I didn’t know if it was the anxiety or the choker, but my throat nearly squeezed shut once again.
“And,” Chastity continued, eyes narrowing at me, “they tell me twowerewolvessnuck in with your force. When they tried to arrest them, they were stopped by your nephew, who said they came in with your host and were under his protection.”
My wolves. She’d seen my wolves and thought they were werewolves. And Tyson had stood up for them. “Are you suggesting I planned this?” Bastien asked with a dangerous edge in his voice.
Chastity crossed her arms. “You tell me? I extend my hospitality, and you bring werewolves into my home!”
I went to say they weren’t werewolves, but when I caught Gorrath’s eye, I remembered what he’d said. He’d told me to put the moonstones on my wolves and ask for their names.
My stomach churned again, mixing with the throat-thickening anxiety.
“I tried to tell you,” the demon said.
Bastien cut in. “Where is my nephew and the wolves?”
“They are my prisoners.”
The door groaned again. More dust rained down. Bastien shielded me with his hands, trying to keep it out of my eyes. “You imprison allies when the enemy is at your door?” Bastien raged while debris continued to shake loose from the ceiling.
“He stood against my witches,” Chastity fired back.
“He is my heir!”
“He’s a fool!” Chastity shouted. “If he were my heir, I’d slit his throat and be done with it.”
I’d heard Bastien call Tyson names. I knew that he hadn’t wanted him as his heir. I knew he’d wanted to rip Tyson’s head off when he caught him inside my room, drinking and playing Dépouiller. However, Bastien’s high expectations for his successor seemed at odds with his duty to his family.
Mon sang, he called them. My blood.
He glanced around at the chaos. At the doors. Then back to Chastity. “If I am your enemy, then I will recall my warriors.” Chastity’s hard exterior showed signs of cracking. “You have your demon. And besides, you’ve said you don’t need my protection.”
Chastity let out a huff. “You think those creatures will spare you and your men?”
“No. Of course not. I will pull them back, and we will leave.”
Gorrath was silent. A shocking turn of events, considering he almost always had something to say.
Bastien leaned in. “This is why peace is better than alliances with demons. He can’t fight your battles for you. He can’t even kill a single witch without terms.”
“He’s been spreading disease to them. I paid him for a plague.”
Bastien sneered. “And what did that cost you?”
Fear flickered across Chastity’s face, and for the first time, she seemed to understand that she’d erred. Bastien was the ally she needed.
And by the look on the demon’s face, he knew it too.
“If you hadn’t spent an hour discussing the repercussions,” Gorrath said, unable to help himself. “We could’ve already been on the way to eliminate Shayla.”
Spells were fired from the other side of the door, making it glow white like the moon and casting the entrance hall in an eerie light.
“If you want my help, release my nephew and the wolves,” Bastien explained. He gave Chastity an honest look. “I don’t know how Shayla found your stronghold, but it wasn’t the fault of anyone in my host. I swear it.”
For everyone’s sake, I hoped he wasright.
With a huff, Chastity snapped her fingers. “Release the prisoners.” She seized a fistful of Bastien’s shirt and hauled him down until they were eye to eye. “If you fuck me over, I will haunt your castle for the rest of your afterlife. You will know no peace.”
Something close to a grin tugged at his mouth. “Understood.”
