CHAPTER ELEVEN #3
Mab addressed the others around the table.
“It’s quite simple, actually. This Beast is causing an uproar.
For so many years we have known peace and safety, and in a matter of weeks, a creature connected to this female”—her darting glance pierced me like a bug to a board—“threatens to destroy it. If the secret of Fallenkind is at risk of exposure, and Fortuna Sworn played a part, every detail very fucking well is our business.”
Mab talked about me without looking in my direction. I fought the urge to hold my armrests in a death grip and kept my hands loose in my lap. I breathed slowly and deeply, maintaining tight control over my heartbeat.
“What are we even suggesting here?” Alexander asked slowly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. “That Lady Sworn is … responsible for this animal, somehow? I know Nightmares are rare, Queen Mab, but I don’t think their abilities involve command over a psychotic shapeshifter.”
Mab gave the water nymph king a cool, speculative look, and there was another beat of silence in the room.
Then, dismissing Alexander completely, she turned her head toward Nan and said, “Your Majesty, I feel I should point out that I’m here to ensure the Order’s neutrality in today’s proceedings.
One of my colleagues has informed me that Lady Sworn was inadvertently responsible for a water nymph’s death at the last meeting of the Order.
How can his cousin possibly offer an unbiased perspective? ”
Nan’s expression was smooth and composed.
She appraised Mab with an acuity that was at odds with her young face, and I wondered how I hadn’t seen it at the black market the day we’d met.
After another moment, the Shapeshifter Queen turned toward me.
Nothing in her features had changed, but something made my stomach sink just before she said, “King Alexander and Lady Sworn, please step out of the room.”
Mab, one. Fortuna, zero, I thought grimly.
Now I was the one who refused to look in her direction.
I pushed my chair back and began to walk around the table, remembering my last conversation with the Wolf Queen.
That hadn’t just been a warning—it had been her final warning.
Since I hadn’t pushed Laurie away, not completely, Mab had obviously decided to take care of me herself.
And with just a few words, Laurie’s mother had taken out one of my allies. I might not have known Alexander would even be an ally, going into this, but now he was off the board. Panic fluttered in my throat. Would she keep picking them off one by one?
I stopped in the doorway, facing the table of powerful figures.
As I tried to think of something I could say, Honey appeared.
She put her hand on my elbow, and I jumped, startled by the contact.
The skin of her palm pressed against the bare skin of my arm.
In an instant, I realized it had been on purpose.
Honey was afraid for me, and she wanted me to know it.
“Allow me, my lady,” the envoy murmured. There was a warning in her kind, lined eyes.
I didn’t know this person, but something made me trust her.
I let Honey lead me away, and Alexander fell into step on my other side.
Honey released my arm quickly, as if she knew of my aversion to being touched.
She accompanied us back to the room I’d woken up in, stepping aside so Alexander and I could enter before her.
Just as she began to follow us, Honey went still. A frown hovered at the corners of her mouth. I’d seen that look on every supernatural creature’s face before—Honey had heard something. She bent into another swift bow and said, “Please excuse me.”
She stepped back, and the door closed with a hissing sound. I went over to the wall to examine the panel more closely. The screen was completely dark. It didn’t react even when I tapped it.
“How does this open?” I asked Alexander.
Instead of looking at the panel, he watched me with a fascinated expression. “It reads your handprint,” the water nymph said. “Well, my handprint, and Honey’s, and the rest of the Order members. Guests aren’t given security access like that.”
So I couldn’t leave this room without his help, I thought, ice forming in my veins. I really was a prisoner. The Order must’ve known, or at least suspected, that I was responsible for Oliver. They wouldn’t be treating me like this otherwise.
What would I do if the Order decided I was a liar, or too much of a liability?
“You’ll wear out the rug,” Alexander said from the daybed, startling me. I spun toward him again.
“What’s the worst-case scenario here?” I demanded. “What are they deciding right now?”
He opened his mouth to reply, but a commotion down the hall distracted both of us. Our heads turned toward the door. Alexander was frowning. “This room is soundproofed, but I swear I just heard—”
The door opened. Strange sounds echoed through the connected rooms as Alexander and I froze, uncertain what to do.
Then Lucifer appeared on the threshold.
Shock rocked through me. For an instant, I wondered if this was a dream.
The devil strolled in like he’d been invited, and the door closed automatically, cutting off the noise coming from behind him.
Lucifer halted before us. He wore a two-piece black suit that looked like Armani, and his skin was vibrant and golden, as if he’d spent his afternoon sunning on a yacht.
His bright, lion’s mane hair spilled over a crisp white shirt collar.
When our gazes met, Lucifer’s eyes crinkled at the corners, as if he was genuinely happy to see me. “Lady Sworn,” he said.
“Asshole,” I snarled. “What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s Honey?”
Lucifer made an amused sound. “I know you’re not fond of expressing gratitude, but regardless, you’re welcome.”
“Gratitude?” I repeated with an incredulous, sharp-edged laugh. “For what?”
The devil tilted his head. “Did you truly think that meeting was going to end in your favor?”
My nostrils flared. “It’s your fault I’m even in this situation!”
“Fortuna.”
Once again, the sound of Alexander’s voice made me blink. “Um, yes?”
He waited until my gaze darted over to him before he asked, his voice carefully bland, “Who is this?”
I had to give it to him, no one would guess how scared the water nymph king was.
The only reason I knew was because I could taste it, a subtle flavor that I couldn’t define.
I didn’t blame Alexander for being terrified—anyone, Fallen or human, would instantly fear the beautiful figure standing in the room with us, even if they didn’t know who he was.
The power coming off him was so strong, so crushing that it almost felt like gravity.
“This is Lucifer,” I told Alexander.
He made a sound, but all my focus was on the devil. I watched a shadow pass over his golden features. “You know that’s not my name, Fortuna. Why won’t you say it?” he murmured.
I looked him in the eye and said, “Because Heilel is dead to me.”
“Just a moment. Let me see if I’m understanding this correctly,” Alexander interjected. “You … were with him?”
I kept staring at Lucifer, who gazed calmly back. My voice was flat as I answered, “We broke up. Religious differences. He thought he was God, and I didn’t.”
Alexander was silent for a second. “Wow. I really didn’t stand a chance, did I?”
Lucifer’s focus finally shifted away from me. He looked at the water nymph as if he were an insect and he was thinking about stepping on him. I hurried to say, “I don’t need you to rescue me, Lucifer. If you want to impress me, then do what we discussed. Simple as that.”
“Say my name.”
I frowned, my eyebrows drawing together. “What?”
Lucifer moved closer, slowing when he saw me tense.
Alexander put a hand on the hilt of his sword.
But I didn’t move, and Alexander didn’t draw his weapon.
Lucifer dared to edge even closer, until his familiar scent drifted past my senses.
Once, it would have intoxicated me. Now I just tipped my head back and glared up at the devil, wishing I had my knives or my gun.
“Say my name, and perhaps I’ll consider it,” he challenged quietly, his hand rising toward my face. His fingers skimmed my jawline.
I imagined jamming a holy blade into his gut. “Get your hand off me,” I growled.
“You’ve said my name a thousand times,” Lucifer murmured, searching my gaze. “What is it that stops you now? Are you afraid?”
Before I could respond, a sword appeared between us. The glassy tip pressed into Lucifer’s lapel.
“I may not have a chance with her, but that’s never stopped me from trying before,” Alexander said. “Lady Sworn told you to remove your hand.”
Annoyance flashed in Lucifer’s eyes. “Do you think she’ll find it charming, your insistence on playing the white knight? A creature of her power, her caliber? You are a minnow and she is the kraken.”
My opinion of Alexander N?rg?rd went up a notch when he stood his ground.
Lucifer’s power filled every corner of the room now, crackling, teeth-grinding energy that was familiar and alien all at once.
Alexander must’ve felt it, but his hand didn’t waver.
He raised the hilt of his sword, poising the blade against the hollow of Lucifer’s throat.
“I won’t tell you again,” the water nymph king said.
Lucifer went still. He studied Alexander for another beat, and I was so terrified that I didn’t dare intervene.
I had visions of Lucifer striking like a snake and Alexander’s head flying.
But I took advantage of his attention being elsewhere, cautiously reaching for his mind.
Maybe I could solve all our problems by killing him right here, right now.
But Lucifer’s mind was a fortress. Just as I’d known it would be. It was guarded by walls, and thorns, and something that snarled. The darkness inside him was only broken apart by flashes of red, just like the skies of Hell.