stares at me. “Have you solved the murder then? Will you be giving me the name of the true perpetrator to arrest in River’s stead?”
I pull out my phone and queue up the security video. “I can give you a name, but I’m not sure you’ll want to arrest them.”
“Why not?” She folds her arms.
“Becauseyoushot Adam Barker.”
Godmother flashes a stern look in my direction and then laughs. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No. No, I’m not joking. You knew that Alicia Faust was supposed to meet with Adam Barker that afternoon. He’d promised to bring her the results of his analysis of the malivite being mined in Shadowvale. You knew all about malivite and its promise for industrial applications because you wrung the truth out of Chance when you arrested him. I watched you torture Chance, but it didn’t occur to me just how much he shared with you that night. But when I visited him in Ashgate, it was clear you’d broken his mind as well as his body.”
“You’re boring me with this nonsense, Sophia,” Godmother says. “I was giving a speech to the graduating class at the time of the murder, in front of half the town.”
“No, you weren’t. The shooting happened afterward, as the crowd was filing into the tent for the after-party. You disappeared in the commotion and then reappeared to get Seven after the murder. You shot Adam so that he couldn’t confirm the properties of malivite to Alicia, and you intentionally did it from a distance and from the direction she was standing. Your true intention was to frame Alicia for the crime, but you didn’t count on River. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong sense of responsibility to the victim. Although you planned for people to see the direction of the shot and to link the murder back to Alicia, another leprechaun had cleared the area, which meant you had no choice but to pin the murder on River. After all, you needed someone to blame.”
“Your analysis is far from accurate, but I’ll give you this—if you can prove Alicia was in the vicinity of where the bullet originated, she is a major suspect and I will arrest her immediately.”
I shake my head. “Alicia didn’t shoot Adam Barker. She was scheduled to meet with Adam. She wanted him alive. She needed the information and the sample he carried to take to Rayrcore. But you knew that already.”
She waves a hand in the air. “Preposterous. It’s an outlandish theory. What motivation could I possibly have to instigate a death in Dragonfly?”
“You thought framing Alicia would stop her and Kieran’s plan now that Chance was out of the picture. The fact that Alicia had tampered with the security cameras so that her meeting with Barker wasn’t recorded was an added boon. But you forgot one thing. There’s security everywhere, and Alicia didn’t manipulate the cameras surrounding the bank.”
I press Play. Alicia comes into focus on the side of the bank, striding toward the rendezvous point. The pop of a gunshot goes off, and she cows against the building, looking for the source of the bullet. Then the video changes. A different camera, a different angle. The scene repeats, but there in the corner of the screen is Godmother with a shimmer of purple around her. The pop doesn’t seem to surprise her at all.
“So I’m standing beside the bank and Alicia. That doesn’t mean I shot a man.”
“The noise originates with you, Godmother, and although we can’t see the gun, you don’t react to the shot. It’s almost as if you expect it. But if we watch these side by side, we can see that Alicia turns her face toward you when the gun goes off. The shot originates with you.”
Godmother leans back in her chair and couples her hands. “You’re confused.” Her tone is laced with malice. “Let’s call Alicia Faust in, and she can explain her behavior on that video.”
“That will be impossible. You see, Alicia Faust and her son Edmund are dead. Tragic accident. But I think the people of Devashire would be interested in this video, which is why I’ve given it to a friend to share publicly if we can’t come to an agreement today.”
Her power rises in the room, setting my teeth on edge. When she speaks again, her voice is low and her stare intense. “I think we can agree that Alicia Faust shot Adam Barker. River will be freed, and a statement will be prepared explaining that she and her boy were killed trying to escape authorities. You will deliver the bodies to me, and then you are free of your obligation to me.”
“Excellent. Now what about Seven?”
“What about him?”
“You must release him from his bargain as well.”
“No.”
