I held back my smug smile as we followed. She sensed it, and her irritation spiked into frustration.
At the healers’ wing, surprise flashed across Sam’s face when he took Aspen in, just like last time. Did he also find it shocking I hadn’t killed him yet? Or was it the state of the pet’s injuries?
“We need you to heal him fast again. I imagine Lucille is hunting for him. Also, if you could provide him an alibi for his burning lungs, that’d be great.”
Sam’s eye twitched.
“Follow me,” he directed stiffly, leading the pet to a private room.
While he healed him, I quickly dropped by Alexei’s room.
He lay on his stomach, pillows tucked beneath his injured, bandaged wings, with open books everywhere. He also had a stack of inappropriate magazines near him, surprisingly unopened. He didn’t even look up as I walked in, all his focus on the worn leather book.
“Finding anything?” I asked.
He lifted his head and blinked as if coming back to reality.
“Not yet. But I asked Vanessa to spy for us. She agreed, then proceeded to stammer out that she kinda already had been.”
“She has?”
“Seems after the king didn’t take a few of her meals, she decided to use a servant passage to check on him.”
“That’s bold.”
The last two servants who dared use those passages ended up as ice sculptures the next day.
“Yeah, you’re telling me. She said she saw him grab a cloak and head for the servant passage. She ran before she got caught.”
I frowned. “Where would he be going that he couldn’t use his own door?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Told Vanessa to trail him next time.”
“You think that’s safe?”
“No. But she knows the risks, and she’s willing.”
I nodded.
“Ridigar’s infected. Targeted us in the Eternal Forest. I think he wants the pet dead.”
Alexei arched back in surprise, jostling his wings and wincing.
“Vendetta?”
“No. There’s something else going?—”
Rune sent me a sharp warning at the same time Lucille’s frustration and fear vanished, replaced by that lurking, vile force.
I luscelered out of Alexei’s room and toward the pet’s.
Lucille marched down the hall toward his door, Sam right on her heels.
Before she could even touch the doorknob, I snagged Lucille’s waist and shoved her against the wall. My hand immediately wrapped around her neck and held her jaw in place. She didn’t have time to blink, hide, or fight me.
I caught her and shoved my will into my eyes, forcing their inadequate bond into the dark hole it crawled out of.
The tension stringing her muscles tight eased as her head dropped back against the stone.
