Rigel blinked.
“That may be the first non-antagonistic thing you’ve said to me! Wow, this is aspecialday.”
“Why?” Rigel repeated—which was about equivalent to yodeling out his insistence, for him.
“It’s a human thing,” I said.
“And?”
I was considering my reply, but Rigel beat me to my next thought. “You didn’t bring us here because you’re helplessly attached to human ways—though that might be what you’re attempting to lead the Court to believe.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because you’re too purposeful to be that dream-addled,” Rigel said. He kept staring at me, which was a little unnerving.
I held onto the wooden railings of the bridge and tried to size him up. “Why do you care why I brought everyone here?”
“Because you’re the Queen of the Night Court,” Rigel said. “And I like to be aware of all the players in the game.”
I made an annoyed noise in the back of my throat. “You’re one of those ‘fae life is a game of power’ people?”
“Allfae are one of those people,” Rigel said. “Have you witnessed anything that contradicts such a view?”
“No, but I think it’s precisely because you all share that view that the stupid game continues, and crushes more and more fae as part of it.”
Lord Rigel fell silent, which made me nervous. Worriedly, I glanced over at him.
His black eyes didn’t have the dead look to them, but they didn’t look bored, either. They looked…different. “You all,” he said.
“What?”
“You said you all. That implies you don’t share the belief, as does your original reaction.”
“Oh, I believe there’s a game all right,” I assured him.
“And?”
“And what?”
“What do you intend to do in it?”
I intend to crush it.
I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to blurt my plans out to Rigel, but I suspected he wasnotthe fae I should trot out my ability to lie and use it on. “I don’t see why I have to tell you. In fact, you tried to kill me. Logically, Ishouldn’ttell you.”
“It was just business—nothing personal,” Lord Rigel said.
“Yeah? WellIfound it personal.” I glanced at our guards. One of them was openly staring at me with wide eyes, her warm olive complexion turning pale. The others were all doing better about pretending not to listen.
Several long moments passed, but I jumped to my feet when a bubble of magic surrounded Rigel and myself. It took me a second to realize it was the same sound-proofing spell the Paragon had used.
Oh, heck no. He’s going to kill me in this silence zone. Not today! Nope!
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leila
Itook a step toward the edge of the bubble, but Rigel stopped me in my tracks.
