“Ladies, are we here to talk business or pleasure, so that we’re on the same page?—”
He doesn’t get to finish the sentence because I slam him into the nearest wall, draw the blade strapped to my thigh, and press it against his moon-pale neck.
“Keep talking and you’ll start losing body parts,” I warn him.
Once again, even with the damn dagger at his throat he doesn’t show an ounce of fear. Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed with déjà vu. It’s like…we’ve been here before.
“I’m more of a soft lover type…However, I’m open to experimentation with knives and other things if that’s your thing,” he says, lightly brushing the blade of my dagger with his fingertip.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Wait a damn minute—You. I remember you. Sparkle Boy. I thought I recognized the insufferable yapping. You tried to rob me my first day here in Jaakii.”
“I was wondering how long it would take for you to recognize me, Grumpy Blade. I hoped you’d remember a face like this.” I scoff and press my dagger closer to his throat. He swallows. “To my defense, I wasn’t trying to rob you. My…work associates did. If you forgot, I actually tried to convince them to leave you alone.”
“I remember very little effort from your part.”
“Enough!” Vera snaps. “Who are you and who hired you? Someone hired you to assassinate Phoenix so she doesn’t win the trials? Was it Caligos? Are you aware that trying to interfere with trials is considered the worst kind of crime, punishable by death?”
“Who said anything about murder, darling?”
Vera and I exchange a glance. I’m confused. If he wasn’t hired to assassinate me, then why?—
“I was hired to convince Phoenix to drop out of the trials by whatever means necessaryexceptmurder,” Sparkle Boy says, voice light. “I was ordered to keep you safe, not end your life.”
What the fuck?
I frown. “Hired by who?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know the name,” he teases, as if this whole thing is a joke to him. “I’ll tell you, but first we should discuss the terms of our collaboration.”
“I don’t know what collaboration you are talking about. The way I see it, you either tell us what you know and Imightconsider letting you live, or you die,” I say.
Vera comes to stand by my side and crosses her arms.
I can’t believe someone would hire a fool like him to convince me to drop out. Sure, Sparkle Boy is fae, and clearly a criminal. But from what I can tell so far, not a fighter.
Sparkle Boy finds the last and only ounce of common sense he has. “I was ordered by a handsome fae known as the Ghost. Little bird told me I may find him here today. That’s why I’mhere tonight, to find out his true identity he’s been hiding from me.”
He falls silent. Vera and I watch him, waiting. This motherfucker is in no rush. A slow grin spreads across his face. “I see you’re not going to ask me if I figured out his identity. Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll still tell you.” I press my blade harder into his skin and roll my eyes. He’s insufferable. The next words stumble out of his mouth in a rush. “The Ghost is Daegel Talbot.”
It’s a blow to my stomach. I should know better by now. Of course Daegel would do something like that. He can’t convince me to drop out from the trials, so he hires someone to do it for him.
A dangerous thought pops into my mind. What if…he was the one who hired the assassin to scare me?
I shake my head. I don’t even want to go there.
You know he’s capable, a dark voice at the back of my head whispers. I push it away.
Vera’s face is still as stone. But her eyes are shooting daggers. I don’t have to have an ability to read her emotions to know she’s boiling with cold rage inside. “Daegel Talbot hired you to force Phoenix to drop out?”
Sparkle Boy’s gaze jumps from the blade at his neck, to me, and then to Vera. “Yes.”
Vera’s gaze snaps to me. “It sounds like your boyfriend didn’t get the message that you two are over.”
“I’m not responsible for his actions,” I snap. “But forcing me to drop out fromVal’taz Ezkairinwon’t win me back.”
I can tell Vera’s full of doubt.
Sparkle Boy is silent for a heartbeat. Then he says, “But here’s the thing. I didn’t seek you out because I want to force you out, Phoenix. If I wanted that, I wouldn’t have come clean about it.”
