Audrey was standing next to him, pale, staring at me as Hush knelt by my side. Her wide hazel eyes kept flicking between the three of us. I recognized the same expression from that horrible night I burned our foster home to the ground. She might have been going into shock again.
“You need to controlthatbetter,” Hush muttered, pointing an accusing finger at Drustan’s face. “Your composure is fading more and more, Dru.” I flinched at her nickname for him.
“That is not something you need to concern yourself with,” Drustan grunted, blinking until his eyes shifted back to gold. “Now, tell me what you’re hiding.” Audrey didn’t seem to hear their conversation. She seemed like she was elsewhere, struggling to blink herself back to the present. Hush stood withher fists balled up, before she inhaled a deep breath to compose herself.
My heartbeat was in my ears.
“…This could risk the lives of thousands,” Hush replied. Drustan stared at her, not budging, waiting her out. She lowered her voice before saying in her clear voice, “Thousands of females and children are seeking refuge from your father’s rule.”
Drustan didn’t react, didn’t blink. Just stared at her, before shifting his eyes over to me.
“I just learned about this tonight—well, last night.” I glanced off into the distance, where the sun was rising and turning the sky pink and orange.
“Where?” Drustan asked.
“I can’t tell you that, yet.”
I started playing my favorite tune in my head, determined to focus on every single note, not to give anything away to him accidentally. I hoped Audrey was doing something similar, and based on the frown she gave the ground, I assumed she was.
“What is your plan?” Drustan pressed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Hush tilted her head to the side. “Do you understand why Ilia cannot find them?”
Drustan huffed an annoyed breath as he responded with, “Probably the same reason he executed a seemingly random twenty-six-year-old male during Bandthral.”
I widened my eyes in horror. The Bandthral I was at? The one Drustan massaged me at? Is that where his father went off to? With Sergei. That must have been why Sergei was so confident that Ilia would kill them all. He probably watched Ilia do it with his own eyes.
“YouknewIlia was doing this?” Hush sounded very angry, angrier than I think common sirens were allowed to be with Drustan.
“I just learned of the execution this morning,” Drustan replied. “But I only assumed why the execution happened, and you seem to be confirming it.”
“Oh my god.” I breathed.
“I am still failing to understand Vanessa’s and the halfling’s involvement in all of this.” Drustan’s golden eyes slid over to me.
I stood from my seat on the rock and mirrored his pose. “Because I don’t need your blessing to be involved.”
“No, but that won’t stop me from carrying you out of this realm myself,” Drustan retorted. Color was slowly coming back to Audrey’s face, and her stare turned skeptical as she watched Drustan and me argue back and forth.
“I fucking dare you,” I threatened. Without hesitation, Drustan stepped toward me, but Hush halted him with her hand on his chest.
“The halfling and her mate need to inform the fae and nereids of the situation, immediately,” Hush interrupted, making Drustan focus his attention back on her. His expression was still stony, giving nothing away. “That’show close your father’s guard is to discovering what desires to be hidden. What do you think would have happened had Leon and his entourage found what they were looking for?”
Drustan nodded, scraping a hand down his face.
“If you’re looking for my blessing to conspire with other territories to dispose of my father,” Drustan muttered as a rock formed in my throat. “You don’t need one. No one will be happier with his death than me.”
Well. Damn.
“If that’s really how you feel,” Audrey narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious. “Why haven’t you just killed him yourself? You have no issue taking lives as you please, it seems.”
In response, Drustan gave her a bored expression and said, “Do you think the Gravhune was a pleasant experience for me?That I’m desperate to pay it another visit?” he rolled his eyes at her and continued, “Who, exactly, would vouch for me if I took it upon myself to dispose of him? Who would plead the case that Ishouldn’tbe sent back to the Gravhune for his demise? Many would be happy to see me sent back for less.”
“But why are you with him?” I asked, making everyone turn to face me again. “If you wish to see him dead, why are you doing his bidding?” It didn’t make sense to me quite yet and based on the nod Audrey gave me, she agreed.
“My father’s power is rising at an indescribable rate,” Drustan replied. “For years, since before I was sent to the Gravhune, he’s spoken privately about one single goal of his. When I was released from the Gravhune, there were rumors in the guard that he was closer to meeting it,” he chuckled to himself. “I wasn’t about to be on my father’s bad side if that were the case.”
“What goal did Ilia have, exactly?” Audrey crossed her arms and popped a hip out.
