“Foster.” Casimir nodded curtly. “What do you have?”
The wolf shifter’s lips curled in what might have been a smile or a sneer; it was hard to tell the difference.
“The twins are a gold mine of information, particularly when they think they’re the ones mining you.” He chuckled, a sound like gravel underfoot. “Eluned especially is easy to manipulate. Crazy-ass girl’s an open book with half the pages on fire. Reckless and emotional.”
Zane’s arm tightened around my waist, a subtle gesture of comfort I wasn’t even sure he was aware of making.
“And the other one?” Casimir asked.
“Amabel’s more careful,” Foster replied, shifting slightly. “Calculating. Thinks she’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. But she has her tells.” He paused, eyes flicking to me, before cautiously adding, “She’s beenspending timewith one of the new servants. Guy named Austin Cho. You might want to look into him.”
Austin Cho. I remembered him. He’d arrived just two days before I left. A polite young man with a ready smile and curious eyes. Unlike the other staff Arabesque had hired to replace me, Austin had actually been kind to me. On my last day, when I’d been worried about getting everything out to the car, Austin had appeared out of nowhere to help.
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, too consumed by terror and uncertainty about my arranged marriage. But now, knowing what I did about Arabesque’s plans, his presence felt less like coincidence and more like another piece on the board.
“Also, not sure if you know this already, but your daddy has a mole in his court.”
“We’re aware,” Casimir murmured. “Father and Sebastian are handling it.”
“Good. Because whoever it is, they’re feeding information directly to Arabesque.”
A cold knot formed in my stomach. I knew little about vampires in general and nothing about anyone’s politics, but I’d quickly learned that King Lucian ruled the North American vampire territories with absolute authority. The thought of someone betraying him to my stepmother made me wonder what she was offering them for the risk they were taking.
“Skip to the good part,” Zane interrupted, leaning forward slightly. “What did dear old stepmommy do when she opened our gift? Did she scream?Pleasetell me she screamed.” There was a gleeful malice in his voice I’d never heard before.
“Gift?” I whispered, confused.
“Yeah. Claudio Kane’s head in a wooden box. Man, I wish we could have seen her face!”
“Zane!” Koa turned to glare at his brother before pointedly looking at me.
I stared at Zane, my heart stuttering in my chest.
“You sent her hishead?” The words felt unreal on my tongue.
“Shit. Sorry, sweetheart. That wasn’t smart of me to bring up.” Zane’s arm tightened around me, pulling me closer to his chest. “We should have told you. It was… ”
“A message,” Casimir finished coolly. “A very clear message about what happens to those who threaten what’sours.”
I swallowed hard, torn between horror at the violence and a shameful flicker of savage satisfaction. Claudio Kane had been a monster, a predator who made my skin crawl. And my husbands had killed him. Forme.
“If it’s any consolation,” Foster interjected, clearly amused by the exchange, “the head wasn’t what really got to her. It was the signature.”
“Signature?” I asked, curiosity overriding my shock.
Foster’s eyes flicked to Casimir, then Koa, then Zane, a knowing smirk playing at his lips.
“They made sure Arabesque knew they’re your mates, your protectors. She was counting on them being cruel to you, or at the very least neglecting you. Claudio’s head told her otherwise. That you’re loved, treasured. That’s why she sent the twins to spy on you.”
Something warm unfurled in my chest at his words. Loved. Treasured.
“Well, that worked in our favor, didn’t it?” Zane pointed out, his usual cockiness returning. “Ko got to launch his little buggy toys.”
“Spy eyes.” Koa tapped a few keys to bring up a secondary screen showing what looked like a map of the Bell homestead, with tiny blinking dots scattered throughout.
Earlier, he’d explained how the spy eyes had attached to their clothes while they were flouncing through our hedge maze. Once they returned home, the eyes deployed throughout the house and grounds, and my husbands had been monitoring them ever since.
“Which reminds me,” Foster said, his tone suddenly casual in a way that set off warning bells in my mind, “you might want to avoid watching any footage from the east side of the forest. Specifically, anything involving me and Eluned.” His grin turned wolfish. “Not thatImind an audience, but I doubtyou’denjoy it.”
