The room was silent as she explained what happened at the meeting, and she watched her brother’s every reaction to thewords she spoke. His lips were set into a thin line, brows drawn so closely together that it seemed they would merge into one if he held them there for any longer. He was her brother, but he was also her advisor. The one who was meant to keep her and her council on the same page. The one who was meant to be level-headed and keep her from making rash decisions. But when she got to the point of no return when she explained that Lord Harland was the one who was supplying the information to their cousin—their enemy—Xander’s face flamed in rage, and a wave of his magic pulsed against her skin.
“I’ll kill him,” Xander growled through clenched teeth, shooting up from his chair and aiming for the door. He managed all of two steps before he collided with a wall of shadow.
“Your sister said the same,” Daemon said with an air of ease, his body completely relaxed against the back of the couch next to her. “I talked her out of it. You’re welcome.”
Xander’s gaze hardened on Daemon, his hands balling into fists at his side so tightly she was sure that blood would be dripping onto the floor at any moment. Standing, Auraelia moved between the two men, forcing her brother’s attention back to her. “Xander—”
“Rae, hebetrayedyou. He betrayed our court!” The anger in his eyes was sharper than any sword in their armory, but she would rather it be aimed at her than anyone else at the moment.
“I know, but please sit down. We have a plan; just hear us out.”
“We?” Xander asked incredulously.
“Yes,we. Look, Xander. I get it; I do. Daemon had to keep me from murdering him last night because I felt every drop of rage that you feel now. I just need you to hear us…hearme…out. And if you still want to murder him?” She shrugged and waved her arm toward the door. “I won’t stop you.”
She felt Daemon’s surprise at her words drifting across her back like a summer breeze. Something extraordinary washappening between them, something she couldn’t quite explain. It was more than being attuned to another person. It seemed to be changing the very fabric of her being. Like their souls were two pieces of an unfinished tapestry that was finally being stitched together. Pulling and tugging until the ends met in perfect unison to create a beautiful piece of art.
She pushed the sensation to the back of her mind and focused on her brother.
Xander’s eyes narrowed as they bore into her own, but he blew out a short breath, returned to his seat, and gestured for her to continue. “I’m listening.”
“We’re going to continue on as normal.”
“Wha—”
“Let me finish. We’re going to act normally. We’re not going to let him know that we know what he’s done, what he’sdoing.”
“You’re going to feed him information that you want to get back to Davina. Let him think that he’s ahead of you.” Daemon supplied as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs.
“Then we’re going to let him fall flat on his face.” Auraelia let a sinister smile pull at her lips. “And ifshedoesn’t take care of him, then we will. He doesn’t know that Caius is helping us, and he thinks that we don’t know that he is helping Davina. We need to keep it that way.”
“So, let me get this straight. We’re going to let that snakestay inthe court?”
“Yes.” Auraelia and Daemon said in unison.
“And we’re going to feed him false information while trying to organize the army and plan for her attackwithouthim catching wind of the actual plan?”
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, this can’t backfire at all.” Xander’s head fell back against the worn leather, his eyes pinched closed with obvious frustration.
Taking the seat next to Daemon, Auraelia laced their fingers together. “You’re not wrong. It definitely could. But right now, we have somewhat of an upper hand. If we kill him outright, Davina will know that we know, and she may move up her timeline.”
“We don’t know her timeline as it is, Rae.”
“That’s notentirelytrue,” Daemon said as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Come again?”
Auraelia turned toward Daemon and nodded, letting him take the lead since he knew more about moon phases than she did.
“Caius informed us that Davina would be at her strongest during the new moon. That’s approximately fourteen days from now, which means we have just around two weeks until she is likely to attack.”
“Two weeks?!”
“That’s the impression that we’re under, yes.”
Xander scrubbed his hands down his face and groaned. “Okay, so what’s the plan then?”
