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“I am a captain in this detachment, and the Vizier’s orders are law.”
“If you were in charge of a group of my men, I’d throw you to the pits and find one with half a fucking brain,” Khol says with a hiss that says he’s going to lose his temper soon. “Your stupid Vizier is letting you shoulder all the blame for this messsss. Look at him as he ssssstandssss ssssilent while you violate thingsss that will ssseeee you imprisoned or executed to fluff his own ego. My men know better than that ssshit.”
I chuckle, crossing my arms over my chest. “He’s telling the truth, and I don’t disagree with him. No one in my group would act so blindly when they’re being told how dangerous this situation is. And if they did? I’d kick their asses myself, royal or not.”
There’s a silence thick enough to drown in, broken only by the sizzle of distant torchlight and the slight creak of metal as the sentries fidget.
Finally, Revelin shrugs, his eyes dancing. “Sassypants is right. She’d give us all a good thump if we were as dim-witted as you, buddy. My crown isn’t impressive to her, either, but I’m cool with that. You? I’m going to remember you. When your royals ask me why my father is marching his armies across your border while practically jizzing himself in excitement, I’ll point at this douche and you with glee.”
How hot is that, even if I don’t want his dickwaffle father to march anyone or jizz anywhere.
“Let’s make this easy,” I say, fishing the parchment from my jacket and holding it up. “This is why you’re here, right? I’ve got the conveniently unguarded, smoking gun you wanted me to find. I don’t know if that’s Vizzy’s plan or it was sanctioned by the crown, but it’s what brought you down here.”
The Vizier gives me a smug look as he nods. “You’ve just confessed to breaking into court documents and stealing them. Now we have evidence, and you have nothing to refute it.”
“Oh, please,” Revelin interrupts. “If the damned thing is real, someone has been looking for her for a very long time. You’re not going to kill her; you would have ‘accidentally’ done that at the start. The scheme needs her alive, and whoever is running it won’t let you do a damn thing to Fiadh.”
“So this is less evidence, and more a threat?” I say as I hold it up and pretend like I’m going to rip it. “Leverage, one might say?”
Dezi puts his hand on my shoulder, and I feel his power emanating from him. “She’ll do it. Our witchling may not have known this information before, but she will happily live without it if she destroys the proof. Do not underestimate how little she cares about titles and riches.”
Vizzy’s lip curls up in disbelief. “You cannot believe that we will fall for that.”
“You need to,” I say, as I rip a tiny edge. “Because he’s right. I was ostracized and poor after my ‘parents’ died. They were lying to my sister and I, apparently, and we’ve been supporting ourselves ever since. I don’t need any of this, especially because all these assholes are stupidly wealthy on their own.”
The lead guard lunges for the paper as the Creepy Guy gasps, but Khol anticipates his move. He punches the guy hard, and energy in the room shifts when the jackass drops to the floor like a sack of grain. Hissing, he turns to the rest of the soldiers with flashing eyes to say, “I will happily turn every one of you to stone before you can lay one finger on her, and there is no punishment you can wave at me that will stop me.”
Revelin plants himself between me and the Vizier, his spine stiff and magic flared as he snarls, “She’s under my protection. You so much as touch her and I will tell my father it was an act of war. Think I’m joking? Have someone fly a raven to your borders and see if he has troops lined up there as if he’s already thinking about it anyways. He always does, trust me.”
That’s info I didn’t know, and I’m curious why he didn’t tell us that his dad is considering invading all the courts at the drop of a hat.
For a split second, the Vizier hesitates. The look on his face is not fear, but it’s close. He huffs, straightening as he barks a new order. “Take them to the interrogation rooms, but do not separate them. I will contact the other magicals and the royal family once we arrive.”
Tiernan uses the moment to step closer to the guards, not pulling his weapon, but letting the promise of violence hang between them like a loaded crossbow. “If even one of you defies that command, we will unleash everything we have on you. And I promise that if I shift, the entire security detail in my employ will come to my aid. I know they’ve crossed the gates to the castle by now.”
“Protocol is to search you all when we put you in the room. That cannot be circumvented.”
“Over my dead body,” says Khol, and I grin as a forked tongue flicks between his lips. “More accurately, over yours, I promise.”
Dezi’s teeth show, long and needle-fine as he also glares at the fuckers trying to intimidate us. “Not one of you is as old as me. You’re young for Fae, and the Vizier will allow me to drain you dry before he lifts a finger. There will be no touching.”
There’s a pause, and the remaining soldiers relent. The female sighs, shaking her head. “Agreed, but if you try to run or attack, all bargains are void.”
“We’re not going to run again,” I reply as I grab Revelin’s hand. “Unlike you, we have a grasp on strategy and the ability to think for ourselves.”
This is going to be a pain in the ass, and I don’t even know what these people want me from me yet.
Eight
KHOL
If there’s one thing Midnight Court does better than misery, it’s showmanship.
Of course they make us march—me, Dezi, Tiernan, Revelin, and our mate—through the back channels of the castle for all the staff to gawk at. Our escort is the Vizier, smiling in triumph, and his dumb-as-dogshit personal guards, which I guess isn’t unusual. At least, that’s what I gather based on the way people stare at us with either pity or smugness.
I bet a cool Benjy the King and Queen have no idea he does this at ‘their behest’.
Fiadh is beside me, her fists jammed in the pockets of her jacket with a jaw so clenched I hear her teeth creak. She’s planning; I can tell by the way her eyes flick to every vent, every fire sconce, and every uneven stone in the wall. Our mate is determined to find a way out of this that will not get us killed, and while I adore her for it, I think it’s probably a waste of energy.
