Frowning, I turned to face him. “Well, I’d like to join your team. That’s why you called, isn’tit?”
He pressed his thin lips together, still refusing to meet my gaze. “I called you here because I wished to meet you. To determine if you are a good match for the team. Tell me, Moira. Why do you wish to fight KingLugh?”
“I’m a solitary fae,” I said, repeating my earlier story. “He’s been tracking me for years, and I don’t want to join his damn Court. He killed some of myfriends.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard.” He turned to face me then, flicking a pair of ice blue eyes across my face. “Why don’t you just leave and go elsewhere? It would be safer for you thanthis.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Because he needs to be destroyed. Even if I make it to safety, he’ll just do the same damn thing to someoneelse.”
Quentin pursed his lips and then nodded. “Very well. I’m inclined to add you to the team. We could use a solitary fae such as yourself. In fact, I have the perfect mission for you, if you choose to acceptit.”
My heart thumped hard. That...had been easier than I’d expected. He was going to take me at my word. Maybe I really was a better spy than I’dthought.
I nodded eagerly. “Brilliant. Count me in. Just tell me what to do, and it’sdone.”
A strange smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “Very well. I need you to get into Castle Wraith and have a meeting with Lugh, preferably this evening, at which point you will set off a Sapphire bomb in hispresence.”
I blinked at him. “You want me to dowhat?”
“I would like for you to douse a Sapphire bomb on the Wraith King.” He steepled his hands beneath his chin. “Is that a problem foryou?”
“No, I guess not.” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “But is that really necessary? Attacking him before theactualattack seems counter-productive.”
Quentin’s gaze hardened. “For someone so intent on destroying the King, you seem suspiciously opposed to myplan.”
Shit. I’d done it again. Speaking my mind often came back to bite me in the arse, and I feared I’d really shoved my foot in there this time. My pretend persona would probably find this entire thing hilarious. She’d be eager to throw some Sapphire on Lugh. Anything to see him squirm. Instead, here I was,arguing.
“I want to take him down, that’s all. And I don’t want to tip him off ahead of time that we’re coming after him. If we drug him with Sapphire, he’ll know that someone is targeting him. He’ll go into defensive mode.” Shifting on my feet, I lifted my chin and met Quentin’s ice cold gaze, daring him to question meagain.
“I appreciate your concern, but I will call the shots on this,” he replied. “Lugh already knows a plan is brewing. He will have seen theadvertisements.”
“Right. I guess that makes sense.” I shifted on my feet. “So what exactly is it you want me to do? It’s not like I can just waltz into his palace and throw the thing athim.”
A strange smile twisted Quentin’s lips. “Oh, but you can, Moira. You’re on the run from him, which means he wants to find you. I propose that youlethim do justthat.”
My heart thumped. “You want me to get caught.But—”
“Ah ah.” Quentin held up his finger and wagged it in my face. “If you want to prove that you are loyal to this cause, you must do as I ask withoutquestion.”
“And you want me to get caught.” I swallowedhard.
This was really not how I had expected this whole thing to go. For starters, I still had next to no information about the plan, even if I had made it to stage two in the screening process. I’d gotten nothing from the bartender. I’d gotten nothing from this creepy fae. And now I had to pretend to let myself get caught. For...whatexactly?
Sapphire might make Lugh’s inhibitions drop away, but it wouldn’t make him give up his spear. I knew him well enough to know that he would cling on to his soul as hard as he could, no matter how drugged he was. So, if that was Quentin’s plan, it was a pretty dumbone.
“Get caught.” He leaned down and unlocked his briefcase. As the lid clicked open, Quentin revealed a tiny blue orb that glowed with magic. Even from here, I could feel the pull of the spell, and the desire to give in to my deepest needs. “Set this off in front of Lugh. Once the magic has hit him, you will lure him into showing you his spear. It will be kept in a locked container. Make sure it stays unlocked after he’s shown it toyou.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s it? You just want me to make sure his spear case isunlocked?”
“The magic of this Sapphire bomb is directly linked to me,” he continued as though I hadn’t spoken a word. “When it goes off, I will be alerted. That is when my team will know it’s time to movein.”
“You’re going to attack the castle?” I asked, arching mybrows.
Instead of answering, he lifted the orb from his briefcase and slid it into my hands. It was warm to the touch and pulsing with life. A part of me itched to drop it now and let it explode all over this wanker. Let him get a taste of his own medicine. Not that breathing in some Sapphire would be any sort of terrible tragedy. I’d been dosed with it once before, along withLugh.
It had been...intoxicating, to say the veryleast.
“Never you mind that.” The fae straightened, his long coat rippling around his dark, glistening shoes. “Do we have adeal?”
