CHAPTER 32
Katy
Y
ou are threatening me for Lord Ulrich?” Axel’s voice hardened, but his eyes were merely cautious, flicking between Katy and her cousin. Katy stood motionless, not sure what to do. She was supposed to be the hostage.
“Yes. Where are the cuffs?”
Axel’s eyebrows twitched. “The cuffs?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” Otto replied in his frigid voice. “You will turn over the magic-canceling cuffs so you can’t use them on him.”
“Kaspar, why would you think—”
Katy gasped as a spot of red appeared under the dagger. Axel winced before his eyes narrowed. “You’re out of line.”
“Actually, he’s perfectly in line with the compulsion I placed on him.”
The oily voice seeped into her ears from behind. Spinning, Katy saw Lord Ulrich approaching, a grin on his face. What was he talking about? Otto had the pipe; he couldn’t be placed under a compulsion. So he must have sensed the magic and was playing along. Right?
But his eyes were wrong. And Axel’s were starting to show a hint of fear.
Otto walked backward into the connecting corridor. Axel scrambled to keep his feet, but he raised an eyebrow at Lord Ulrich. “You must resort to magical means? Pity your employees’ loyalty is insufficient for this.”
Katy barely heard him. How would she act if she thought this were real? How did she keep both her husband and her cousin safe, preferably while bringing down their enemy?
“If he were truly my employee, it wouldn’t be necessary.
But if you want your loyal guard dog to stay undercover, you should hire a nanny.
” The traitorous nobleman scoffed. “I thought my new assistant looked familiar, but then his wife had a baby. He must have been tired and forgotten to dye his hair on schedule.”
By now, Lord Ulrich had passed Katy, and he sneered at her. “When his roots started to show, I put the pieces together. It was kind of you to send the perfect tool into my hands. No one else would have gotten close enough to pull it off.”
Katy’s heart pounded as she followed them into the corridor. She let her hand drift toward the dagger in the folds of her skirt. Axel had hidden weapons as well, but they were useless until Otto released him.
Which he would. Because he must be playing along to make Lord Ulrich think he was in control.
But his blue eyes were cloudy.
“Magical compulsions have limits,” she choked out. Otto needed to know so he would have an excuse to turn on the nobleman. “You’ll break him out of it if you force him too far.”
“Yes, but will he snap out of it before his hand twitches too far?” Lord Ulrich smirked. “He is much less devoted to the prince than he is to you. You’d better do as he says.”
“The cuffs.” Otto spoke without an ounce of concern. “Where are they?”
Axel clenched his jaw and glared at Lord Ulrich. “Don’t tell him, Katy.” But his eyes flicked back toward Otto, and his usual confidence was nowhere to be seen.
She felt her resistance crumble. Whatever Lord Ulrich wanted, it wasn’t worth the risk of Axel’s life. Besides, they had Otto. Didn’t they?
“The guards at the vault have them,” she admitted. “I don’t know which one.”
“Axel?” Otto prompted.
Axel’s eyes tried to tell Katy something, then flicked to Otto, something foreign in them. “The one you gave your pipe to,” he said, his voice quiet but strained.
The one he…gave his pipe to?
Her cousin pulled Axel toward one of the walls. “A wise choice. Now if you’ll walk ahead of us to the vault, Princess, and keep your hands off the dagger. We wouldn’t want any accidents.”
If Otto had given up the pipe, this wasn’t an act.
Drawing a shaky breath, Katy held her hands away from her sides so Otto could see that she wasn’t near a weapon. Once she was several arm lengths ahead of them, Otto dragged Axel after her.
She wanted to fight, but what could she do with Otto’s dagger at her husband’s throat? Depending on how Lord Ulrich had worked the compulsion, Otto might limit himself to the existing cut.
Or he might eliminate the threat before remembering that the “threat” was his friend.
“Otto, snap out of it,” she hissed over her shoulder. “You don’t want to do this.”
He ignored her, cloudy blue eyes staring past her.
“Eyes ahead, Princess,” Lord Ulrich smirked. “He already thinks the prince who forced you into marriage is a threat to you; you don’t want to convince him to take matters into his own hands.”
Anger flared through her, fanned by her fear for both her cousin and her husband, but she held her tongue and turned around. She didn’t want to trigger Otto’s protective instincts.
The two guards outside the vault came into view. They began to salute their princess until their eyes caught on her tails. They reached for their swords but hesitated, looking at Axel and then Katy for orders.
“You will set the magic-canceling cuffs on the floor and kick them away,” Lord Ulrich ordered. He grinned at the guards. “Then you will open the door and retreat to the end of the hallway.”
One of the guards stepped to the side, his eyes glazing over. The other held his ground, glancing at Otto before returning his gaze to Katy.
She scowled over her shoulder at Lord Ulrich, ignoring the slight shake of Axel’s head. She’d risked her firstborn’s safety so she could marry Axel; she didn’t plan to lose him for the sake of some trinket, no matter how valuable. “Do as he says.”
Chuckling, Lord Ulrich strode forward. “Fabian described you as practical, but I’m not sure I agree. You’re much too driven by your emotions, especially concerning those you care about.”
It was practical: protect the critical situation. A stolen item could be recovered later. A dead husband could not.
Besides, she wasn’t finished yet.
Lord Ulrich stopped next to the guard who had had the cuffs. Looking him up and down, the nobleman mused, “You must have an incredible will to resist my compulsion. I spent a long time pouring power into it; even the guard dog was subdued.” He cast a disdainful glance over his shoulder.
Realizing his mistake, the guard straightened and stared blankly ahead before moving to the side. Lord Ulrich continued to watch him suspiciously.
“Take yourself to the end of the hall. The other end,” he clarified when the guard took a step away from the walled-off section. The nobleman jabbed his finger at the other guard. “Come here and take charge of the princess; I don’t want her getting any ideas.”
The guard stepped forward and roughly grabbed her arm. It didn’t hurt, but she gave a little cry of pain anyway.
Her cousin blinked, eyes shifting away from Lord Ulrich.
Concentrating on the dagger at Axel’s neck, Katy let her fear color her voice. “What will you do with me? You wouldn’t—you wouldn’t hurt me, would you? When I’m with child?”
“That depends on you, Princess.” Lord Ulrich focused on the guard holding her. “Make sure she stays quiet.”
With that, he disappeared into the vault. Her captor hadn’t moved, but Katy struggled anyway, releasing a patently fake whimper. “Stop it. You’re hurting me!”
Otto’s eyes cleared further, his head tilting a little as he watched. Katy kept the smile from her face when the arm restraining her husband dropped a few inches. Axel raised an eyebrow, then carefully lowered his hands and began fiddling with his sleeves.
The clatter of falling metal objects came from the open vault door, followed by a muttered oath.
Katy peeked over her shoulder at the guard, wondering how far she could push him. She didn’t know how he would interpret Lord Ulrich’s orders.
“At last!” A call of triumph echoed into the hallway as Lord Ulrich strode out of the vault. “The legendary fire dragon.”
Looking away from her cousin, Katy saw a red stone dragon about the size of a fist in Lord Ulrich’s hand. It sparkled in the lamp light, but still – all this fuss for that?
“Now, I just need to test it.” The nobleman’s gaze passed over Otto and Axel before landing on Katy. Raising the dragon aloft, he smiled and said, “Burn!”
The smug satisfaction in his eyes didn’t bode well. Katy flinched away, but…
Nothing happened.
“Looks like you were told a fairy story,” Axel taunted lightly. “Don’t you know not to believe everything you hear?”
Lord Ulrich scowled as he focused on the prince. “Perhaps Fabian was right. Maybe I do need you.” Striding up to Axel, Lord Ulrich shoved the dragon at him. “Tell it to obey me!”
Axel blinked. “What?”
“You need incentive, do you?” Growling, the nobleman turned to the vault guard. “You’re up. Show the prince what he has to lose.”