She glared at her mate, especially as Ruhn chuckled, but said to Cormac, “I had no other choice.”
Shadows rippled around Cormac. “You could have let me know while you were plotting.”
“There was no plotting. Athalar and I decided, and then just waited.”
The Avallen Prince snarled low. Hunt let out a warning growl of his own. Tharion said nothing, though she knew the mer was monitoring every breath and word. But Cormac didn’t take his eyes from her. “Do you have any idea what the phone call with my father was like?”
“I’m assuming it was similar to the Autumn King telling me I’m a little bitch?”
Cormac shook his head. “Let’s be clear: I’m only here today because I’m well aware that if I’m not, then your brother will cease contacting Agent Daybright.”
“I’m flattered you know me so well,” Ruhn drawled, his arms crossed. He’d moved into a position on Cormac’s other side—without her even noticing. Placing himself between the Avallen Prince and Bryce. Oh please.
Cormac glowered at him, but then focused upon Bryce again. “I’m willing to move beyond this, on the condition that you don’t surprise me again. We have too many enemies as it is.”
“One,” she said, “don’t give me conditions. But two …” She made a show of examining her bare arms. “Nothing up my sleeves. No other secrets to hide, I swear.”
Except for that itsy-bitsy thing about Emile. Hunt gave her a dry look, as if to say, Liar, but she ignored him.
Cormac, however, did not. Catching that look, the Avallen Prince said, “There’s something else.”
“Nope.”
But even Ruhn now lifted his brows at her. Hunt said casually, “Don’t be paranoid.”
“You have something planned,” Cormac pressed. “For fuck’s sake, tell me.”
“I don’t have anything planned,” Bryce said, “other than figuring out this teleporting crap.”
One moment, Cormac was glancing between her and Hunt. The next, he’d vanished.
Only to reappear at Bryce’s back with a knife to her throat.
Bryce stiffened. “Come on, Cormac. There’s no need for this.” Lightning shone in Hunt’s eyes. Ruhn had drawn his gun. Tharion remained sprawled across the bench, but—that was a knife now gleaming in his hand. His focus was fixed on the Avallen Prince.
“Tell me,” Cormac snarled, and cool metal bit into her throat.
Trying not to breathe too deeply, Bryce laid a finger on the blade. “I made the Drop. I’ll survive.”
Cormac hissed at her ear. “Tell me what the fuck you have planned, or you’ll lose your head. Good luck growing that back.”
“You draw blood and you lose your head, too,” Hunt growled with lethal menace.
She could blind Cormac, she supposed. But would his shadows muffle the impact? She doubted he’d truly kill her, but if he tried … Hunt would definitely attack. Ruhn would, too.
And she’d have an even bigger mess on her hands.
So Bryce said, “Fine. It’s about Emile.”
Hunt started. So did Tharion as the mer said, “Bryce.”
Cormac didn’t remove the knife. “What about Emile?”
“I found him. At the Viper Queen’s warehouse.” She sighed loudly. “I learned he was there, that all the reptiles and gross things in the marshes had told her where he was and she’d gone to retrieve him. She was the one who killed the people who helped him, and intended to control him. But when I went to the warehouse two days ago, he was already gone.”
Cormac whirled her to face him with rough hands. “Gone where?”
“Somewhere safe. Apparently, the Vipe found it in herself to put him into the care of people who will look after him.”
“Who?” His face was white with rage. Tharion’s eyes had widened.
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Then I’ll make her tell me.”
Ruhn laughed. “No one makes the Viper Queen do anything.”
Into her mind, her brother said, Cormac might not know you well enough to tell when you’re lying, but I do.
It’s not a lie. Emile is safe.
He’s just not where you’re claiming.
Oh, he was with the Viper Queen. And now he’s somewhere else.
Cormac shook his head. “Why would the Viper Queen have any interest in that boy?”
“Because she likes to collect powerful beings to fight in her pits,” Hunt snarled. “Now put the fucking knife away.”
To her relief, the prince lowered the knife from her neck with an easy flip of the blade. “But why would she let go of someone so powerful, if she likes to use them in fights?”
Bryce said, “Because Emile has no powers.”
Are you shitting me? Ruhn asked.
Nope. Kid’s totally human.
Cormac’s eyes narrowed. “Sofie said—”
“She lied,” Bryce said.
Cormac’s shoulders slumped. “I need to find him. I shouldn’t have put off questioning Spetsos—”
“Emile is safe, and cared for,” Bryce interrupted, “and that’s all you need to know.”
“I owe it to Sofie—”
“You owe it to Sofie to keep Emile out of this rebellion. Your life is hardly what I’d call a stable environment. Let him stay hidden.”
Cormac said to Tharion, “What are you going to tell your queen?”
Tharion offered him a razor-sharp smile. “Absolutely nothing.” A threat of violence simmered beneath the words. If Cormac breathed anything to the mer, to the River Queen, the Avallen Prince would find himself in a watery grave.
Cormac sighed. And to her shock, he said, “I apologize for the knife.” To Hunt, he said, “And I apologize for threatening your mate.”
Ruhn asked, “Don’t I get an apology?” Cormac bristled, but Ruhn grinned.
Bryce caught Hunt watching her, his expression proud. Like she’d done something worthy. Had it been her smooth weaving of lies and truth?
“Apology accepted,” Bryce said, forcing herself to sound chipper. Steering away from the topic of Emile. “Now back to training.”
Cormac shrugged, pointing to the spots he’d taped off: X’s on the floor, atop chairs, atop piled mats, beneath a table.
Bryce groaned, but marked them, cataloged the path she’d take.
“Well, that was exciting,” Tharion announced, groaning as he got to his feet. “Right. I’m out.”
Hunt arched a brow. “Where to?”
“I’m still technically employed by the River Queen. Regardless of what happened with Emile, there are other matters to attend to.”
Bryce waved at him. But Ruhn said, “Dinner tonight?”
Tharion winked. “You got it.” Then he sauntered through the metal doors and was gone.
“All right, Athalar,” Bryce muttered when the mer had shut the doors. “Time to level up.”
Hunt laughed, but his lightning flared again. “Let’s do this, Your Highness.”
There was something in the way he said Your Highness that made her realize that the expression on his face a moment before hadn’t been pride in her manipulation—it had been pride in the way she’d defused things without violence. Like he thought she might actually deserve the title she now bore.