Cara’s eyes widened as she glanced between us.
“A fight.”Mission, mission, focus on the mission and not the desire to pay Ander back for every smug look.
“Sufficient for you to hide to lick your wounds. It would have to be quite the affair—with Cara rejecting you—and quite the humiliation.” He looked at me with an expression I had never particularly cared for, even when we were close.
“A small audience, easy to manipulate, but we make sure that a member of one of the clans who will report back to the queen witnesses it. Probably Selenite. Or Malachite. They’re absurdly loyal to her.”
“That’s not how this works.” His tone was soft, but that only made him sound as if he was conniving. “You plant lies all the time. The queen won’t believe it unless a significant group has seen you humiliated. The arena, after the Hunt, would be ideal.”
He seemed far too fond of the wordhumiliation. I was embarrassed on his behalf.
“I’ll need something to be angry about,” he mused. “Don’t worry. There are plenty of options.”
I did not particularly relish the idea of an unscripted fight with him where his job was to convince the court I was humiliated and my job was to take it. It required trusting Ander not to take it further than useful when he had plentiful reasons, old and new, to break my jaw.
“I’ll do you this favor, and Cara goes with you,” Ander said. “It’s her choice. That’s my first term.”
He seemed to delight in taking Cara’s side. I wasn’t sure if it was out of loyalty to her, disdain for me, or an even mix of both.
She had already decided; her determination was in the set of those pretty lips, the way her chin lifted. Continuing to argue it here, in front of Ander, was wasted effort. “Her choice.”
Cara was not surprised. She had known she would win.
That was irritating in a way I didn’t have time to examine.
“Second term. When the knife is retrieved, I have first claim on its use after the obvious. You come to me before you use it for any other purpose.”
“Define obvious,” I said. “Thenfirst.”
“Obviously you’ll be using it to free Tay.” He didn’t miss a beat. “After that, you consult with me before you use it.”
“I’m not fetching it for you any more than I am for the queen.”
He held my gaze. “I’m not taking it from you. I’m requiring a conversation. I don’t believe in anyone having unchecked power like you have in your clan. Not you, not me either, but especially not you.”
I did not relish the idea of more conversations with Ander. But I thought of Tesa, carrying an enchantment that needed to be carved away, and of how arduous his terms would be if he knew I kept him from his ghost. “Agreed.”
He studied me for half a second longer than required. I’d agreed too quickly, and he distrusted any concession from me that wasn’t dressed in armor and spikes. But he moved on.
He had opinions on the fight. This was, in retrospect, predictable.
He wanted it in the arena when the winners of this Hunt were announced. He wanted raised voices and at least the threat of violence, though knowing him, he would relish the chance at actual blows.
“You approach me with your usual arrogance, even though Cara is mine. I establish the boundaries you tend to forget. We argue about Cara.”
“We’ve done that already,” I said.
“Fear, I’ve wanted to kick your ass for her sake even thoughwe’ve done that alreadyall week. I can sell it.”
“Fine,” I said, and then, “Try not to enjoy yourself.”
“I genuinely cannot help myself.”
“You both need to be careful.” Cara sat forward.
I was about to assure her that Ander would not be harmed much when she leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “If it looks like Fear has been diminished, that creates different problems. Mortals are excited because they believe I representtheir power, but if I am tied to Fear and he is no longer a myth, then some of that power ebbs.”
She looked at Ander. “If he leaves rather than let the fight escalate, it’s not a loss. It’s just Fear being his calculating, devious self. The queen will believe it, but it’s not a story that will catch fire.”
