Mercy relaxed a little. It was nice to be around a calming influence for once.
The king leaned forward. “What the holy fuck of a fuckup of a disaster have you assholes gotten into?” Dage yelled, his booming voice echoing off every wall to clash back in the middle and ripple out again.
Mercy snorted. Shocked, she clapped her hand to her mouth as both Logan and Garrett swung toward her. “Sorry.” A giggle escaped. Then another one. Soon she was laughing hysterically, trying to apologize, tears streaming down her face. The males stared at her with various expressions of disbelief, and she hiccupped, trying to stop. “Um, sorry.” She sucked in air.
“Fairy?” Zane asked calmly, as if that explained everything.
The king nodded, blue rims appearing around his silver eyes. Not many people probably laughed at the King of the Realm when he was shouting in their direction.
Mercy held up a hand and tried to regain control. “I’m not crazy.We’renot crazy. Honest.”
“Uh huh,” Garrett muttered under his breath.
Mercy regained her composure. “So, well. You all obviously have both Realm and family business to discuss, so perhaps I should take my leave.” She began to stand.
“Sit. Back. Down.” Logan enunciated each word with such chilling effect that she did exactly that.
Garrett didn’t move, but Zane looked at his brother, assessment in his green gaze.
The king looked her over, and she swore he saw right to her soul. “Perhaps you should excuse us for a moment.”
“No,” Logan said, his chin down.
Surprise flashed across Dage’s face, and he cocked his head, studying the soldier. “I do believe that’s the first time you’ve ever contradicted me, Logan Kyllwood.” The king’s tone hinted that it might be the last.
Mercy shivered, and the spit in her mouth dried up.
Logan didn’t twitch. Nor did he look the least bit concerned. Man, he was a badass. “I do believe it is,” he agreed.
Talen Kayrs rested his jaw on his fist as he looked at Logan as if he’d started speaking in tongues. Even so, a glimmer of what hopefully was amusement lurked in his golden eyes. “Ido believe fists are about to start swinging, and in that case, the lady should leave,” he said helpfully.
Zane cleared his throat. “Let’s start with the lady. Have you been kidnapped, Miss O’Malley?”
She blinked. What the hell should she say? Of course, she’d been kidnapped. Yet loyalty to Logan prevailed. She didn’t want to get him into trouble with the Realm or his family. “No,” she said.
Dage frowned. “You’re a terrible liar.”
Oh, she didn’t want him to have the wrong idea about her. She sighed. “I’m not that bad. This is such a tense situation. I mean, there are so many undercurrents, you know?” Her voice rose, and she just couldn’t stop talking. “Brother to brother, father-son, uncle, the king, the ruler, soldiers, and so on. Plus, the vampires and demons were in a war not too long ago, right? So this is a whole lot of tension.” She wound down, her stomach cramping. “My point is that usually I can lie much better than this.” There. She’d said it.
Logan took her hand, planted it on his muscled thigh, and squeezed.
She subsided.
The king pinched the bridge of his nose as if his head was about to explode.
“How much of what we’ve heard is true?” Talen asked softly, his gaze on his son.
Garrett met the gaze evenly. “Sixty percent.”
Mercy blinked. That was quite the quick response. She did owe the Realm a warning. “If the Seven finishes the last ritual, the Fae nation will have no choice but to declare war.”
The king didn’t so much as blink. “Thank you for the heads-up.”
“You’re very welcome,” she responded. Logan squeezed harder, and she hid a wince.
“Who are Ronan and Quade Kayrs?” Dage asked quietly.
Garrett scrubbed a hand through his shaggy hair. “Your great-uncles—brother to your great-grandfather, Jacer Kayrs. And they’re both still alive. At least Ronan is. We don’t know for sure about Quade.”
