“And the rest of it?” Had Gabriel urged Nick to tell his coven or keep it a secret?
Gabriel shrugged again. “I told him to trust his gut.”
“I think that’s the only thing he can do.” It was what I’d do. My instincts were an essential part of who I was. I trusted mygut, as Gabriel would say, above all else.
Axel came back into the room and glanced between me and Gabriel. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” I gestured for him to sit down. “We should go over Lady Sarhin’s instructions with Gabriel.”
Gabriel frowned. “Is there a reason you waited for Max to leave?”
“Yes.” Axel took the chair across from us. “When we question Blake, we’ll be using techniques that aren’t common knowledge. Not within our realm or here. Lady Sarhin has conditionally approved your inclusion due to you being half fae and your relationship with her husband’s son.”
He rolled his eyes. “You mean Rys.”
“Yes.”
“Why can’t you just say that?”
Axel huffed. “Because I’m trying to repeat her briefing as accurately as possible.”
“What are the conditions?” Gabriel asked, wary.
He wasn’t going to like them; I knew that much.
Axel grimaced. “If you stay to witness Blake’s interview, you won’t be able to talk about anything that happens in there. With anyone,” he added.
“Again, you mean Rys.”
“Anyoneother than me and Dathal.”
Gabriel sat there, forehead scrunched as he contemplated Axel’s words. “But I can talk about any information we get out of him, right?”
Axel nodded. “You can. Just not the methods used to obtain it.”
“Right.” He raised his eyebrows. “And that doesn’t sound at all concerning at all.” Rubbing a hand over his jaw, he added, “He’s a victim in all this. You do realise that?”
“We’re not going to hurt him,” I said, sitting forward. “Whatever happens in that interview will all be done with Blake’s consent.”
Gabriel looked from me to Axel, then back again. “Part of me is dying to know, but I don’t want to keep secrets from Rys. And this investigation is a sore spot for him. He’ll want to know if we find out anything new.”
Axel’s expression softened. “I don’t like keeping things from him, so I can appreciate how hard it is for you as his soulmate. You can share whatever Blake tells us with Rys, as long as Max agrees.”
“But if he asks how we came by this new information when before Blake said he couldn’t remember, then I can’t tell him.”
“No. You can’t.”
“Not that I would ever go back on my word, but what’s to stop me accidentally telling him?”
I smirked. Gabriel had no idea the lengths the high court would go to. “Before we go into the interview, we’ll all have to sign a magically infused agreement. It’ll be physically impossible for you to tell anyone about it.”
Gabriel grimaced. “What do we sign it in, blood?”
I would’ve laughed if it wasn’t the truth.
When neither me nor Axel said anything, his eyebrows rose. “What, really?”
Axel nodded. “It’s the strongest way to bond the magic to us.”
