Page 105 of Reaper’s Curse

“You really don’t.” Chace shifted his attention to the castle. “So, what do you say? To the palace?”

“No.”

“Can’t stop me.” Chace took a step away from the wall, but before he could get any farther, Winter grabbed his arm.

“Can’t I?” Winter retorted.

Chace spun and slammed the prince to the wall. “I need to make sure she’s safe,” he seethed between clenched teeth.

Winter regarded him for a moment, then released a sigh. “There are no guarantees, even if you are glued to her hip every step of every day. The palace is not the place for you right now.”

A muscle in Chace’s jaw feathered. “And what if something like what happened today happens again?”

Winter’s responding smile was instant. He couldn’t help himself. His physical form became the winter wind, shifting around Chace in a cumulation of air and earthen particles.

He rematerialized at Chace’s back and shoved him to the wall in one swift move. “I will be there. And I am just as capable, if not more so, of handling any threat within the castle.”

Chace growled with clear discontent.

Winter leaned close to Chace’s ear and whispered, “Weren’t you supposed to be locating our favorite pub owner, Earl?”

“Found him.” Chace’s voice sounded terse and gravelly.

Winter released him and stepped back. “Where?”

Chace rubbed at his shoulder. “He was in the warehouse with all the others.”

Winter’s mouth popped open.

“Yeah,” Chace added. “Both curious and concerning, don’t you think?”

“I do think.” Winter’s brow furrowed. “And I believe we need to investigate this further.”

Voices carried their way, halting any further discussion, and both males burrowed deeper into the shadows, hiding from the passing guards. The men strolled past with leisurely strides.

When the guards were beyond sight and earshot, Chace pivoted toward the palace. Winter slammed his palm to Chace’s chest, halting him.

Chace shoved the prince’s hand away. “I need to get inside.”

Winter shoved his hands in his pockets and raised his magic around them, creating a barrier between them and the palace. “Maybe you do and maybe you don’t. But it won’t be tonight. Not when all the guards will be on alert, looking for you.”

Chace rolled his shoulders.

“You know I’m right,” Winter said. “At present, the best thing you can do for you and Raven is to investigate Earl’s situation and that of the others like him who were in the warehouse today. We will be better prepared if we understand the Crown’s intentions with regard to Raven and the afflicted.”

Moments, possibly minutes, ticked by.

Chace closed his eyes as his chest rose and fell. “Fine.”

“Then it is to the pub we now go.” Winter turned and led them from the palace grounds and into the citadel, Chace remaining quiet at the prince’s side.

They glided through the shadows, street after street.

“I still need to search the palace,” Chace said. “Raven told me a banshee is being held there somewhere. I need to see her.”

Winter startled. “A banshee? So that’s what she thinks it is. Curious.” He tossed Chace a questioning stare. “And why do you need to see this banshee?”

Chace rubbed the back of his neck. “To verify that it is a banshee and not something else.”