Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The halls of Orion’s castle are silent as I make my way towards a room farther down.
The faelight gems that are scattered across the ceiling like stars have been turned low, only giving off a soft white glow.
It’s enough to see by while still making it feel like I’m walking underneath a starry night sky rather than inside an elegant hallway.
I cast a glance over my shoulder. But only grand paintings of beautiful night skies with northern lights watch me as I sneak along the lush blue carpets. When I reach the intended room, I pause with my hand on the handle. I really hope I’m not about to get my throat slit.
Shoving down the handle, I pull open the door and stride into the dark bedroom beyond.
I only make it two steps across the threshold before something sharp is pressed against my throat. I freeze. Behind me, the door swings shut again with a soft thud.
Then white faelight fills the room as its occupant turns the gem in the swirling steel holder on the nightstand.
“Mabona’s tits, Selena,” Isera says while leveling an exasperated stare on me. “We’re supposed to be getting a few hours of sleep.”
Glancing down, I study the sharp shard of ice that is pressed against my throat before Isera flicks her wrist and dismisses it.
The coldness disappears from my skin as I look up to meet her gaze.
She is standing on the soft blue carpet in the middle of her elegant guest bedroom, wearing a very short silk nightgown.
Her long black hair falls down over her mostly bare shoulders, and she looks incredibly put together, despite the fact that the rumpled bedsheets announce that she was most likely sleeping when I broke into her room.
“I thought you were…” Trailing off, she shakes her head and then draws a hand through her smooth hair.
“Never mind.” Suspicion enters her silver and blue eyes as she looks me up and down, no doubt noting the fact that I’m dressed in my black fighting leathers and have a dagger strapped to my thigh. “What are you doing here?”
“I need your help,” I announce.
“With what?”
“I am getting Draven back.”
“We’re making a plan for that in just a few hours.”
“No. I am getting him back tonight.” Steel creeps into my voice.
“I am not leaving him at the mercy of that sadistic bitch for one second more than absolutely necessary, so I’m going to Hunter’s Marsh tonight.
I need you to help me threaten Grey into opening a portal and then stay with him to make sure that he keeps the portal open instead of running to Orion to rat me out. ”
She gives me an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“I don’t care.”
“Ryat will care.”
My heart squeezes painfully. “Draven hates me.”
“For now. Once you figure out how to fix your little magic problem and he returns to normal, he’s going to be furious with you. And with me for letting you endanger yourself like this.”
I forget how to breathe as my heart suddenly stutters. The absolute certainty in her voice when she said that sends a surge through me that makes me feel lightheaded. As if there is no doubt in her mind that I will somehow be able to remove the hateful magic in Draven’s chest.
Giving my head a quick shake, I push aside those dangerous thoughts and instead focus on the problem at hand. First, I need to get him back. Then, I can worry about everything else.
“You owe me,” I remind Isera.
She shifts her weight on the carpet but doesn’t say anything.
“During the Atonement Trials, I blocked out your fear so that you could get through that tunnel inside the maze,” I press on. “And in return, you said that you would owe me a favor.”
“Getting yourself killed is a stupid way to call in that favor.”
“I won’t get myself killed.”
“We’re going to make a plan for this in the morning. A proper plan, which we will all execute together. Can’t you just—”
“I am not leaving him alone with her!” I growl at her. “You know how vicious and cruel she is. I need to get him out.” Challenge drips from every word as I finish with, “You owe me, and I am calling in that favor right now.”
A soft snarl rips from her throat. “Ryat is going to kill me for this.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Shaking her head, she lets out something between an exasperated sigh and a huff of amusement. “If this is what it’s like from the other side, I’m starting to get why people are so pissed off at me all the time.”
In spite of everything, I smile.
She just heaves a resigned sigh and flicks her wrist. “Fine. Let’s go threaten Grey.”
To my surprise, she doesn’t even change clothes before leaving her room. She just walks out into the corridor barefoot and wearing only that tiny dark blue nightgown. Though I suppose that she is lethal enough even without any equipment.
When we reach the door to Grey’s room, I pull out a pair of lockpicks and start working on the lock. Next to me, Isera raises an eyebrow in surprise. I just shrug in reply.
After we assassinated that Wolfstalker guy when we first came to the Unseelie Court, I asked Draven to teach me how to pick locks.
So in the weeks while we played the Great Games, he did just that.
He was right that it’s a very useful skill to have when you need to assassinate someone.
Or simply get through a door without having to kick it down.
The lock clicks open.
Straightening again, I motion for Isera to enter first since she will be doing most of the threatening. She sweeps her hair back behind her shoulders and then pulls the door open silently. I follow her as she slips inside, and then I close the door softly behind me.
Grey’s bedroom is large and surprisingly luxurious. Though I suppose it makes sense given that people with portal magic are incredibly rare, which makes him invaluable to the Unseelie King.
The portal-wielder in question is lying on the left side of a large double bed.
White sheets are tangled around his legs in a way that makes it look like he kicked them off during the night.
He is only wearing a pair of underwear, and the clothes he wore earlier tonight are draped messily over a chair by the desk.
His mouth is slightly open and his chest rises and falls with steady breaths.
Isera strides up to the bed and positions herself right next to the edge. Then she summons a shard of ice, puts a hand on Grey’s bare chest to keep him down, and then unceremoniously places the shard against his throat.
His turquoise and yellow eyes snap open, and he tries to jerk upright. But Isera’s hand on his chest keeps him pressed down against the mattress, preventing him from accidentally slitting his own throat on the shard of ice. He struggles for a second. Then his gaze focuses on Isera.
“Oh, Malachi’s fucking balls,” he blurts out. “Not you.” His chest starts rising and falling faster while he stares at Isera with wide eyes. “He’s going to kill me for this.”
“We need a portal,” Isera simply announces.
“Alright, alright,” Grey presses out so fast that he almost stumbles over the words. Fear flickers in his eyes. “But please take your hand off my chest, and for God’s sake, put on some more clothes. If he finds out that I saw you like this, he’s going to carve my eyes out.”
For a fraction of a second, I swear I can see a smug smile ghost across Isera’s lips. But she does remove her hand from Grey’s chest and takes a step back.
He immediately scrambles out of bed. After dragging a panicked hand through his brown hair, he snatches his rumpled clothes off the chair and yanks them on while flicking his worried gaze between me and Isera.
“I need a portal to Hunter’s Marsh,” I say, locking eyes with him.
“Only His Majesty can grant permission to open portals,” Grey replies.
Isera smirks. “You can tell His Majesty that I forced you.”
“Oh, I plan to. But I still won’t open any portals without his permission.”
“Not a problem. Selena will just go and bring him here right now then.” She gives him a knowing look as she sits down on his bed and crosses her bare legs. “I’ll wait here.”
Panic pulses across his face.
“Selena?” Isera prompts.
I start towards the door.
“No, wait!” Grey calls, and lurches forward as if to stop me.
Both Isera and I pause and raise expectant eyebrows at him.
Indecision flashes across his face. For a moment, it looks as if he even considers opening a portal for himself to escape through.
But that would still leave Isera in his bedroom dressed like this, and we all know how Orion would react to that.
A frustrated noise escapes his throat. “Fine. I’ll open a portal to Hunter’s Marsh.” He shoots Isera a hard look. “But when I report this later, you were wearing proper clothes when you came in here and you never touched me. Agreed?”
Her eyes gleam with amusement, but she flicks her hand and says, “Agreed.”
Drawing in a steadying breath, he seems to compose himself again. Then he starts moving his hands in the air as he summons a portal. I check that my dagger is secure in its sheath while I watch that glittering blue rectangle rise up from the floor.
Once it’s in place, I can see a dark field through it.
“If you die over there, Ryat is going to try to kill me, which means that I will be forced to kill him,” Isera begins while giving me a pointed stare. “And you don’t want that, do you?”
I shoot her a flat stare back.
“So come back alive.” She flashes me a sharp smile. “Or things will start to get messy.”
I’m rapidly losing the ability to care about consequences, so I just give her a nod.
And then I step through the portal and into Hunter’s Marsh.