“Stop trying to steal my girl, Lyle,” Hayle grumbled. “Come on, there is so much to discuss and we’re in a time crunch.”
“You don’t want to introduce us to the rest of your traveling party first?” Remy asked lightly, but there was a predatorial sheen to his eyes when he looked at them. Our little group meshed so easily now, I kind of forgot that they were all enemies.
Hayle rolled his eyes. “Well, Vox you know.”
Vox lifted his chin, his shoulders tense. “Good to see you again.”
Remy raised a brow. “I’d say the same, but it would probably be a lie. Sorry about your brother,” he taunted lightly.
“That would make one of us,” Vox shot back.
Hayle rolled his eyes at the animosity. “And the other two are Lierick, Heir to the Second Line, and his cousin, Iker.”
Lyle shook his head. “We worried Father must’ve come down with a brain parasite when he returned from the tournament with tales of the Second Line coming back to life, but apparently, it was a fact he’d always known and didn’t deem necessary to share.” His eyes grew serious. “Come, we have a lot to talk about.”
With his words, reality crashed back in. We headed toward the small hunting cabin, and I noticed Lyle’s limp. Was that why he’d abdicated his Second Heir status? It wasn’t my place to ask, but I was dying to know.
There would be time to satisfy my curiosity about the intricacies of my Soul Tie’s family, and by extension, perhaps mine too. Right now, I had more pressing things on my mind.
Overthrowing a dictator.
Rescuing a man who meantsomethingto me, though I wasn’t sure I could name the exact feeling.
Saving my friends from starving in a famine.
Trying to work out how I could have a happily ever after with three lovers who couldn’t be more different.
“Is it true? Has Zier Tarrin been brought to Fortaare and charged with treason?” Hayle asked quietly.
Remy’s face grew solemn. “Charged and found guilty. He’s set to hang tomorrow on the steps of the Hall of Ebrus.”
I was going to throw up.
Ten
Hayle
Avie looked pale. She might have protested about Zier and their connection, but I’d watched them with my own eyes. There was an energy between them that was hard to explain. As they’d danced at the Tournament for Second Heirs—what felt like a year ago, but was really only weeks—it had been like I was watching an alternate universe. One where Avalon’s father hadn’t been a drunkard, where she’d attended the events for Barons and their Heirs. Where she’d met Zier and fallen in love across a crowded room.
It felt like an echo of something that could have existed, if the Ebrus we knew wasn’t so messed up.
I couldn’t say all that to Avie, though. She was already struggling with what she had, with who she had to be. I wrapped a hand around hers and pulled her closer to my side. “Don’t worry. We won’t let it get to that.”
“Father said that the Baron of the Eighth was an ally, but is he something more?” Lyle asked softly, always so damn insightful. He would have made a great Second Heir for our Line, but he’d chosen to bow out. I couldn’t regret it now, not when it had given me the opportunity to meet my Soul Tie, and my, well, my pack I guess, to borrow the words of my hounds.
“We don’t leave allies to hang, so whether it’s more or not doesn’t matter,” I said, my tone warning him to drop it.
Remy nodded. “I figured you’d say as much, so I took the liberty of finding you a schematic of the sewer system of Fortaare.” He unrolled a large map, his eyes continuously sliding to Vox, as if he was waiting for a double-cross. How did I explain to my brothers that Vox was part of my pack now? That I trusted him as much as I trusted them?
It was a conversation for another time. The clock was ticking on Zier’s life, and I didn’t have time to convince them that Vox wasn’t a threat to us. Remy was leading me through his plan.
A simple extraction—in and out. There was no way the First Line had enoughtalsto protect every guard against the Second Line, so Lierick and Iver would just have to poke until they found a weak spot. We’d get Zier from where he was being held, head back to the sewers, and then hot-foot it back to Hamor, where we’d all bathe for six hours to remove the stink of shit.
“Avalon should stay here with you,” I said, and the woman in question sent me a glare that would have flayed a lesser man. Normally, I didn’t trust anyone enough to protect her, but I trusted my Line with my very heart and soul.
“Get the thought right out of your head, Hayle Taeme. I’m coming. What if you need me? I can’t be hours away, hiding behind the safety of your family.” I opened my mouth to tell her that’s exactly where she should be, but she raised her hand. “I belong at your side, Hayle. You are my Soul Tie. Where you go, I go. We aren’t arguing about this.”
I looked at Lierick and Vox, like they might back me up on this, but Lierick was just smirking at me, while Vox stayed silent.
