The doors burst open. Laurie and I both spun. The air thickened with our power, tensed and ready like a sword. Gil must’ve been rocking in a corner somewhere, because he didn’t appear even after the bond lit up with my fear.
A purple-haired faerie stormed into the room. I could see pointed ears holding up what looked like a masquerade mask, and there was a distinctly feminine shape beneath the neck-to-shin armor. I noted that it wasn’t the armor of a Guardian, but rather something more suited to modern warfare. In typical fae flair, there were black wings adorning her broad shoulders.
The female slammed the door with her booted foot, breathing hard. I could tell from her bared teeth that her ragged breaths were from fury, not depletion. She reached up with one hand to yank her mask off, tossing it to the side. With her other hand, she held her stomach, and a steady stream of blood trickled between her fingers. When I saw that, I steeled myself to hear the thunder of Gil’s approach.
He still didn’t come out.
“There are at least seventeen ways that could have gone better. Literally. Like, I’m counting them right now,” the faerie snapped, glaring at the one beside me. Her glare was particularly ferocious because she wore thick eyeliner. She had the typical fae beauty. Her skin was creamy, her nose dotted with freckles that were more refined than Oliver’s, somehow.
“We were working with limited resources, Lensa. I don’t know who I can trust right now,” Laurie said testily. His eyes dipped to the wound at her gut. “That looks deep. If you need a healer, Maria is on her way.”
The remark made me blink, because it was a reminder of my own injury. Laurie’s fear still lingered in my veins, and the energy it provided had made me completely forget about why I’d needed to feed on him in the first place. I glanced down and noted the front of my shirt—or what remained of it—was now drenched in red. The marks from the lion’s claws ached, but it was nothing to the blazing agony I’d felt in that foul-smelling darkness.
“What I need are answers. Who is this and why did I just risk my life for her and a fucking werewolf?” The newcomer stared at me, and within seconds, her eyes hardened with recognition.“Fuck. You’re her, aren’t you? Are you kidding me, Laurelis? This is some real Helen of Troy shit. I can’t believe I fell for your lies again. ‘It’s an old friend,’ you told me. Now we’ve both broken the Law just so you can stick it to Sylvyre one more time.”
There was unveiled disgust in the faerie’s voice. How did she know who I was? Was this yet another person that could see my true face?
Laurie looked as though he wanted to sigh. “No Law was broken,” he said wearily. “Even if Lady Sworn hadn’t publicly denounced him, their mating bond has been dissolved. Not to mention that Collith Sylvyre doesn’t have the backing of the Unseelie Court anymore. This is why I don’t tell you anything—you start yelling, and I haven’t had any drinks today to dull my senses. Don’t you care at all that our dear brother was torturing her?”
“Not at the expense of starting a war,” Lensa snarled. This time, Laurie let out the faintest of sighs.
Now that I was finally able to get a word in edgewise, my first instinct was to respond with something sarcastic and biting… but I was already surrounded by enemies. For once, I swallowed the barbed words. “You’re his sister,” was all I said.
She scowled, and even if Laurie hadn’t given it away, I could see him in her features. They had the same high cheekbones and dramatic brows. “Don’t remind me. I didn’t get any say in the matter,” she countered.
I finally registered the rest of what she’d said. “Wait, you freed Finn? Where is he?”
Laurie made a sound of impatience, drawing our attention to him. But his gaze was fixed downward. “You’re bleeding on my rug, Lensa. And considering you’re here, I take it you were unable to procure us access to an exit?”
“That would be a negative,” she said through her teeth. “Oncith was on duty; there must’ve been a last-minute shift change. He caught us and cut the wolf down. The guards arrived before I could intervene, and my choice was to stay and get arrested, or run. I imagine the wolf is with the other prisoners by now. He was still alive, last I saw him.”
This last part she directed at me, probably sensing the urgent question rising to my lips. Laurie’s brow lowered, and for the first time since he’d come into my cell, he finally looked perturbed. “The tides are turning much quicker than I expected.”
“Any word on Belanor himself?” I asked Lensa, hating the taste of his name in my mouth.
Now it was her turn to frown. She hasn’t heard, I thought. The Royal Guard was keeping it quiet that I’d broken Belanor’s skull like a rotten pumpkin. If Lensa loved her brothers, and something told me she did, the purple-haired warrior probably wouldn’t react well to hearing of his murder. Suddenly I had one more reason to get out of this place.
Before Lensa could ask what I meant, Laurie faced us, and his mask was firmly back in place. “It’s time for plan B, I suppose.”
“What’s plan B?” I asked, my hands clenched into anxious fists.
“Later. For now, Lensa, you should change into a pretty gown and start roaming the halls. Be seen by as many courtiers as possible. You’ll need an alibi when Morelli is forced to investigate who helped the prisoner with her escape.”
“You just want to save your ridiculous rug,” his sister snapped. “Morelli is your Right Hand; he’d sooner cut his own off before he betrayed you. And what about your alibi? It’s already widely known that you have a… soft spot for the Unseelie Queen. If it becomes public knowledge that she was downstairs, and someone broke her out, fingers will start pointing in your direction. Were you careful about covering your tracks?”
“Let me worry about that.” Laurie looked at me, still frowning thoughtfully. “Did Belanor say anything about why he took you? The only information my spies were able to garner was that he’d declared you a prisoner of ‘utmost importance.’ None of the Guardians knew who you were or what your crime was.”
I opened my mouth at the same moment there was a knock at the door. The siblings both went still, and for an instant, a tense silence filled the suite. The blood in my veins sounded louder, more forceful, and I struggled to control my breathing.
“That’s my cue,” Lensa muttered. Laurie’s expression was resigned. I glanced between the two of them, aware that I was missing something. They weren’t acting like it was Belanor or the Royal Guard at the door, and I couldn’t sense any fear.
Without another word, Lensa strode toward the other end of the room. I frowned in confusion—there were no doors on that side, nothing but a fireplace and paneled walls—but then she pulled on one of those wooden panels. It cracked open soundlessly, and Lensa slipped through the narrow space, vanishing into the darkness beyond. There must’ve been a handle on the other side, because the panel moved back into place, looking for all the world like part of the wall again.
Once she was gone, I turned back to Laurie. He was already looking at me, and something about his expression made it seem as though he were on the verge of speaking. When he stayed silent, I raised my eyebrows expectantly. Laurie’s lips thinned. He shook his head, more to himself than me, I thought. “I’d hoped to avoid this,” he said.