Chapter 25 Lennox
LENNOX
Declan was waiting outside the study when Luka and I finally exited hand in hand. I couldn’t stop the blush from rising to my cheeks at the sight of the harpy. I hoped he hadn’t been there long. And if he had—
“Have you been waiting long, Dec?” Luka smirked at his friend.
“Long enough,” the harpy muttered. “You’re lucky it was me who came looking for you and not Nico.”
Luka opened his mouth, but I quickly cut him off. I had no interest in furthering this conversation. “Did you find anything out about who sent the package?”
Declan turned his attention from my smug mate to me. “Whoever sent the package used a generic carrier. There was no trace of what court it came from. We most likely won’t be able to figure out who sent it, but I sent two guards to attempt to track down the trail anyway.”
“Worth a try,” I noted. “Thank you.”
Declan nodded. “There’s something else.” He produced a sealed letter from his pocket. “They were given instructions to deliver the package first, and after it was opened, deliver this letter.”
I grabbed it from his hand, quickly breaking the red wax seal.
Attention Lethenia:
It is with a heavy heart we announce the death of King Arlo Rossi of the Blood Court. He died early this week in his sleep. He was a beloved king and will be greatly missed.
With the late king’s unexpected death, he left the Blood Court without a named heir. Therefore, Lorenzo Rossi shall assume the Blood Court crown as the sole living relative of King Arlo Rossi.
Please join us as we mourn his death on the seventh day of this week at the twelfth bell.
“Bullshit,” Luka hissed over my shoulder. “Utter and complete fucking bullshit!” He grabbed the letter from my hand, scrubbing a hand over his chin as he read the letter again. “His head was severed from his fucking body! Where was he sleeping? On top of a spike?”
“Luka.” He ignored me, continuing to pace back and forth. “Luka, look at me.”
I grabbed his hand, forcing him to stop his movements. “Clearly, this is meant to upset you. To make you act out of anger and grief.” I looked at Declan. “This has Adreona written all over it.”
His wings twitched behind him. “You think so?”
“Yes, it’s payback for my escape. She and Lorenzo are buddy-buddy after all. She wants Luka to act irrationally. She wants something to use against us, to turn others against us like we’ve been doing to her.” I put my hands on my hips, steeling my shoulders.
“But we will not do any such thing.”
“What’s your plan?” A glimmer of hope broke through Luka’s eyes.
“We need to figure out what’s going on in the Blood Court, we need to know what else Adreona and Lorenzo have planned.”
Luka and Declan stared at me. “We’ll go to Arlo’s memorial. We will be calm and collected. Lorenzo and Adreona will be expecting us either not to come, or to show up with a crazy plan to take them down.”
“And we’re not going to do that?” Luka asked. “Go in with a crazy plan?”
“No. He was your grandfather, I am your wife. We will go to mourn his death. To show our respects peacefully and then we will leave.” My mind spun as my plan formed.
“While we are distracted at the funeral with Adreona and Lorenzo, Luce, Kara, and Nico will dig around and see what they can figure out.”
“Count me in, too.” We all turned, finding Zienna, Nico’s sister, strolling down the hallway. “I had a few loose ends to tie up at home, but I’m back now and at your disposal, Your Majesties.”
I gave Zienna a small smile. “Thank you, that will be great. Adreona doesn’t know you, it will be perfect.”
“And you still owe me lunch.” Zienna smirked, it reminded me of Nico. “You bailed on the last one.”
“Sorry, my sister got kidnapped, and then I gave myself up in her place and spent a month being tortured.”
“So you’re saying you owe me two lunches?”
I laughed. “I think you owe me lunch!”
Zienna pulled me into a hug. “I know we don’t know each other well, but I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks for being here, Zee,” Luka said as Zienna released me.
“Of course.” She pulled him into a hug. “I stayed away for too long.”
“Never again,” Luka said.
“Never again.”