Obviously,I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to speak privately with Lugh in a place where our words couldn’t be overheard. Plus...his fancy case-enclosed spear would be there with him. Maybe I could finally get some answers about that...and all those books,too.
First, I had a stop tomake.
The door to my room had been left unlocked, and no one was waiting in the hallway to chaperone me around the castle, which meant...maybe Lugh hadn’t been delirious when he’d agreed to let me have a little morefreedom.
Now that I’d saved his ass, he trusted me, at least a little more than he had before. Time to use that to my advantage and ignore the twinge of guilt in my heart because ofit.
I owed him nothing. Not as long as he worked against my Queen, myfriend.
I still had the note full of numbers for Clark. If she could figure out my code, she’d learn that there was a new court in town, led by the traitor who wanted to find that mysterious cauldron. That was all I could manage to fit on the note in numberform.
This time, I didn’t risk heading into the courtyard. I bustled through the Great Hall, thankful for the quiet emptiness that filled the expansive space. It was between breakfast and lunch, and no fae roamed the rows of tables. Outside, on the balcony, I waited for theraven.
Clark would know what to do with this information. She’d always done the right thing before. I trusted she would do it again now. I hoped she would understand that the fae of this court were not all bad, even if some were. I barely knew them, but Saoirse and Imogen—even if she had a penchant for thievery—had proven to me that most of the fae here just wanted a safe, happylife.
At some point, if things continued like this, Clark would no doubt feel forced to bring her warriors here, to take arms against the self-proclaimed King of the Wraiths. I just hoped no innocents got caught in thecrossfire.
The raven finally spotted me and dropped onto the wrought-iron railing. With a shaky breath, I handed it the parchment and watched it soar away into the clouds. That was it then. If Clark could translate my code, she would understand what we were up against. And she would be waiting for my next note, the one that would tell her what he planned to do to take herthrone.
As I turned to go, a flash of red at the bottom of the cliffs caught my eye. Frowning, I leaned over the railing to peer down at it. Even with my fae sight, it was difficult to make out what it was. A vague figure. A person, human, fae, or otherwise. Someone with blazing redhair.
Warin, I couldn’t help but think. Saoirse had mentioned a secret tunnel through the cliff, and he was down there now, looking forit.
Heart thumping, I pushed back into the Great Hall and headed toward Lugh’s quarters. None of this concerned me, I tried to tell myself. Nothing I could say or do would make adifference.
I was more nervous than I had expected when I approached The Royal Palace. Last time I’d been here, Lugh hadn’t been home and I’d had Imogen to keep me company. Now, it would just be me and him and the questions I longed toask.
He opened the door before I knocked and motioned me inside. Swallowing hard, I followed him down the hallway and into the rooms he’d set up as his home. There were far more rooms than this inside The Royal Palace, but they were empty for now. For the first time, I couldn’t help but wonder how lonely he was in here byhimself.
“Sit.” He motioned at the sofa, once again covered inbooks.
“Has anyone ever told you about these marvellous inventions called bookcases?” I said, smirking as I strolled through the mess. “They have shelves and everything. It helps keep these things from crowding the floor, your sofas, yourbed.”
He ran a tired hand down his face, but I swore I saw the glimmer of a smile. “Bookcases arepermanent.”
“And these aren’t?” That surprised me. He obviously loved reading. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have collected about a million differentbooks.
He waved his hands at the stacks dismissively. “I cycle through the collections often enough that I don’t want to get attached to how they look in mybedroom.”
My heart slowed. What a strange way of puttingit.
“You do mean your books, right?” I glanced around. “Or do you have visitors hereoften?”
And by visitors, I obviously meant...visitors.
The pain in his expression vanished, replaced now by a cocky ease. “If I did, no one would ever know.” He leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head. “I could roar in pleasure as she screamed out my name, and not a single soul would hear but the two ofus.”
A tremor went through me, and a mental image sprang into my mind that I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to shake. Lugh above me, nipping my ear and roaring in pleasure. My entire face felt as hot as the sun on the longest summerday.
Blimey, I needed to get agrip.
Clearing my throat, I settled into the armchair, picked up a book on the witch trials, and began to idly flip through it. “Why’d you call me in here, Lugh? I know it wasn’t to discuss your fondness for cycling through books. Andlovers.”
He leaned back in the chair opposite mine, regarding me carefully. “You call me Lugh. NotKing.”
Heat once again flooded my face. I hadn’t even noticed. That was probably something I needed to stop if I wanted him to take meseriously.
“It’s taking me some time to get used to using that kind of title,” I said honestly. Even before Clark became Queen, it was always Prince or Master to the male who had been in charge of the Court. I hardly ever calledherQueen now either. It was just Clark. That was how we both likedit.
