Chapter Nineteen
Fire in His Fingertips
The black obsidian throne was more daunting than I remembered. It sat atop a two-stepped dais with a backdrop of windows that showed nothing but a pitch-black night sky. However, the male who occupied that throne didn’t fill me with the same fear as before.
I smiled at Onyx as my men and I entered the throne room. A gesture he didn’t return. His expression remained neutral. Only the golden glows from the wall sconces and firelight filled the room, barely cutting through the cloak of shadows.
“You may sit.” Onyx motioned to a section of chairs that had been placed at the foot of the throne. “The others will join us shortly.”
“Was I right?” I asked. “Is it Draven and Reign?”
Onyx merely glanced at me. Said nothing.
Before I could choose a chair, Maddox encouraged me to sit in the one between him and Callum. Briar and Lake sat on Maddox’s other side. The knight trio chose to remain standing and took position against the wall at our back.
“Rowan isn’t with you?” Varys asked, surveying our group that was currently minus one. He stood on the step below the throne.
“Um.” I offered him a smile, this one peppered with a sudden spike of nerves. Rowan had vanished as soon as I told them the news about spies being detected outside the barrier. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
That “somewhere” being concealed in the shadows as he trailed Seraphina, Borus, and the two other warriors who’d left to bring the spies to the castle. It had been a long hour waiting for them to return.
“I admit I’m surprised you invited us to join you,” Briar told Onyx before glancing around the throne room with an awed look. It was his first time seeing it. “Seeing as to how we’re neither members of your council nor confidants.”
Onyx rested his hand near his mouth. Was it one of his tells? Briar adjusted his glasses when nervous or amped up about something. Maybe Onyx sat that way for the same reason—an action that helped ground him in some way.
“I invited you here because we’re…” Onyx lowered his hand to the arm of the throne. “Well, because this matter concerns all of you. Spies from Bremloc arriving at the barrier must mean they’re here for Evan.”
“You have my gratitude for allowing us here,” Maddox said.
Onyx nodded in acknowledgement but said nothing further.
Heavy steps and the clank of armor came from the outside corridor. There was a thud at the doors before they were pushed open, the hinges creaking in protest.
“My lord,” Borus said with a bow of his head, having entered first. Seraphina stepped in behind him. “We’ve brought the spies as you requested.”
“Bring them forward,” Onyx responded.
A waft of black cardamom tickled my nose before Quincy squeaked. I flipped around in my chair to see Rowan standing beside him. He had used the shadows along the wall to pop in.
“Use the door like a normal person,” Quincy said in a harsh whisper.
“Scaring you is more fun.” Rowan smirked, then trailed his gaze to me. Joy lit his topaz eyes, a kind of happiness that could only mean one thing.
He’d seen his brothers again.
Draven entered the throne room. Even while decked out in a black hood with half his face covered, I recognized him. His swagger and muscled build being the most notable signs. And his pecs. His clothes didn’t disguise those bad boys in the least.
I was up and out of my chair before I could think twice.
“Ev!” Callum called after me, just as Maddox growled my name.
But I was too excited. I ran over and threw my arms around Draven. Much to my relief, Seraphina and the other warriors didn’t stop me. They stepped aside and gave me more room to hug my big grouch of a spy.
“Boy,” Draven greeted me in his thick accent. He hadn’t returned my hug, but there was a softness in his pale blue eyes that made me think part of him wanted to.
“Is everything okay?” I pulled back from him, not wanting to make him too uncomfortable with my clinginess. “Guess you wouldn’t have come here unless something happened, right? But you’re in one piece and don’t look injured at all, so that’s good.”
He stared at me.
“Admit it. You missed me and my rambling mouth.”
More staring. His mask moved as he expelled a heavy breath.
“Can’t speak for him, but I sure did,” a different voice said.
Reign stepped toward me, a tad shorter than Draven and with multicolored eyes: one brown and the other blue.
Even with only his eyes showing, I knew he was smiling beneath his mask.
“And I’ll be quite sad if you don’t greet me with the same enthusiasm. ”
“Reign!” I hopped over and threw my arms around him in the same way I did to Draven.
He returned my hold, then slid his hands down my back. Moving suspiciously close to my ass.
The air stirred beside me, bringing a strong scent of leather and spice.
“Remove your hand,” Maddox growled, tugging me closer to his side, “before I remove it for you.”
Reign’s eyes crinkled as the smile beneath his mask, undoubtedly, widened, and he put both hands up, taking a small step back. “He’s just as delicious as I remember. I’d be a fool not to take advantage of the moment.”
“Do so again, and it’ll be your head, spy.”
“Both of you stop,” I grumbled. “This isn’t the time or place.”
Their attention moved to something behind me. Didn’t even have to look to know what had drawn their gaze. Onyx’s presence was palpable. The current in the air changed, causing hot tingles in my bloodstream.
“I must agree with the captain,” Onyx said in a silky tone, not far from my ear. The threatening undertone was unmistakable. “Touch him again and you’ll lose that hand.”
Holy crap. Possessive Onyx was as frightening as he was sexy. It also thrilled me that he was clearly okay with my men touching me, just not anyone else. Like maybe he felt the bond that connected him to them as well.
Who knew the thing to make him and Maddox agree on something would be their mutual dislike for Reign?
“Apologies, milord,” Reign said, still with a cocky set to his shoulders. “I was unaware he’d been claimed by you.”
“He has,” Onyx spat, then his eyes widened a fraction. He clearly hadn’t meant to say it. Regaining his composure, he tipped his chin. “You’re the one who can detect mana, yes?”
Reign nodded. “It’s how I found the entrance to your realm. I located the point where the particles were strongest.”
“Interesting.” Onyx turned and walked back toward his throne. “I suppose you aren’t entirely useless. For a lech.”
Draven looked at Reign, one brow lifting. There was a touch of humor in his blue eyes. “Perhaps I should do the speaking from now on.”
Reign sighed and gave an accepting nod. Poor guy. He was a total flirt but hadn’t meant any harm. It was just his personality. Now, he’d gotten himself placed on the demon lord’s shit list.
Rowan coughed from his place against the wall. The flirtatious spy shot him an eye roll. I wondered if they’d discussed his lecherous behavior before and warned it would get him in trouble one day.
Maddox led me back over to the others, and we sat. And then we waited.
Armed warriors stood guard at the entrance and along the walls. I recognized some of them now, unlike the last time I’d been in the throne room. The one with dark spiky hair had sparred with Callum. The two of them exchanged a nod.
“State your business here,” Onyx said, retaking his seat on the throne.
The spies stepped forward, stopping a short distance from the bottom step. Their main weapons had been taken, though I knew Draven kept several blades in his boot and strapped to his chest armor.
“First, allow me to say our loyalty lies with Bremloc,” Draven said, his Russian-like accent thick and pleasing to the ears. Even if his words weren’t so pleasing. I worried Onyx would take it as an insult. “We’re here because of the boy. He’s the one we answer to.”
Answer to? I sat up straighter in my chair, confused.
“Of course,” Onyx said. “He is your prince. Now. Get on with it.”
Prince. Right. I often forgot I was a royal. Third in line to the throne. Which was… well, insanity. I couldn’t walk without tripping. How could I rule a kingdom? The same could be said for my destiny as the Hallowed Saint too.
Hero, I was not.
Draven turned to me. “King Eidolon is dead.”
Shock flared in my chest.
“How?” Briar shifted forward in his seat. “When I tended to him the night of the ball, the poison had greatly weakened him but not to the point of death. He would’ve recovered with time.”
“Precisely why Prince Cedric arranged to have him executed in his sick bed,” Reign said. “He only had so much power while his father lived, even in his sickly state.”
Conflicting emotions surged in my heart. King Eidolon had betrayed my dad, but he’d always been kind to me. And while I had barely known him, he was still my uncle.
Maddox cupped my head and brought me to his chest, kissing the top of my hair. His touch helped soothe the ache in my heart and prevent the stinging in my eyes from progressing to full-blown tears.
“Prince Cedric announced to the kingdom that the king’s death was a result of him finally succumbing to the poison,” Draven said, and his accent thickened. “Which means you’re now wanted for his murder.”
Murder. A knot formed in my chest—and something burned white hot in the pit of my stomach. Ever since the ball, I’d held on to a shred of hope that I could someday return to Bremloc, clear my name, and return to the life I’d had with my men. The chances of that happening were slim to none now.
I could never go back.
“I’m afraid there’s more,” Reign added before looking at Maddox and the others. “Evan is no longer the only one with a bounty on his head. All of you are wanted for treason and are to be killed on sight.”
“Treason?” Maddox held his gaze. Little emotion crossed his face, but I caught the tensing of his shoulders.