“They would be right,” I said flatly. With that, I moved to stand next to Finn again, using a language her and Laurie would understand. Regardless of Laurie’s speech about the value of hard proof, faeries were all about the unspoken statements. The insinuations. The power of suggestion.
In response, Lensa spun her own bloody sword, looking more like a twin to Laurie than Belanor ever could. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve, Lady Sworn,” the leather-clad warrior informed me. “I can keep the wolf hidden until it’s safe to find a Door. You’ll have a better chance of fighting your way out if you’re not taking on the entire Royal Guard at once. Do you want to escape, or not?”
I didn’t answer, because I’d already given her one. Lensa saw this in my face and opened her mouth again, her eyes bright with impatience. Finn’s voice floated through the tension between us. “I’ll go with you.”
I whirled on him. “Finn, that’s not—”
“You freed me from the Unseelie Court so I could make my own choices again,” he reminded me, his voice soft as ever. “This is what I choose. I’ll meet you at home.”
With that, my friend turned away. He nodded to Lensa, who nodded back, and the werewolf walked silently into the darkness. I watched him go, feeling the acrid rise of helplessness and guilt. Lensa murmured something to Laurie, and he said something back, equally hushed. Probably saying their goodbyes in the event something went terribly wrong.
My heart quickened as I wondered if we were making a fatal mistake. Fuck this, I thought. I took a single step forward and gathered breath to call after Finn.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Laurie caught hold of my arm and steered me in the opposite direction. “This way.”
“Get your hand off her,” I heard Gil snarl.
Consumed with worry for Finn, I couldn’t bring myself to care about their dick measuring. I twisted my head around, hoping for a last glimpse of the werewolf. Both he and Lensa were gone, leaving me, Gil, and Laurie alone in the hallway. Finn was right, anyway—I couldn’t force him to do what I wanted. I gritted my teeth and pulled out of Laurie’s grip, but I knew we didn’t have time for hysterics.
Laurie barely noticed. His attention was fully on the vampire on my other side.
“Calm yourself, newborn,” he said in a voice that contained every year he’d been the calculating king from his story. He didn’t bother speaking lower as he continued, “You should know, if it becomes clear that you’re a danger to her, I’ll put you down. Pretty bond or no.”
When Laurie mentioned the bond, my eyes narrowed at him. He ignored me and started moving. Gil stared at Laurie’s back, the edges of his face overly sharp again. I waved my hand to get his attention. “Hey, Gil? I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself. Especially when it comes to Laurie. You’ve got enough going on, so just focus on that, okay?”
The blond vampire frowned at me, and slowly, the preternatural intensity in his expression faded. He started blinking as if he’d stepped into a ray of sunlight. After another moment, he shook his head and let out a breath. “Thanks for pulling me out of it. Shit. I’ve been an addict for years, and I’ve never felt anything like this.”
Like what? I wanted to say, probably out of morbid curiosity.
Laurie hadn’t stopped, though, and he was nearly at the other end of the hallway now. Tucking my questions away for a better time, I hurried after him. Gil matched my pace effortlessly. His steps were almost as subtle as a faerie’s, but the sound of my heels echoed. Combined with the long shadows and snatches of music from the distant party, there was an eerie feel clinging to this place.
Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to get away. Away from those walls, away from Belanor, away from faeries altogether.
The three of us turned a corner, and I lifted my head to gauge the distance between us and the exit. I discovered that the way to freedom wasn’t beyond a pair of doors, but rather a huge stone archway. It loomed up ahead, getting bigger with every step. I was too wary to admire it, or anything else we rushed past. Every piece of furniture felt like a threat. What if Belanor sent his cherubim after me?
Voices began to penetrate the stillness, small bursts of sound that hit the quiet like a staple going through paper. I faltered, thinking it was the guards that were after us, but Laurie brushed the back of my hand with his. I looked at him sharply. As usual, he offered no explanation. I could only see his profile, which revealed nothing.
We kept walking, and something stopped me from glancing over my shoulder. I tugged my hood down again as it occurred to me that my face was streaked in a dead faerie’s blood.
The noise drew closer and closer, and it became apparent that multiple conversations were happening at once. I heard snatches of their words amidst the confused buzzing in my head. A feminine voice talked about an investment app. A deeper one soon cut in, saying, “I’m not giving you a single euro, Pink. No, don’t. I’m not falling for this again.”
In the next moment, we were overtaken by them. The conversations around us didn’t pause or fade. Gil walked closer to me so no one could come between us, but on my other side, Laurie still didn’t react. A male with orange hair started describing, in explicit detail, a cock he’d just sucked on the previous night. He was acting as if we weren’t here, I observed silently. Had Laurie used his abilities to hide us from sight?
“No time for introductions, I’m afraid,” he murmured, making me jump. “It looks like Morelli managed to get the Guardians at the front posted elsewhere, but there’s no way of knowing how long that’ll last now.”
Now that Morelli is dead. That was what he wasn’t saying.
We were in the final phase of Laurie’s plan, I realized. The archway waited ahead, and just as he’d claimed, I was about to walk out the front door, so to speak.
So these loud strangers must’ve been Laurie’s inner circle.
I felt such a rush of curiosity that I was powerless against it, and it swept me along in its tide. I counted the number of figures around us. All six wore cloaks identical to mine, but only two had their hoods up. The other four didn’t try to avoid notice—maybe they had less to lose if they were discovered helping me. Or maybe they’d just been at the party and it was perfectly acceptable to be seen leaving the palace.
Undeterred by hoods or the possibility of being caught staring, I studied the face of every person that had come at Laurie’s call, in spite of the potential risk. They didn’t seem nearly as interested in doing the same; their overlapping discussions continued and none of them looked my way.
“Not sure what all the fuss is about,” I heard someone mutter, pitching their voice too low for me to discern which direction it had come from. But I had no trouble hearing a snort of agreement to my right, coming from the lumberjack wannabe.
Old instincts leaped into my mouth, and I opened it to cut the speaker down. Something made me pause. After another moment, I swallowed the words down and kept studying the people that Laurie trusted most in the world, putting everything else from my mind.
From what I could tell, the group was evenly divided between males and females. The first male I’d noticed, of course, was the orange-haired, self-described cock sucker, who I suspected of making that remark about me a few seconds ago. Pointed ears peeked out between the vibrant strands of his mane.