I snort. “No, you don’t.”
She doesn’t respond. The water weighs down her sleeping gown, clinging to her skin. I grab the lavender soap and lather it on her hands, across brittle fingernails and blue-green veins. I rinse the soap away with warm water, watching as it washes away the suds and reveals the freckles that line her forearms.
I set down the bar of soap and exchange it for the bar of shampoo. It smells of lilies, just like Mae’s hair. When I look back up at Elle, I find her in the same position, neck still exposed as she stares at the ceiling. Her throat bobs. A single tear tracks down her cheek, then down her neck.
I can’t resist the urge to brush it away with my thumb.
Her hand snaps forward, and she grabs my wrist with a speed I didn’t know she possessed. At least, not in this shell of herself.
“Don’t.” Her command is full of power, and it stops me. I remove my hand slowly and instead offer her the bar of shampoo. She takes it from me and slides down into the water, dousing her hair. She emerges, beads of waterclinging to her long eyelashes as she blinks the water away.
“I’ll let you finish on your own,” I mutter, knees aching as I rise and exit the bathroom.
Isit on the wooden throne that I fought so hard for. That I keep having to claw for.
King Katze and his family stand in front of me. Elle sits beside me, a glamour hiding the bags under her eyes. Cora stands on my left, looking at House Panthera with disdain.
Something is different about Koa today. Cassia looks at me with her usual hatred, but Koa now seems to have joined her. The last time I saw him, he appeared apathetic, but certainly not full of rage.
“Your Highness,” Katze begins, eyes locked on me. “Thank you for meeting with us. We are aware it is a surprise, but we come with urgent news that we think you will be happy to hear.”
I motion forward with one hand, wishing he’d spit it out already.
Koa watches me with a cold, calculating stare. He stands rigid, the only flicker of movement in the way his jaw works. Mother, I always fucking hated him.
“Well?” I ask.
A smirk pulls at one corner of Katze’s mouth. “We caught Mae.”
I reach for Elle and slam her walls shut to block any reaction from her. I almost flinch at the white-hot fury that emanates down the bond. It makes me wish I could open my walls to her and show her that it lives inside of me, too.
“Her and your brother have been responsible for the rescues of the prisoners we wrote to you about, and the deaths of the witches guarding them,” Katze says.
Ah, that. Part of the reason Cora has been keeping me so busy. Katze did, in fact, write us a letter detailing the deaths of several witches and the loss of several prisoners. Cora raged for a full day, then tasked me with training the witches to ensure they know how our magic works.
“She’s alive? And you caught her?” Cora asks, pureglee in her voice. If I turned, I know I’d see her leaning forward, a smile splitting her face. Katze nods, his smirk growing wider. “Well done, King Katze,” she praises.
He averts his gaze and tries to quash his grin. He looks so bashful. It makes me want to pummel his face in.
“Where is she?” I ask, shifting in my seat. “And what of my brother?”
Katze turns back to me, the smirk now fully gone. “She is secured in our dungeons. Your brother escaped us.”
I raise an eyebrow. “The dungeons that they managed to break into?”
He shakes his head. “No, Your Highness,” he says, attempting to hide his scowl at the title. “She is in our personal dungeons, reserved for the most dangerous offenders, constantly guarded by our most powerful. She will not be escaping.”
“Good.” I bite my cheek as I consider the development—Mae is caught, but I can’t use that to my advantage when she’s in another court. “You will bring her here.”
“And what do you plan to do with her?” Koa asks from beside his father.
Katze whirls toward his son, a vein beginning to pulse just below his ear. A perfect place for my fangs to sink into. The venom would spread within the span of a singular breath. He’d be dead on the floor within three.
“How is that any of your concern?” Cora responds.
“It’s not,” Katze quickly responds before his son can. “We’ll bring her.”
But Koa’s not done. He stares at me and says, “Well, if I may make a suggestion, Your Highness…”
