Malik folds his arms across his broad chest and brings up, “Did anyone else catch that the drake sounded like a current problem? Instead of a resolved one?”
“All clear!” Commander Soto declares from upstairs where I glimpse the main bedroom and a bathroom. Soto trotsdownstairs, his salt-and-pepper hair pulled up in a warrior’s knot. “There’s one passage down here behind a portrait, but we’ve closed it off. No other listening spy-ways.”
I doubt that, but Draven looks unruffled. I decide to do my own sweep later.
“Thank you, Commander Soto.” He dismisses the guards, who stream out of the apartment.
“If we’re going to collect the zenith tomorrow, does that mean our timetable is moving up?” Fable looks at her nails, extending before retracting them, the tattoo of the Hanged Man tarot card catching the light across the back of her hand.
“No, and speaking of time.” Draven nods to her, some silent signal, and she rolls her shoulders, summoning her Major Arcana card. The room warps a bit and the air ripples. Dust motes are trapped as if in amber glass, a bat paused mid-flight outside our window. “This will allow us to speak a bit more plainly, should any elven ears be lingering outside. To any outsider beyond Fable’s grasp, these minutes will turn to a mere second.”
“It’s incredible.” I poke a fly frozen mid-flight and it merely slides to where I’ve moved it. Fable rubs her temple.
“Less of that please,” she says.
“We’re here for more than just zenith.” Draven says, “Malik, Fable, I need information on two humans, possibly turned changelings, matching these descriptions. If we find them, I want to be alerted immediately.” He passes Fable the paper first and she reads it as intently as any bounty hunter. It’s my brother’s and mother’s descriptions, the ones I gave Draven before we left. “I also need to find leverage for securing them. Blackmail of any variety will do.” He looks their groups over. “Zara and Scorpius, you’re on blackmail duty.”
I note he doesn’t elaborate on my family’s relation to me.
And while their Arcanas—illusions, shapeshifting, invisibility, and the control of time—give them a chance of finding them … I’d still prefer if I could search myself.
If they’re within these borders, we’ll have an idea by dinner. The elven king will have all his eyes on us, Rune. Remember, you’re the Forsaken One. His lips quirk.
Draven’s hand bumps mine, and then he pulls it close, interlocking our fingers.
What about the Arcadian Artifacts?My eyes settle on his.
The drake’s lair can wait.He looks me over, those eyes heating.You are more important, Rune.
I DO MY OWNthorough search of the apartment, finding a couple of spy holes in the bedroom and living room, and block them up before returning to the kitchen and finding one more false wall near the peninsula. Draven watches me work, leaning against a counter, his elbows propping him up as he watches me sidelong.
“I’ll need to speak to Commander Soto,” Draven muses. “That’s the third one he missed.”
“We can’t all have my training,” I reply over my shoulder.
The others left hours ago. This has kept me busy, but I hate being idle while they’re out there searching for the very thing I was Selected for.
I rifle beneath the stone countertop until I find a small opening that presses inward. The wall beside him cracks open, barely bigger than a pantry. I step inside it, but like the others it’s merely a small space for someone to stand and spy from, with no back exits like the ones Soto found. Enough for a person to fit. Or two people.
The door closes behind me, Draven sidling next to me.
“Ugh, imagine standing in something like this all day,” he says. The scent of him is overpowering in this tight space. His body presses against mine to fit us both, his hair tickling my face as he adjusts.
“I don’t have to imagine it. I’ve been stuck in worse.”
“That’s right.” Those eyes are on me, and the space feels molded to our bodies now. He leans over me, forearm resting on the wall behind me. “Sometimes I forget just how formidable you are.”
“Be glad I’m on your side. I’ll keep you safe, Princeling.” Our chests are pressing against each other, and he leans down, lips nearly against my neck.
“Rune, you are by far the biggest danger to me.” His breaths are heavy, wanton.
All thoughts fly from my head as my hands rake up his sides, feeling the muscles beneath his finely tailored clothes.
He tenses, but doesn’t move away. “You could stab me in the back, and I’d probably beg you for more.”
“Everyone knows the quickest way to the heart is between these two ribs.” I slide my finger between them, and he bites down on his smile. “Why are we stuck in here when we have that big old bed upstairs?”
Draven grabs my hand and leads me out and up to the bedroom. I take in the large bed with a grin, but when I look at Draven, all emotion has been wiped from his face.
