My eyes darted to his, away, and then back. “Oh...”
He wasn’t shifting all their contracts over to the Shadow Court after all?
I’d completely misjudged him.
While I was still processing this new information, reviewing everything I thought I’d known, Soren took a deep breath, and an emotion flashed across his face before he hid it with his careful mask. He tugged his vest to straighten it out and stepped back, finished with our dance. With me.
He glanced at where Caius and the others had been, and his voice came out stiff, the way he’d sounded when I’d first met him. “The prince is gone. I suppose now is as good a time as any to begin our search.”
REGRET BURNED IN mychest.
Whatever feelings he might’ve had for me before this, I’d ruined it. There was no way he still felt that way now.
But Soren was clearly unwilling to talk about it any further. He headed toward the nearest tunnel.
“Keep your expectations tempered,” he warned over the music and voices, refusing to look at me as he led us through the dark room. He’d tamped down all emotion, speaking in a flat tone as he added, “Cosmo often employs a staff of at least fifty. And his guest list is usually three or four times the number of his staff, if not more.”
If Cosmo’s home was aboveground, it’d qualify as a mansion for sure.
I told myself I could apologize later, when we weren’t surrounded by loud music and fae who shouldn’t be listening.
For the first time since my family had disappeared down that hole, I felt like I was close despite Soren’s warning. They could be right around the corner, even. “Where should we look?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He gestured toward a tunnel to another room, then headed that way. “Cosmo’s never allowed me in his home before. I doubt he would have today either if not for your prince.”
I cringed. “He’s notmyprince.” I really needed to find a way to apologize, but the mention of Caius made me glance back. Nowhere to be seen.
“All we can do is make our way through one room at a time,” Soren continued as if I hadn’t said anything, putting his hands into his pockets like we were taking a stroll instead of sneaking around a strange fae’s burrow.
We found a dark storage room for fae wine and a fae version of a toilet line, then took a spiral staircase that led down to a hallway.
I imagined the room full of fae we’d left behind. They’d be right above us. This ceiling held more glowing stalactites. I pictured heavy footsteps making them fall and reached out to grip Soren’s arm. “Should we be worried about a cave-in?”
“In some burrows, that’s a real concern, yes.” Soren’s eyes skimmed over where my hands lay on his arm, and I pulled back. He smoothed down the front of his vest. “Not Cosmo’s burrow though. He’s called the Stonemason for a reason. Every floor and room in here is reinforced.”
I blew out a breath. At least I could remove “getting squished” from my list of worries.
