“And what did you say to that?”
“I told her it must have been a lie formed in her mother’s court. I’m not a fool, Thiago. She believed me.”
Breath going shallow, I can’t stop my feet from creeping closer to the door ahead and that faint crack of light.
I trusted Thalia.
She won me over with a handful of smiles and a platter of bread and grapes. I should have known better. I’ve never let anyone get so close to me so quickly, but there was something about her that seemed instantly trustworthy.
Erlking’s balls, I’m an idiot.
It’s her voice. She told me the blasted tale herself. The saltkissed have the ability to lure anyone into a trap with their voices, even when you can see it coming. Perhaps there’s some magic left in her, something that makes her believable.
“Today was dangerous,” Thiago continues, sounding closer than I expected.
I freeze. He must be on the other side of the door.
“The Alliance queens couldn’t stop themselves from gloating about it. I know she’s starting to suspect something.” He sighs. “If I could just get her to trust me….”
“It will come,” Thalia tells him. “It always does. You’ll win her heart.”
“But will I do it in time?” he murmurs. “Today was a misstep. I can’t allow her near anyone else just yet. I could almost see her starting to put together the pieces, and the meeting cost me what little trust I’d managed to gain.”
“You can’t keep her locked away forever.”
“Not forever, no. Just until it’s… safe.”
“And yet, you can’t ignore Angharad,” Eris points out.
“This is the worst fucking time for that bitch to be making her move,” he snarls.
“I’m sure she consulted her oracle,” Finn says dryly. “Perhaps you should send her a letter requesting an extension of time. Five weeks please, Angharad, before you make your move. I just need to seduce a certain princess.”
“Perhaps we should send Angharad a knife and someone to plant it in her throat.” Eris’s voice suggests she’s thinking of doing the task herself.
“Tempting,” Thiago mutters, “but her sister queens might take exception to that and decide to focus their full attentions on us. We’re prepared for war, but not against the entire Unseelie horde.”
Invisible hands brush against my shins, an impatient little face forming near my feet. I almost forgot the demi-fey.
This way, it seems to tell me. The milk is this way.
I shake my head.
Thiago’s too close to the door. Any movement might alert him that I’m here.
“Fuck the princess,” Eris says. “It might solve all your problems.”
“Woo her,” Finn adds. “Fucking’s all well and good, but in my experience, the way to a woman’s heart is through soft kisses and gentle words.”
“Considering how empty your bed is,” Eris replies, “I’d hardly consider you the expert.”
“Ah, my dear,” he practically purrs, “you’re one to talk.”
“That’s why I have these,” she replies sweetly. I don’t need to see her to know she’s waggling her fingers. “I don’t need a man.”
“And I would love to prove you wrong,” Finn replies, “but I fear it might grow awkward if you were to fall in love with me.”
Eris snorts. “You overestimate your abilities.”
“Is it possible for you to focus?” someone else growls, and I suspect it’s Baylor. “Or are we going to have to separate the pair of you again?”
The demi-fey returns, pulling impatiently on my robe.
I promised it milk, and they’re remarkably persistent when you don’t fulfill your half of the bargain.
“Not now,” I breathe, pressing a finger to my lips.
Eyes narrowing, it bites me.
I hiss out a breath, lunging backwards. The demi-fey vanishes, but the damage is done.
“What was that?” Thalia demands.
Footsteps whisper over marble. I see a shadow pass over the floor, and take one step back just as Thiago jerks the door open.
Our eyes lock.
His flare wide in surprise before he freezes. "Your Highness."
I catch a glimpse of the others looking at me over his shoulder, but then my gaze returns to him, as it always seems to these days. It’s clear I’ve interrupted a war council of sorts, and my first instinct is to back away.
But that’s the princess who’s spent too many years watching doors shut in her face at her mother’s court.
And I’m so fucking tired of being kept in the dark.
"What's going on?" I demand.
“I thought you were in bed,” he replies, cool as mist.
“Clearly.”
“You should return.”
“There’s a lot of things I should be doing,” I retort, “but I have this terrible habit of not listening when I’m told to run along.”
“How much did you hear?”
I’m tempted to say everything, but if my mother taught me anything, it’s to never give the game away. “Something about empty beds. The words were a little muffled though, so you may have to repeat them.”
He glances over his shoulder, eyelashes brushing against his cheeks. The light behind him does marvelous things to his features, but I harden my heart.
The bastard’s been lying to me from the start.
He needs to seduce me, and I, fool that I am, fell for his sad story about his wife. I fell for his kiss. For his smile. For the way he allowed me to join his meeting today. It’s all been one big ruse.
Never again.
“What are you all doing up so late?”
“Plotting,” Thalia calls.
“We were discussing the meeting today and the result of it,” Baylor adds, and I catch a glimpse of him, one foot kicked up on the chair in front of him.
Instantly, my eyes dart away. I’m not yet ready to face those particular demons. “I shall leave you to it then.”
Thiago stares at me for a long, hot moment, then slowly pushes the door open wider and steps back, gesturing me into the room. "Join us. If you dare."
His smile burns me. I hadn’t realized how much he’d gotten under my skin, but that smile does things to me.
And he knows it.
I don't belong here.
This is Evernight. Not my own people. We have to be enemies, no matter how many silky smiles Thiago gives me.
I think that’s what bothers me the most. I’d started to like these people. I’d started to drop my guard, only to hear them plotting behind my back as though I am just a pawn in this war.
Well, it’s time to be more than a pawn.
My mother was right.
The prince can’t be trusted, but if he thinks I trust him….
"It's none of her concern," Eris bites out, and the words are enough to make me step inside the room like nothing else might have.
"E," Thalia snaps, pushing out of the fur-lined chair she was reclining in. The smile she gives me is far more welcoming, but I can’t help remembering her words. "Iskvien's more than welcome here."
Some sort of tension drifts between the two women. That same old silent argument I always feel I’ve just walked into.