Chapter 27 #2
She snorts. “You mean the eight Echos will.” She looks at the one holding her hand.
“So are you the main one? Did I actually get those ‘kills’ because the other ones are shit, or did you let me ‘kill’ you as a ploy to get my guard down? Nah,” she says, answering herself, “even if your clones only had a tenth of your skill, they went down way too easily. Fuck. Well played. But I’m not going to fall for it again.
” She looks at me at that last sentence, and there’s a promise there.
A certainty that she will get out of this.
I pull a knife.
She rolls her eyes, but I can sense the shift in her body.
Her fingers twitch down at her side as she prepares herself to go out fighting.
Knowing one of us has to be the bigger person, I force my anger down and step back.
Anyone who goes toe-to-toe with Evangeline has to be willing to lose their whole foot.
And their leg. And the rest of their body.
And I’m not. Because I’ve finally found something worth living for.
She studies me for a moment, our entire history in that look. Then she sighs and glances at the Echo in front of her.
I hesitate a bit before sheathing my knife and ordering them out. The eight of them move into the hall just in time to intercept the two dozen guards that have come running after the explosion.
“Leave us,” I tell the new arrivals.
Evangeline smiles at them and waves her broken hand at the elbow, her fingers crooked and bleeding from bits of bone sticking out of her flesh. Echo’s grip isn’t natural. But then, nothing of her is anymore.
Slowly, they back away, returning to their old positions as the Echoes stand guard in utter silence.
“You gotta admit my plan worked though,” Evangeline says as she hops over to the sofa, then sprawls down in front of it. “I eliminated a good chunk of your enemies, making the world safer for your wife.” She says those last two words mockingly.
“They were only paid hires. Their deaths mean nothing. And with your mother behind it, she can hire –”
“Petre isn’t behind it.” She snorts. “How dumb are you?”
“She saved Arienna.”
“It’s not her style.”
“Her style is winning. Like mother, like daughter.”
“Hey!” She jumps to her foot. “You take that back. I’m nothing like Petre.”
“You’re everything like her.” It’s a low blow and a lie, but I don’t care. I know it’ll piss her off and irritate her sleep, gnawing away at her thoughts. It’s the least she fucking deserves for spilling our location to thirty-odd assassins.
She scoffs. “Well, I guess she is winning the debates.”
The hel she is.
My eyes narrow, and we glare at each other. Neither one backing down.
But one of us has to, and I damn well know it’s not going to be Evangeline.
“Then why did you push Arienna out of the tree if not to test your mother’s loyalty?” I bite out, trying to carry the entire civility of this meeting on my shoulders.
“For fu–” She cuts herself off as she sits back down, and I relax a bit, knowing that she’s actually taking my warning seriously. “Because I wanted to see Tanya’s reaction.”
“She wasn’t anywhere near us.”
“But she was trying to be.”
My eyes narrow. Tanya is the biggest bitch in the Court. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was behind this, but there’s no way she’s acting alone. She knows how to play the game way too well.
“What other Dragons do you suspect?” I demand.
“Come on? You really have to ask? Obviously, it’s Coo and Chi.”
My jaw tics, but my warning glare doesn’t stop her from adding, “Something about those two just smells fishy, don’t you think?”
“Evangeline.”
She grins. “For real though. One of the sisters is in on it. I managed to trace the hit back to their family accounts.”
I shake my head. “That’s too sloppy. It’s a red herring.”
“No. It’s a double red herring. They want us to think they are being set up so we don’t think it’s them.”
“How do you know?”
“Like I said, something just smells –”
“I can’t charge them without evidence.”
“I can,” she says cheerfully as she brings her leg up on the sofa, knee bent.
“Then charge everyone in the Court, and let’s be done with this.”
“That’ll jumpstart the coup.”
Frustration hits me hard in the chest. “I thought the coup was being pushed by the Court?”
“It was, but it isn’t anymore. You’ve pissed a lot of people off over the years, Dickie. I told you you should’ve learned to smile more.”
I stare at her, trying to unravel all the new information. I shake my head. “The coup isn’t an issue. Only a fool would try anything before the elections.” Why risk their lives when they can vote me out?
“It’s a huge issue! Do you know how long the queue is going to be?”
“What queue?”
“The queue of people lining up to kill you once you’re not protected by the Royal Guard!”
“I thought you’d be pleased if someone killed me.”
“No. I want to kill you. No one else. Do you know how much work it’ll be for me to keep you safe until I have time to kill you myself? No, best to lure them all out before then”
I look at her dryly. “You could kill me now.” Even with one crushed hand, she can still bend magic with her other. And I know her well enough to suspect she’s learned to speak it too. It’s something only insane people do, and she’s the poster card for the insane.
She bares her teeth, the first flash of genuine emotion pushing through.
There’s no coy teasing. No ‘this is a game’.
It’s brutal coldness in her eyes. “I don’t have time right now because when I come for you, Dickie, you will suffer.
For days or weeks, that’s up to you. But you will give me the answers I want. ”
About what happened to Aurelia.
“I will tell you,” I say softly to her, truly meaning it, “if you keep my wife safe until she’s no longer queen.”
She blinks, and a slow smile curls my lips – not because I give a shit about this damn game of hers.
But because I know that it’ll hurt her more than her broken hand, and gods, do I want to hurt more than her fucking hand.
“That’s the second time you have been caught off-guard tonight, Evangeline. Looks like I’ve won this round.”
“Only because you cheated!”
As if you ever play by the rules.
I walk away though, refusing to engage. As I pass her prosthetic leg, I grab it off the floor.
“Hey!” she protests.
“Winner’s trophy.”
“Of one round. But I’m going to win it back.”
Not a fucking chance.
“Figure out which Court members are trying to kill me, Evangeline. Or I’m going to kill them all myself.”
“Including Petre?” she asks sweetly.
I don’t answer, knowing she’ll take that as a fucking win.