Ryn’s life depends on me finding a way to get him out of this, and I’m still not one hundred percent sure exactly what this is. The spy question I was asked definitely tips the scales in that direction, but there’s still a chance this is somehow about something else. Maybe Treno found out about me and Ryn, and he’s not keen on sharing. Who the fuck knows, but I need to figure out how to play this...and fast.
Lazza’s eyes light up with interest at my admission, and Treno’s narrow.
“This is the Commander you introduced when I first met you. He’s also the person who choked me until I blacked out,” I add, and Lazza’s gaze dims with annoyance.
I try not to look over at Ryn, but it’s fucking hard. I can feel Pigeon’s agitation even through my barriers. That, mixed with my terror, is not a good combination. If I’m not careful, I could slip and give Pigeon control, and then she’d shift and try to fight her way out of here. I can’t let her get us all killed unless we have no other choice.
“So you were not aware that he was spying for the Hidden?” Lazza tries again.
This time Treno speaks up, and my heart speeds faster with hope. “Brother, that’s my mate you’re speaking to,” he warns, his voice just above a growl.
Lazza turns to Treno and studies him for a moment. “I have it on good authority that your mate is working with the Hidden. I warned you not to seal the bond until we knew more about her,” he snaps.
“You keep announcing that you have acquired all of this information on good authority, but I’ve yet to see any proof. You’ve beaten your Third in command, a male we’ve known since we were children, and now accuse my mate of being a spy. Stop this tantrum and show me the proof!” Treno bellows, and Lazza’s eyes narrow ever so slightly.
“Fine, brother, as you wish.” Lazza turns and looks behind me and once again drops his chin.
I sneak a quick glance at Ryn who’s holding his side and panting. Fuck. He probably has broken ribs and who knows what else. His nose is definitely broken, his eye is black and swollen shut, and the other eye looks like it will be the same way with one more hit. There are gashes and bruises all over him.
I stand there quietly, facing forward and terrified of who or what they’ll bring in next. I wonder if Treno can feel my fear or the bile working its way up my throat. Can he feel what I can now that we’re bonded? Does he know the truth that my mouth is denying but my body and emotions are confirming?
Pigeon hammers at my walls, something setting her off so completely that she’s lost it beyond all recognition. I’m shocked by the violence she uses to smash against me, demanding I give into her. I feel someone step up behind me, and I’m instantly terrified it’s Zeph. I feel a sharp blade suddenly being pressed against my throat, and the wielder of the dagger leans down until they’re close to my ear.
“Hello, highborn, we meet again.”
16
I don’t immediately recognize the voice, but the nickname and the smell are a dead fucking give away...Loa.
Rage incinerates every other emotion inside of me, and I seethe. Treno shoots up out of his throne and immediately starts yelling at his brother.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demands, trying to close the distance between us as quickly as possible, but the room is huge.
His throne is positioned at the head of the football-field-and-a-half-long space, and the guards only deposited me halfway between the doors and the thrones. Prisms dance in Treno’s hair from the crystal dome above us, and I’d think it was stunning if the psycho traitor bitch, Loa, didn’t have a knife to my fucking throat.
I force my face into a mask of fear and confusion. I don’t know what she’s playing at, but if this is Lazza’s source, it’s her word against mine.
“Who is this?” Treno demands. “Lazza, I’m warning you right now, order your pet to remove that knife from her throat!”
“Or what?” Lazza calls out. “Loa has more than proved to me the truth of her words. If you refuse to see it, that’s not my problem.”
He growls, stoppings mid-stride and rounding on Lazza. “You would make an enemy of me today, brother?” he asks on a snarl. “You would accuse my mate of betrayal, threaten her, provide no proof, as is required by our laws, to what end?” Treno demands.
Lazza studies his brother for a second and then huffs. “Lower your knife so my brother can stop thinking with his dick long enough to hear the truth,” Lazza orders.
Loa does as she’s told and steps to the side of me.
“Looks like you whored yourself out for protection here just like you did in the Eyrie,” she growls at me.
Treno and his brother start arguing. I wait until they’re both fully consumed with yelling at each other and then drop my voice so only the bitch next to me can hear it.
“If I recall correctly, Loa, I wasn’t the one in need of protection. Or did I imagine the Syta stepping in to save your worthless ass?”
She growls at me and turns.
“If you lay one hand on her, I will rip you apart very, very slowly,” Treno seethes, and Loa freezes.
“Enough!” Lazza booms, and his voice echoes around the room. “It’s time Treno sees the truth.”
“Yes, Syta,” she chirps.
With that, Loa reaches behind her and threads her fingers through the long black hair at the back of her head. She fumbles with something for a second and then pulls out what looks like a bobby pin with gnarly looking teeth. She throws it on the ground, and it goes skidding toward Treno’s feet. It stops about a yard away, and we all just stare at it. I wait to see if it’s magically going to morph into video surveillance of me with the Hidden, or maybe it’s some kind of voice recording device.
Nothing happens.
Lazza starts to speak, and the hair on the back of my neck and arms stands up. My head snaps in his direction, and fear runs a cold finger up my spine. He’s spewing out power words. I recognize the cadence of them immediately, and they wrap themselves around me like old friends to then run off to do whatever it is Lazza is telling them to do. I can practically see the magic pour out of his mouth and slither toward the clip Loa threw on the floor.
A black jewel glints in the light on one end of it as the magic wraps around the object. The jewel starts to smoke, and then all of a sudden like it was made of gun powder, there’s a pop and then it turns to ash. I’m still confused by what any of this means, but Loa gives a weird groan, and it pulls me from the whirlwind of questions circling through me.
I look over to find that Loa’s face looks wrong. I watch as slowly she morphs from a massive broad-shouldered female, with straight black hair, into a slightly more delicate female with light brown hair and gray eyes.
She looks triumphant as the magic in the room dissipates and the hair pin crumbles into dust on the ground. Treno squints at the revealed visage like he’s trying to put it all together.
“Raquel?” he asks hesitantly, his tone bewildered like he can’t believe his eyes.
Loa laughs and offers him a wide half-crazed smile that has Pigeon renewing her assault at my defenses.
“How?” Treno demands. “You’re dead.”