Chapter 16
LYRAE
No, this wasn’t right, sympathizing with the enemy.
I was here to kill the prince, not commiserate with him.
He’d killed my soldiers. Declared war on Valarian. He was a threat I had to remove.
“You’re the Dark Prince?” My damn teeth just wouldn’t stop chattering.
“Kaden Rooke, at your service.” He offered me a mocking bow, too-long hair falling over his aristocratic face, a pair of thin silver cuffs glinting at his wrists before his sleeves fell down and hid them.
“The last of the esteemed Rooke bloodline, and master of this once-beautiful estate.”
Well, that was a bald-faced lie.
“My history might be rusty, but the Rooke bloodline died out a millennia ago when Carex Centaria took the Fae throne and wiped your ancestors from the history books during the First War for transgressions against the crown. That’s a known fact.”
“Well, he might have missed one, as you can clearly see.” He preened, before turning back to Ryland as if I was a minor problem he’d just dealt with and dismissed. “Tell me we don’t need her, and I’ll dump her under the ice with the rest of my enemy’s bones. Then we’ll get down to business.”
Panic shot through me like a bolt of lightning.
How poetic I’d had the very same plan for Varian and Ryland, and given how much tension charged the air, Rooke would have no problem following through. Flinging myself out of Ryland’s arms, I landed like a frozen fish on the floor, numbed fingers clawing at my boot to reach my knife.
But my fingers were worthless, and I’d never make it in time.
Rooke was already coming for me, dagger gripped in his hand, and I threw my hands up in front of my face, too exhausted to put up much of a defense, but determined to make this bastard work for every drop of blood.
A shadow fell over me, cutting off everything except for the sight of Ryland, legs braced apart, tattered cloak brushing the floor in front of me.
“Touch one fucking hair on her head and you’ll never touch anything else, Kaden.” The threat scraped up out of his throat as a feral, guttural rasp I’d never heard come out of his mouth before. “I’ve known Lyrae far longer than I’ve known you, and now is not the time to test my fucking loyalties.”
The Dark Prince stopped in his tracks, staring between us, that dark, brooding expression giving way to a knowing, wicked grin.
“Well, I suppose she must know where all the bones are buried, then, doesn’t she?
Shall I ask her about your dirty little secrets, Ryland? The ones you’d rather keep buried?”
“Lyrae is ours,” Ryland laid claim over me in a steady voice devoid of emotion, refusing to take the bait. “And we will protect her from every possible threat, even you.”
“Especially you. In fact,” Varian continued, in a tone matching Ryland’s, “test us, and you’ll find yourself on the outside, Rooke. Threaten her again, and I’ll bury you beneath the ice.”
Those words wound through me like a ribbon, wrapping like silk around my heart. Those words would have changed my life a hundred years ago. And with those words…a kind of restless wanting moved through me, at how much I wanted them to be true.
Too late, my heart whispered.
Too late for words to fix what is irrevocably broken.
“Come on, let’s get you closer to the fire before you go into shock.” Varian gripped my arms, shooting Kaden a warning glance as he coaxed me into the very chair the Dark Prince had just occupied, helping me bend my stiff legs enough to sit down.
Even though the heat skimmed off the surface of my wet, frozen skin, just being close to a crackling fire felt divine. “Give yourself a minute.” Varian crouched before me, briskly rubbing my hands between his calloused palms. “You’ll feel some shooting pain in your hands and feet as you warm up.”
“Did he break your nose?” We were close enough I saw the bruise forming beneath the smeared blood, a swell of anger rising as I shot Rooke a death glare. Varian was protecting me, but…I felt some ridiculous urge to protect him right back.
“Nah.” His golden eyes sparkled. “Princes are pussies. They don’t hit hard enough to break my bones, commander.
” Varian winked. “Don’t worry about me, concentrate on getting yourself warm.
Keep moving your fingers and toes to keep the blood circulating, and don’t stay in that position for too long or your muscles will stiffen up. ”
“Well, they seem cozy,” Kade observed loudly, and Ryland’s shoulders tightened even more.
“Why didn’t you just say she was an ally?
” With a flash of his fingers, the dagger disappeared into a pocket, his bloodthirsty expression smoothing out into something a bit less…
threatening. “Welcome to the team, love, here’s to a long and profitable partnership. ”
“I’m not your fucking partner,” I rasped, my throat raw from swallowing frozen lake water.
Possibly from screaming; it was all a blur.
“Ah, that’s what they all say in the beginning. Don’t worry, you’ll come around.” He looked between Ryland and Varian. “So? Have you found them?”
“We barely reached your island intact,” Ryland snapped. “That fucking ward nearly did us in, then the Grimbeasts showed up. With no magic, this realm is a deathtrap. Forgive us for not doing your bidding, your highness, but we were busy surviving.”
Found them? I squeezed my eyes shut.
How could I be so stupid? Cats didn’t change their stripes, and Ryland Storme would never change his ways. Same with Varian. Once a thief, always a thief. I should have listened to my instincts from the get-go, because they were never wrong.
“Found what?” I asked innocently, huddled in front of the fire, water still dripping down my face, cheeks raw and hurting.
The arrogant bastard waved his hand in the air.
“Something my family misplaced a very long time ago.” With his playboy smile and careless attitude, Kade was the epitome of dissolute royalty as he looked down his nose at us.
“Varian here has a rather unique skill, don’t you, Var?
This scoundrel can sniff out gold ten miles away. Never misses.”
“So…you’ve lost the Rooke family jewels?” I lifted a brow and dropped my eyes to his crotch. “I’m sorry to hear that. I suppose it’s a dire situation, you being the last Rooke and all.” Varian coughed like he was choking to death.
Rooke narrowed his eyes at the two of us. “Something like that.” How I wanted to rip that smug expression right off Rooke’s face and shove it down his fucking throat. How I wanted to go back in time to when I didn’t trust anyone for any reason.
Torin had been right.
I was seeing the number three, too, except it was these three assholes who were going to fuck up my plans and turn the next few days into a perfect nightmare.
And that’s if Kaden Fucking Rooke didn’t slit my throat while I slept.
Somehow though, even the threat of my impending death wasn’t enough to keep exhaustion from creeping up on me and stealing my consciousness. The firelight dimmed, then I jerked back awake, every aching muscle in my body tensing painfully.
“Do me a favor, Rooke. Get a fire going in my room,” Ryland said, while I tried to wrap my head around the fact Ryland had a fucking room here. “Lyrae needs sleep and then she needs to eat. But mostly, she needs to get these wet clothes off before shock turns into something worse.”
My mouth dropped open when Kaden actually obeyed, nodding and striding away without a word.
“I’m fine right here.” I wrapped my arms tighter around my middle, all my well-laid plans crumbling down around me.
I wasn’t in charge of this little reconnaissance mission any more than Anaria had hired Ryland and Varian to smuggle me past the border.
We’d been set up from the very beginning, though I couldn’t yet see why.
Obviously, Rooke wanted the Triune; obviously, Varian was supposed to find them for him.
But…if the Dark Prince of the Shadowlands had lost the Fae artifacts, then who, exactly, had them? Who erected the ward, and who killed my men?
“Of course you will. You’re always fine, aren’t you, Lyrae?” Ryland’s lips twitched into something not even close to a smile. “Spit it out, now that he’s gone. The question you’re dying to ask.”
“Why do you have a room here at Misthall?” I blinked up at him innocently. “Unless Rooke is running a hotel, after all?”
“The other question, Lyrae.” Ryland’s voice took on a keener edge as he leaned closer, caging me in with his hands braced on the arms of the chair. “You know, the one you really want the answer to.”
“Ry, leave her alone. She almost died. She’s been through enough tonight, don’t you think?” Varian argued quietly, dropping his pack beside my chair with an echoing thud. “Just…leave this until tomorrow when our heads are clear and our tempers aren’t so frayed.”
I tipped my head back until I stared Ryland straight in the eyes. “Is the Triune real, and do you lying bastards know where it is?”
Ryland’s lips curled in triumph, and Varian let out a long-suffering sigh. “Godsdamn it. I told you to leave this to tomorrow. Now we’ll never get any sleep.”
“Yes, the Triune is real, and no, I do not know where it is. But Varian will find them for us, won’t you, Var? And when we do, we’ll use those cursed artifacts to destroy Gravelock the Butcher and free our friend from this prison.”
I made a show of looking around. “Well, it’s a pretty nice prison.”
“Make no mistake, this place is a prison, Lyrae, no matter how pretty the decor. Once you’ve lost your freedom, you’ve lost everything that matters.”
The glint in his eyes grew harder, and before I could stop him, he swung me up out of the chair and tossed me over his shoulder. “You’re going to bed. Don’t even think about fighting me, or I swear to the gods, I’ll hogtie you.”