CHAPTER THREE #5
“He didn’t attack you,” Alexander snarled, his overly bright eyes darting toward me. Collith and Laurie both went dangerously still.
Fuck, I thought. We’d had enough decapitations for one night. I opened my mouth to—
“King Laurelis is right,” Nan announced.
Alexander stared at the shapeshifter silently, as if he was considering something.
Another moment passed, the air practically vibrating with tension.
We were a room of predators on high alert.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Honey shift closer to our gathering, which confirmed that she was Fallen.
No human would risk getting in the middle of this.
After another moment, Alexander N?rg?rd relented. His face was turned from me, so I couldn’t see his expression as he slowly returned to his chair. The pressure in the air eased, and shoulders relaxed around the table. Guess the water nymph was smarter than he looked.
The kitsune’s Second wasn’t so smart.
“You’re going to let that Seelie scum get away with murder based on a technicality?” she demanded.
It took a moment for her name to come back to me—Yaeko.
The fox glared across the room at Laurie, her lip curling with hatred.
I expected him to waggle his fingers back at her, but Laurie just gazed back at Yaeko with a familiar gleam in his eyes.
It was the same way he’d looked at Ian O’Connell, once, shortly before Laurie had murdered him.
Oh yeah, I thought. There was definitely a history there.
The Shapeshifter Queen’s eyes narrowed at Yaeko. “Technicalities are the foundation this organization was built upon.”
Her power moved through the room again, and even I felt a whisper of wariness go down my spine. I definitely wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that look. Apparently Yaeko wasn’t a fan, either, because she didn’t speak again.
Another silence fell over the room.
“Perhaps the simplest solution is to stay the course, Your Majesty,” Wichonne murmured, tilting her gray head in deference. “If Lady Sworn and her companions intend to end the Beast, and they have proven to be capable of finding it, why not let them?”
The queen’s mouth was puckered in thought, her index finger tapping absently.
No one interrupted or pushed her. Not even when she said at last, her voice cold with warning, “You may continue your hunt for the Beast, but you are forbidden from interfering with the Order’s efforts.
If we find it first, we won’t hesitate to eliminate the creature.
King Laurelis, I will also grant you lenience for creating it in the first place.
You have been a longtime friend to this organization and we know your strength of character.
But if there’s another incident like this, I will not be so forgiving. ”
Laurie gave her a respectful nod. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
Dismissing the faerie king as if he were little more than a child, Nan’s piercing gaze moved around the table.
“While they act on behalf of this organization, King Laurelis, Lord Collith, and Lady Sworn are under my protection. Should harm come to them, any responsible parties will face the usual repercussions,” she said.
Viessa leaned forward. “They will be considered an enemy of the Unseelie Court, as well.”
Nuvian loved that—I could tell by the way his nostrils flared.
I tamped down the urge to grin at him, reminding myself that I’d agreed to play nice.
My eyes met Viessa’s, whose lips deepened ever-so-slightly at the corners as though she knew exactly what I was thinking.
Affection for the Unseelie Queen rushed through me.
It caused a tight sensation in my heart, as if someone had pinched it.
Nan stood from her chair and looked at each one of us, her fingers steepled atop the table. When her eyes met mine, the creature I saw within those depths was something very old and completely unafraid. I caught myself wondering how on earth any goblin had managed to capture her.
“This meeting of the Order is adjourned,” Nan said, cutting my thoughts short.
There was a collective shift in the room. The shapeshifter turned away and Anna immediately muttered something under her breath to her beta, who let out a chuckle. Whatever she’d said made the kitsunes stiffen with outrage.
I felt a tug of amusement, and I decided that I liked the Matron of Wolves.
My amusement faded instantly when Nan’s scent reached me.
As she passed, she gave a nod of acknowledgment.
It was so subtle that I almost missed it.
I understood exactly what that gesture meant—the Shapeshifter Queen considered her debt to me paid in full.
Not only had she saved our asses, but she’d staved off all my other enemies while I hunted down Oliver and fixed the mess I had made. I’d say that definitely made us even.
Nan didn’t head for the doorway. Instead, she slipped through one of the gaps in the table leading to that dark, unmoving pool at its center.
With a regal tilt to her head, Nan stepped into the water.
Then I blinked, and she was gone. Her dress floated on the surface while ripples spread toward the edges of the pool, the water disturbed by whatever had just plunged into the depths.
One of the uniformed attendants moved to retrieve the gown.
Although her expression revealed nothing, I detected the faintest tang of fear.
“What are the ‘usual repercussions’?” I asked Collith under my breath as we stood. The room filled with the low murmur of other conversations happening around us.
Laurie stopped beside me and offered his arm. “Oh, you know. Long, diabolical torture and a slow, agonizing death. No one wants Honey coming after them. Not even me,” he added.
My eyebrows shot up as we walked away from the table. “Honey?” I echoed. “The envoy?”
“I am the keeper, Lady Sworn.” Honey appeared in front of us, and I jumped. She’d moved so silently. She gave me a warm smile and added, “May I escort you to the elevator?”
The fact that she wanted us to get a head start, and also planned to walk with us every step of the way, hinted that maybe Collith really hadn’t been paranoid about the risks of coming here. Would the other members of the Order disobey Nan’s direct orders?
They were Fallen. Defiance was in our blood.
As Honey waited for an answer, my gaze fell upon Laurie’s hand, which hung limply at his side.
A quiet jolt of recognition went through me—I knew that stance.
Apparently Honey wasn’t the only one who thought we were in danger, because Laurie was getting ready to reach for a hidden dagger.
Honey might be good, but Laurie was better.
I would’ve bet money he’d managed to keep at least one weapon hidden when Honey conducted her search earlier.
Seeing him on edge made my pulse kick up a notch, and I realized if Alexander wanted revenge for his cousin’s death, or if the kitsunes acted on their vendetta against Laurie, now was the time to do it. Here where there were no guards or Courts behind us.
“We’d appreciate that,” I told Honey, keeping my voice low and steady.
She immediately led us toward the doorway.
Viessa and I nodded at each other in passing, but the Unseelie Queen didn’t try to stop us for chitchat.
She’d probably seen the danger before I had.
No one else attempted to say goodbye, or seemed to notice we were leaving.
An act, of course. They could hear every footstep we made, every word spoken.
But no one acknowledged our departure except the water nymph king; I felt his eyes on me as we retraced our steps through the three connected rooms.
Honey and Laurie made polite conversation along the way, but I was so eager to get out of Raas that I couldn’t focus on what they were saying. We reached the elevator, which was open and empty, as if it were beckoning us and urging, Get in. I didn’t even pause long enough to gather up my dress.
We’d just crossed the metal threshold when Alexander appeared—he must’ve followed us.
Honey touched the panel while he kept walking toward the elevator.
I recognized the look in his eyes all too well, and suddenly I knew he wasn’t thinking about his cousin or any sort of revenge.
Laurie must’ve seen it, too, because he made a sound of disdain beside me.
If I ever attended another meeting of the Order again, it would be too soon, I thought as the doors closed on the water nymph king’s face.
This time, Collith and Laurie stood with their backs to the water.
I did the same, but I couldn’t help glancing behind me.
My mind filled with a memory of the Leviathan, its wide jaws opening as it hurtled through the deep.
I remembered Nan stepping into that hole without hesitation.
What sort of creature had she become that she didn’t fear what else might be in here with us?
“Okay?” Laurie murmured, bumping my shoulder with his. I must’ve made some kind of noise or movement.
I gave him a quick, distracted smile and nodded, fighting the urge to look back again. “Okay,” I said.
But I could’ve sworn, just for a moment, that I’d seen the glint of eyes in the dark.