“We have a team meeting with Lugh at half past.” She paused and gave me a solemn look. “Youcoming?”
Ten minutes later, I stood inside The Royal Palace. We were in one of the many empty rooms, the lofted ceiling arching overhead, dark blue walls surroundingus.
There were only a handful of us here. Lugh, of course, stood tall in the center of our circle. Saoirse and me, along with Warin and Boudica, clustered together. And, much to my irritation, the damn hobgoblin washere.
“It has become quite apparent,” Lugh began with his hands tucked behind his back, “that the plot now involves more than just the return of Nemain. The fae behind this now wish me dead,too.”
A chill swept down my spine at the matter-of-fact tone of his voice, like he hadn’t just been stabbed repeatedly in the streets a few daysago.
“Filthy murderers,” the hobgoblin spat. “I will wring theirnecks!”
I glanced at the tiny little creature, surprised. Hobgoblins were not known for displaying such intense loyalty, particularly toward fae. They liked to keep to themselves. Saoirse had been right. Lugh had opened the gates for the outcasts of the supernatural world, and they loved him forit.
Well, some of them. The others wanted himdead.
I raised my hand, and every eye in the room turned my way. “Yeah, hi. I’m a little late coming into this whole thing. Do we know anything about who they are? Anything that would help identifythem?”
“They have sorcerer connections,” Lugh said. “That’s how they were able to collect theSapphire.”
“They’re also growing in number,” Saoirse added. “There were ten in the close, but only a few several months ago. That means they’re meeting somewhere inside the castle without eyes or ears noticing, getting newrecruits.”
A deep frown dragged down the corners of Lugh’s lips. “I reckon they’re using part of the castle that rarely gets foottraffic.”
“The old residential buildings, the ones that got destroyed during the witch trials,” Warin said in a gruffvoice.
We all turned toward the warrior who rarelyspoke.
“They’re on the western side of the castle, away from everything else. And it’s nowhere near the front gates, so we don’t watch it during our patrols. No one would really notice if fae were coming and going from there, at least not in the middle of thenight.”
Lugh gave Warin a grave nod. “That settles it then. Tonight, we will patrol the western buildings. We’ll find the fae behind this attack. And we will deal withthem.”
Despite his morbid words, Lugh seemed to be in pretty good spirits when night fell. Maybe because he finally had something of a lead on the culprits. I had to admit the location made sense. If the traitors were going to recruit more Wraiths to their cause, the best place to meet in secret would be thesebuildings.
Our crew took to the cobblestone streets. Night had fully fallen, and thick clouds obscured the inky sky, smudging a full moon that hung low behind the city buildings. An icy wind knifed through the castle, and frost crunched beneath our boots. Even though we only planned to monitor the current situation, we’d all come prepared just in case we had to act. I had my sword back—the one Clark had gifted me. And Lugh had an imposing spear strapped to his back, silver tip jutting up toward the shadowysky.
The old residential buildings were two imposing structures that formed a square, backing up against the western defences and the garden I’d cleared with Imogen. At one point in time, they would have been an impressive sight, but the windows were blacked out and soot crept up the stone sides. In the center of the courtyard sat another statue—or it had once upon a time. Now, it was nothing more than a blackened husk in the shape of aman.
Our group split up. Saoirse happily went with the hobgoblin, for reasons I couldn’t fathom, while the twins went together. That left me with Lugh as my only option, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about teaming up with him for thenight.
Things between us were strained, and that was partially my fault. I’d stormed out on him, shouting and waving my arms. That said, I would only take part of the blame. He’d been the one who had been messing with me the moment I’d stepped through thosegates.
We all split up to check the various wings of the buildings, and I soon found myself alone with Lugh in the darkness. We didn’t want to use any light, in case the traitors were nearby. They could come and go at any moment if they were using these buildings as their base ofoperation.
The halls still held the stench of smoke, even after all these years. As we cleared room after room, all I could think about were the fae who had once called this place home. How had they felt when their world burned down around them? Had they been captured by those in charge of the witch trials? Or had theyretaliated?
Once we’d explored every room inside our designated wing, we found a room on the very top floor that gave a wide view of the courtyard below. The room was dark and empty, but it had barely been touched by the fire. We eased down onto the floor beside the window and waited for the traitors toshow.
Lugh was silent beside me, but I was all too aware of his presence. It was almost impossible to focus on anything else. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the outline of his profile. The sharp, chiseled jaw, the long nose, and the hair that curled perfectly across his forehead. My fingers itched to reach out and brush it out of his eyes, but I bit my tongueinstead.
After what felt like hours of tense silence, Lugh shifted from one knee to the other. “I didn’t think you wouldstay.”
“Yeah, well.” I cleared my throat. “I had to help with the whole cauldronthing.”
“Order from your Queen?” he asked, doing little to hide the sneer in hisvoice.
I cut my eyes his way. “No, actually. Whatever you think about Clark probably isn’t true. She gave me a choice. I decided tostay.”
For a moment, he said nothing. Only silence hung between us, heavy and dark andsuffocating.
