A shiver went through me. In his state, I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Probably more on thenotside of things. Lugh didn’t seem like the kind of King to take disobedience very lightly. That said, he was smiling. Was that because he enjoyed the idea of making mepay?
I shiveredagain.
Something to worry about later. Saoirse had opened the door again, and Lugh had fallen silent. He shut his eyes and sighed, and that strange ached flittered through me again. Even though the wound was closed and his healing had begun, he was inpain.
“We’re taking an Uber up to the castle,” Saoirse said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. “It should be here in five. We need to get himready.”
“An Uber?” I asked incredulously, rising to my feet. “Doesn’t the King of a bloody Court have a fleet ofcars?”
Clark certainly did. And a whole hidden garage that no one knew about, other than a few of her closest advisors, like me. I suspected Lugh had the same. If he didn’t, he needed to get on that, stat. Situations like this were precisely when secret transportation wasnecessary.
“If we send for a castle car, word will spread fast that something has happened to him. We can take him through the back gate. No one will ever know athing.”
Unless, of course, Warin or Boudica out there were the traitors Saoirse feared they might be. Most members of the Court of Wraiths might never find out, but the fae they wanted to keep the information from certainly would—the attackers who had tried to kill Lugh tonight. She seemed to sense my thoughts, pursing herlips.
“We have no other choice,” shesaid.
“I’m just surprised there’s a back gate,” I tried, flicking my eyes at the door. If the warriors were the bad guys, I didn’t want to tip them off that we were on tothem.
“There’s a hidden tunnel that goes up through the cliff and through the northern battery. No one knows about it but Lugh, me, and the warrior team. And even then, not everyone knows exactly where the entranceis.”
And now me. I filed that information away for later use. That could come inhandy.
A horn sounded outside. The taxi had arrived, and they must have offered double the rate, because the driver had reversed back into the close itself. Cars weren’t typically allowed on these streets. Together, the four of us hauled Lugh to his feet and lifted him out the door and into the backseat of thecar.
Saoirse turned to me and grasped my hands. “I’m sorry. There’s only room for one more. Will you be okay getting back to the castle withthem?”
I understood what she was doing. Not everyone knew the entrance to the hidden tunnels, and she wanted to take Lugh through it alone. That meant Warin and Boudica were not in on the secret, and she wanted to keep it thatway.
I squeezed her hands back and smiled. “I’ll be fine. These two have my back, and I have a swordnow.”
She gave me an uneasy nod and slid into the front seat, waving goodbye. As soon as the car pulled out of the close, I started back to the castle with the warriors, my heart thumping with every step Itook.
Even though no one had died here tonight, a heavy cloud of danger lurked over me. I still didn’t understand the full truth of what was going on here, but I didn’t need to. Whatever it was, it was pretty damnbad.
I’d really stepped right into the path of danger, and I was going to get hit by it if I didn’t watch out. I glanced at the twin warriors. They were barely paying attention to me. This was my chance to leave, if Iwanted.
But instead, I kept my feet turned in the direction of CastleHill.
12
Aknock soundedon my door. Groaning, I twisted in the sheets to peer at the clock, expecting it to be bloody six in the morning. I was surprised when the display said it was ten. Huh. That was afirst.
It was also a little unnerving when the door didn’t fly open and when the pounding didn’t hammer its way into my brain. Instead, I had to slowly climb from the bed, pad across the cold floor, and crack open the door myself, blanket wrapped tight around my shoulders like acape.
Lugh stood on the other side, looking a little worse for wear. His midnight hair fell into eyes that were lined in red. His black shirt was rumpled, and he wore a loose pair of joggers, probably to keep his trousers from rubbing against thewound.
Still, the sight of him somehow pierced me to my verycore.
“I’d like to speak with you,” he said quietly. “Would you come to my quarters in half anhour?”
I arched a brow. Well...this was unexpected. “That sounds like a question. Not acommand.”
“That’s because itisa question.” He peered down at me, eyes soft and searching for something in mine. “You can say no, but I hope youwon’t.”
And with that, he spun on his heels and vanished down thehallway.
* * *
