“It seems the third option wins by default,” the hobgoblin began with a cackle. “And that option is…Moira must descend into the Sluagh vaults. All she must do issurvive.”
* * *
“You didn’t sayanything about me fighting a bunch of bloody Sluagh.” Hands propped on my hips, I shouted the words atLugh.
After the vote, he had smoothly led me out of the Great Hall and into some sort of staging room where he now examined my sword with a disturbing amount of apathy. The room was empty apart from the two of us and some folding chairs. The only door had been barred shut, and no windows provided a view out of thishellhole.
Lugh shrugged. “If you find this trial too daunting, you are free toleave.”
My mouth opened and then closed. Damn him. Sluagh were nasty creatures. Dangerous and vicious and made from pure evil. They were basically the walking dead, but stronger. They knew how to wield weapons, and they’d do anything to tear out someone’s eyeball. I could take on a few, but an entire vault full of them? No,thanks.
He lifted his eyes from my sword. “What will it be? Decide carefully, Moira. If you walk away, you will not be allowed back inside thiscastle.”
“You made me sign a blood contract to come insidehere.”
“And?” He arched a brow. “The contract says nothing about allowing you to join this Court. It does not bind us to you. It only bindsyouto us, and your freedom to speak of thisplace.”
I ground my teeth together. That would teach me for not reading the entire bloodything.
“How many Sluagh are down there?” Idemanded.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said dryly. “The vaults are swarming with them. The path you must take will likely bring you into contact with a couple dozen of them. If you’relucky.”
Furious, I stabbed a finger into his chest. “A couple dozen? You honestly expect to put a new recruit through something like this? It could get mekilled.”
Orworse.
“Careful.” His voice was as smooth as chocolate as he pulled my finger away from the black shirt that clung to his toned abs, but his eyes flashed with danger. “I wouldn’t want to have to call myguards.”
“Right. Like you need their back up.” I swallowed hard when he kept a tight grip on my hand. “Who the hell are you anyway? Where’s the old Master of this House? What’s up with the Court of Wraiths? I’ve never heard of a fae named Lugh. I know I’m an outsider, but I’m shocked rumours haven’t spread about what’s going on here. You’ve made up your own bloody court, one not recognised by the rest ofFaerie.”
His smile stretched thin, and his hand tensed around mine. “My name isn’t known because I do not want it to be. And the truth about our court is in the name. We are wraiths, Moira. The world outside these ancient stone walls does not know what we do in here. And if you pass this trial, you’ll become a wraith,too.”
Shivers coursed across my bare arms. His words both electrified and terrified me. I wanted to take him down, more than ever, but I also wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction.Wraiths. Visions of nightmarish forms in hooded cloaks flashed through my mind. Memories I thought I’d hidden so deep inside me I’d never have to remember themagain.
“Let me guess.” He dropped my hand. “You want to back out of this trial. It’s too dangerous for you tohandle.”
“No.” I bristled. “’Course I don’t. I’ve fought Sluagh before. Easypeasy.”
His dark as night eyes widened, and he suddenly looked keenly interested. Too keenly. “When would a solitary fae have fought the walkingdead?”
I wrapped my holster around my waist and grabbed my sword from where he’d leaned it against the wall. “You don’t know what it’s like out there. Not when you’re sitting up here in your fancy castle, doling out dangerous trials to fae who simply need a roof over theirheads.”
Dammit. I really needed to stop snapping at the traitor. Being my usual bristly self would get me nowhere. I needed to play nice, no matter how much it made me want toscream.
For a fleeting moment, I thought about ending this entire thing right here and now. I had my sword. He had no weapon, at least that I could see. None of his guards were in here, and I had a pretty good idea the route I’d need to take to find the frontdoor.
It could be over before he took his nextbreath.
Silence hung between us, heavy and loud. The world slowed around me as my magic caressed the sword strapped to my side. The steel seemed to pulse in time with the beat of my heart. We were in sync. That was how it worked. It knew everything I thought, every move I wanted to make. It would be in my hands, and I wouldn’t even have toblink.
“I’m going to call for my guards now,” he murmured, his eyes never leaving my face. “You have one more minute to make up yourmind.”
A flush crept up my neck, and I didn’t know why. Instead of calling to my sword, I just stood still. Why didn’t I go ahead and take care of him now? One flash of steel, and it would all be over. One slice of my sword, and I could be down the hallway, heading for the exitdoor.
But even if I’d slain many enemies, I’d never killed a fae in cold blood. If I chopped off his head in this room, without proof of his crimes against the crown, I’d be just as bad as his traitorousarse.
I lifted my chin. “Call them. I’llfight.”
