“I think so,” she said. “The parts I know are true, so the rest must be as well.”
“A splinter of ice in your heart?” Alasdair said, grimacing.
“She tricked you,” Hadrian said to Rania.
“Even more than I’d realized.” Her heart was in her eyes. “I saw the splinter of ice,” she told him, putting out her hand and tapping her palm with her fingertip. “I didn’t know what it was. It came out of my palm after we first met, after we...” She blushed as Hadrian grinned in recollection of what they’d been doing. “And then everything felt different.” She shrugged. “It was as if I could feel for the first time ever.”
“Not like that,” Sebastian said. “It was that. But you’re missing the most salient detail.”
They all turned to look at him, mystified.
He raised his hands in exasperation. “You were the wrong child. You weren’t the promised tithe.” Rania and Hadrian gasped simultaneously. “Maeve adores technicalities, especially when she can break a deal because of one. I would dearly love to witness the moment that she realizes she’s in your debt, for putting that splinter in your heart and compelling you to act against your will, with no justifiable cause on her part.”
“I didn’t enter Fae willingly,” Rania said slowly.
“You were seized, and enchanted,” Hadrian said. “Against your will.”
“Who would volunteer for such a fate? No, she was wrong.” Sebastian shook his head as he mused. “What would she owe you for such injustice?”
“You were in her thrall for a thousand years,” Hadrian said.
“Twelve assassinations,” Rania said.
“Not to mention a splinter of ice in your heart,” Alasdair reminded them.
“I’m thinking the breaking of the curse on your brothers would be a good start,” Hadrian said.
Rania lifted her wrist to display the red cord. “And the disappearance of this.”
“You dream too small,” Sebastian said, strolling toward the counter. Rania poured him a cup of coffee which he sipped tentatively. “Columbian,” he said and sipped again. “Better than I expected.”
It was clear that the vampire’s expectations were low, but Hadrian didn’t care. “You have a better idea?” he asked, suspecting that the vampire was waiting for the question.
“The complete annihilation of her kingdom,” Sebastian said with surprising bitterness. He looked up and his eyes shone with fury. “And the scattering of her miserable magick. I would see her helpless, for once and for all.”
“It probably won’t last,” Alasdair noted. “She’ll summon the magick again.”
“But the interval would be sweet while it lasted,” Sebastian said. “Perhaps even long enough for the Others to create a viable plan for their own survival.”
Hadrian and Rania exchanged a glance. “Can you get us into Fae today?” he asked her. “Without the Dark Queen knowing it?”
Rania nodded but Sebastian cleared his throat. “Your petty ambitions will be the end of me,” he murmured. “I would suggest that you consider the merit of making a more cohesive plan.” He gave Rania a scathing look. “I expect dragons to lunge in without a scheme, relying on brute force to get the job done, but had hoped for more from you. After all, you’re an assassin. You’re supposed to be stealthy and organized.”
“We’d have a better chance of success with a distraction,” Rania said. “That way, they can draw her ire while we destroy the armory and free my brothers.” She frowned. “But who would enter the Fae realm willingly?”
“Not me,” Alasdair said flatly.
“And how would anyone else get in?” she continued. “I can’t move an army: just taking you will max me out.”
“There’s a Fae court under a mound near here somewhere,” Alasdair said. “Your father used that portal to save your mother.”
“Centuries ago,” Balthasar said. “It’s probably under a shopping mall now.”
“The more important issue is who would distract the Fae,” Rania said. “If we can figure that out, we might see how to get them in.”
“You must know that there are many in Manhattan who would avenge themselves upon the Dark Queen for recent deaths,” Sebastian said.
“Others,” Alasdair said. “After those surprise attacks.”
“More than Others,” Sebastian reminded them. “The mates of the wolf shifters slaughtered in Alaska are keen to defend their children and have retribution for their losses.” He shook his head. “I would not want to face the wrath of those mortal women.”
“But they’re in Manhattan,” Hadrian protested. “And they still have to get into Fae. It’s not going to work. Rania and I will have to stage a sneak attack and hope for the best.”
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Murray sealed the portal at Bones,” Balthasar reminded them.
“I wish those Fae swords hadn’t melted away,” Hadrian said with frustration. “We could have sliced ourselves a portal between realms.”
Sebastian smiled slightly and sipped his coffee, apparently reassured.
Hadrian and Rania exchanged a glance.
“Do you know where we can get a Fae sword?” she asked Sebastian.
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Where?” Hadrian asked. It was annoying that every detail had to be drawn out of the vampire.
“I happen to have a Fae sword,” Sebastian replied. “And I don’t actually need it.”
The other four exchanged glances.
“I’m going to guess that you have a price,” Hadrian guessed.
“I do.” Sebastian put down his mug on the counter. “But it’s a wager I must make with Micah. If we come to terms, he can deliver the sword to Bones in time.”
“In time?” Alasdair asked.
“You should wait until the full moon to attack,” Sebastian said, his tone pedantic. “Everyone knows that’s the time to enter Fae, and that will be on Thursday, just four days from now.” He sighed and shook his head.
“We’ll have time to coordinate our attack,” Balthasar said.
“I wonder how Quinn is doing with those talons,” Alasdair said, pulling out his phone. “If the Pyr are armed, it will be better.”
“It takes time for you to melt the weapons,” Rania said to Hadrian. “Maybe you should enter Fae sooner to get started.”
Hadrian recalled her mother’s advice and wondered whether he could destroy the gem of the hoard, as well. That would really make a difference to Maeve’s power, but he didn’t even want to mention it aloud in the vampire’s presence. Could Sebastian really be trusted?
“A multi-prong attack,” Alasdair said, grabbing a piece of paper. “We need a plan.”
Hadrian had turned to study the vampire. “Why are you here?” he asked. “It seems unlikely that you just stopped by to help.”
Sebastian laughed. “A little out of character, you might say.”
“I would,” Hadrian agreed. “I think anyone would. You’re being helpful and that makes me wonder what you really want.”