Antonio leaned into his touch, his lips twisting upwards in a ghost of a smile.Through the bond, there was only the discordant, eerie silence, icy in a way Antonio never was.
“I don’t like fae parties.I think it’s the music.”
“Not enough strobe lights,” Declan agreed.He offered Antonio a faint smile in turn.It was the least he could do.
“The human dies.”Kesk’s voice rang out, the sidhe pull strong enough for Declan’s eyes to cut to the side.He didn’t turn, though.“He killed afae.A respected Councilor.”
Hyacinth laughed nearby.Stomach-churning discomfort rippled through the bond, the alarming cold of steel cracking.Antonio grabbed Declan’s arm, knuckles white.Declan slid his hand back, fingers curled around the back of Antonio’s neck in reassurance.
He would burn down Faerie itself before he let Kesk anywherenearAntonio.
“I will not permit Antonio to come to harm.If Kylan hadn’t interfered with my magic, he would still be alive,” Declan said, sharp and deliberately loud.“My bond broke no rules.Thatrespected Councilordied with sluagh magic in him of his own volition.Don’t twist Protocol simply because Nimai couldn’t cheat himself into a win.”
“We cannot condonehumansgoing about killing fae,” Kesk snapped with a quick flick of his fingers.Kylan’s body faded from existence, only to reemerge next to Nimai, not that the sidhe looked at it.“Whatever the justification, allowing such a precedent to be set is unacceptable.”
“I don’t know that ‘a Hollow defending their bond mid-duel when that bond’s energy is siphoned by a qilin’ is too concerning a precedent.”Hyacinth’s voice remained an amused purr, unchanged from years past.
Sickly tendrils clung to Declan with every word.Antonio’s hand tightened, his eyes fixed on Declan’s face as he clearly struggled to remain standing.The ebb and flow of disorientation rose each time Kesk or Hyacinth spoke.
Ah.Another lovely boon of being a Hollow.
Declan glanced past Antonio to Hyacinth.Hyacinth, whose clever, amused gaze focused on Declan as soon as he smiled.
“Speaking of Hollow, my friend, it appears they have a unique reaction to sidhe charms.Humor me, and speak without while we stand close?I’ve seen firsthand just how compelling you are even without it.”
Hyacinth considered the ask, the glorious prick.With his penchant for not loathing humans and appreciation for compliments, Declan didn’t fret over whether he would agree.Especially not with Kesk’s cruel laughter in the air.
“Your bond is truly a gem, Declan.”Somehow, Kesk’s voice carriedmorepull than before.
Bastard.
“Pulling the wings off butterflies again, big brother?”Hyacinth asked, voice free of magic.“Some of us prefer sport that can fight back.I suppose you might have finally found your level.”
“That may have something to do with some of us not requiring reassurance from a measuring stick to sleep at night, Hyacinth.”Declan added with a one-armed shrug.“I hear some fae are sensitive about their wingspan.”
“’m good,” Antonio said, low and quiet.He leaned into Declan’s touch, dragging in a deep breath.“’m fine.”
“Pathetic, how they cling to base vulgarity,” Kesk said to Veroni.Without, Declan noted, the ringing sidhe drag to his words.
Veroni laughed.“It’s as you say, love.Blood always tells and like calls to like.”
“One who can do no better, and the other soft for his own kind.No wonder they’re so protective of a rabid beast.”
“A future Councilor,” Declan said.“We claim the seats we’ve won.”
“The Council will never seat you,” Kesk sneered.“Besides, a bond is required, and the mortal dies tonight.Don’t spout off about ‘recompense’ and refuse to pay when others demand the same.”
Declan had killed one fae today.He would repeat the act, if necessary.If Kesk thought himself beyond that particular fate, he’d not mind proving him wrong.
“Aye, recompense,” he echoed.“You don’t speak for all fae.Antonio didn’t harm you, your bond, or your House.You’ve no right to demand satisfaction for injuries not your own.Unless, perhaps, you and Nimai had business great enough that his death would bugger up something permanent for you.Do you happen to know who guaranteed that irrevocable allotment to be granted to my killer?Nimai didn’t have the chance to say.”
“Why, by Summer, would I know that?”Kesk pressed his hand over his heart.“Someone did Nimai a favor.Debt is debt, after all.”
“We agree on something, big brother.Debt is debt.And Protocol is Protocol.”Hyacinth stepped closer still, wings falling open in that relaxed way Declan knew spelled trouble to someone fucking with one of his.Knew, too, that amused, easy smile aimed at Declan (which he returned, with teeth).“And I, as witness, judge that no one’s behavior broke Protocol.Else I’d have stopped the little qilin from nearly causingmyfriend’s death.If you don’t want the bonds to murder each other mid-duel, you really should say so ahead of time.”
Nothing good came from Hyacinth smiling like a shark.
For others, mainly.It always worked out rather well for Declan, that razor-edged malice.It came with an arm around the shoulders or, in this case, half-mantled wings on shoulders too relaxed to be casual.And when Hyacinth had his group of friends near, their eyes fixed on a scene with interest, all the more so.Even Tsuri looked half a second from pouncing, the wings at their hips open and teeth bared.
