Chapter 5 #2
This train of thought makes my head throb, but thankfully, Askari’s next question diverts our conversation. “What do you think that enforcer is really after?”
Me.
I rub my chest with my free hand, startled at the hope in that thought, but I don’t let it take root because no, she’s not after me.
She let go of the fate threads just as quickly as I did.
She told me she was here to fulfill a promise.
What that promise was, I have no idea, but I know it doesn’t involve me.
“You rejected her.” My beast doesn’t sound angry with me, but he doesn’t sound happy either.
I respond, “We did .”
After a second, he flops down in my mind. “Yeah. It was for the best.”
I realize I haven’t answered Askari’s question, so I say, “Who knows what that crazy enforcer is doing? It’ll be a miracle if she gets out without getting caught.”
Askari hums. “I don’t know, Alpha. She seemed pretty confident, and I’ll admit, she also seems capable enough to pull one over on Leonora. ”
I don’t look too deeply into why my purr gets louder as I say, “I’m surprised, Kar. You don’t impress easily. You almost sound like you like her.”
And I want him to like her.
He chuckles, the sound nearly as warm as his skin against mine. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
I catch myself smiling and force it away, steering the conversation away from Amri. “Is Leonora’s guest here yet?”
He sighs, his body slumping against mine as he says, “Yes. I felt her arrival right before I portaled here. But you know Leonora. She’ll keep her waiting and then saunter into the solarium with some smiling excuse.”
I ask, “Did you find out who’s coming?”
He puffs out a breath. “Someone named Circe.”
I search my memories for a time when someone with that name came to the palace, but I come up empty.
I don’t know what Leonora is planning, but I can guarantee it won’t be good.
Just by association with Leonora, Circe—whoever she is—is on my list of people not to trust, and that list is very, very long.
I nod in the darkness as I file away my thoughts.
Askari always keeps me well informed. He manages the palace and has for decades.
And he’s fucking good at his job, but years of dealing with Leonora has drained some of his spark.
With each passing year, I’ve seen his genuine smiles turn a little more hollow, and his easy manner fill with tension.
He hides it well, but I see him; I see him struggling under the pressure of trying to help me while taking care of everything and everyone else as well.
I nudge Askari, having to force my words out, because I really don’t want him to leave. “You should go before Leonora calls for you and finds you missing.”
“You’re right. ”
But he doesn’t move, and I don’t either.
We continue to sit in the dark, in the silence, pressing the sides of our bodies together through the cold bars of my cage, my hand wrapped tightly around his.
My beast curls into a ball, tucking his tail around his snout, knowing as soon as Askari leaves, we’ll be alone for who knows how long.
Caged. In the dark. So alone. It terrifies us, but if Askari suspected how much we don’t want him to go, he’d stay.
Of course he’d stay, even knowing the probable punishment, because he’s a damn good beta. Loyal. Brave. Smart.
Mine.
I slip into his mind. “Thank you, Askari.”
He rubs his cheek against my shoulder. “You’re welcome, Alpha. I just wish I could get you ou ? —”
“I know.”
There’s a short pause before he says, “We still have a few of the ingredients for a new key.”
I almost smile at the frustration in his voice, but I know what it cost him to use our only key on my brother’s collar instead of mine like we’d been planning to for months.
He goes on. “But the stamen of the Night-blooming Cereus.”
I frown. Yes. That is going to be a problem.
The Night-blooming Cereus, commonly called the Queen of the Night, only blooms once a year, and the stamens of the fragrant flower are a key component to make the key.
Askari was able to locate a cactus and transplant one here in the palace just before it bloomed.
Unfortunately, instead of the ten-plus blooms the plant usually puts out, only one emerged, and we used its stamens for our only key.
I try to inject optimism into my voice even though I’m feeling none. “Maybe try the Silver Thread Coven. If we’re lucky, they might have some preserved stamens we can buy from them. ”
He sighs, but nods with determination. “Maybe. I’ll work on contacting them as soon as I can.”
“As carefully as you can. They have helped my brothers so much, I will not dishonor them by bringing unnecessary danger to their door.”
His thumb continues to rub along the back of my hand as he says, “Yes, Alpha.”
“Malik.”
“Not until ? —”
“I know.” There’s a genuine smile in my voice, but before my hand starts trembling with my emotions, I let him go and scoot away from the bars. So cold.
I say out loud, “Go. And I’m serious. Be careful.”
He smiles at me, his expression radiant even in the darkness.
His fingers move in elegant patterns as he weaves the signs, his magic glowing gold as black pants and a tunic fall into place on his battered body.
He winks at me a moment before his white lion mask slips over his bruised face, and he says, “I’ll do my best, Alpha.
I can’t very well be your beta if I’m dead. ”
I know he’s joking, but … I growl. “That’s not funny, Kar.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. It was meant to be a promise. I will get you to claim me one of these days, Alpha, so I’ll do what I must to stay safe, and most importantly, alive until that day.”
I shake my head with a small grin. “You’re impossible.”
He just shrugs, slices a claw across the pad of his finger, and activates a portal. His posture straightens, his shoulders roll back, and though he’s limping, his stride is confident as he steps through and disappears.
I grip the bars, sudden fear making my stomach roil.
What if I never see him again? What if Leonora .
.? I shake off the terrifying thoughts, knowing they will drive me insane if I let them.
Instead, I turn my mind back to Amri. She’s such a delicious distraction, and here alone and in the dark, I allow myself to want something that can never be.