“Find Elwin and bring him to me. Now!”
They vanished instantly.
Senka approached the throne. “Why did you seek to take my son?”
Tanith gave her an impudent stare. She gestured at him with her whole hand. “Look at the beast you birthed. Just because you’re his mother doesn’t mean you don’t know what an exceptional piece of masculinity he is. Congratulations on that, by the way. I couldn’t believe my luck when he stepped through my portal after all these centuries of my salivating over him. Why kidnap a human male to father a child when I could combine my DNA with that?”
Sorcha bit back a laugh at the queen’s tone. The fey had a point. “You kidnap humans?”
“All the time. But don’t worry. Once I get what I need, they’re returned no worse for the wear.”
Gaping, Sorcha didn’t know how to take that as Luke stepped behind her. “What are you doing?” she asked him.
“I’m feeling the need for some protection. She’s actually scaring me.”
Sorcha laughed. “I’m surprised you’re not agreeing to stay.”
“No, thank you,” he said quickly. “It would have been nice to have been asked, though.” He directed his next comments to the queen. “Maybe you should try that in the future instead of drugging someone and chaining them to your bed.”
“How did you get free?” Tanith asked.
“My howl would have caused him to automatically shift into his hellhound form.”
“Which caused the chains to fall off.” He glared at Tanith. “Better be glad I didn’t come to on my own and find them on me. The outcome would have been far different for you, Majesty.” The growl in that deep voice sent a shiver over Sorcha.
Though to be honest, she wasn’t sure he could have done much given the condition she’d found him in. But the queen didn’t need to know that.
Luke gently took her hand and gave a light squeeze before he stepped away.
Puzzled by that, she wanted to ask him why he’d squeezed her hand. But this was far too public for that inquiry.
After a few moments, the fey guard returned with an exceptionally angry fey prince.
He glared at all of them. “What is the meaning of this?”
Luke threw out his hand and a visible fey trap appeared under the prince’s feet. This time it wasn’t just an unseen forcefield, rather this trap had symbols she couldn’t understand. Two of those strange shapes rose up from the floor to wrap themselves around the prince’s legs. They crawled over his body until they encircled his arms and even his neck.
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Luke approached the prince. “Not being able to move. Being held against your will.”
He towered over the much smaller prince. “So answer this, why did you frame me? Speak carefully. I know a lie when I hear one and I won’t take it in stride.”
With a panicked expression, he looked over at Tanith. “Mother?”
She was merciless with her response. “You knocked on the devil’s door, Elwin. What have I told you about keeping bad company? Answer his questions and afterward, I have my own for you.”
That made the prince turn even paler. With a furious shriek, he tried to break free.
Luke tsked at him. “Not going to happen, pup. Who told you to go after Amandine and frame me?”
Elwin drew a ragged breath. “No one. At least not a person.”
Luke used his powers to bring the prince so close to him that their noses almost touched. “Explain.”
“A falcon brought a letter to me. It said that if I didn’t send out the Ankou to kill Amandine and frame you for it, they would come and tear down my mother’s kingdom and spread our ashes to the winds.”
The expression on Luke’s face said that he wasn’t quite willing to believe the prince’s story. “Where’s this order now?”
“It disintegrated as soon as I read it.”
