by C. A. McHugh
Aerrin motioned for him to come closer. “Why are you here? And where did you get those clothes?”
Raimel stood a bit straighter and smoothed the garment that hung off of his lanky frame. “You like it? Do you think I have what it takes to be a member of the court?”
“Only if no one sees that little scar of yours.”
He frowned. “You had to bring that up, didn’t you? And here I was to going to let you know that none of your messengers made it out of the city gates.”
Aerrin’s breath hitched, and he struggled to appear calm. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that a certain someone is very well informed. They picked off every single messenger, as well as a few members of the Royal Guard. Demons this time.”
Aerrin cursed. “How many?”
“I took down four, personally. I know there were probably more, but it seems they also got word that we were hunting them and have since left town.”
“What makes you think that?”
“No more funny feelings, if you know what I mean.”
“Do you have any of the amulets with you?”
“Demons don’t need to wear amulets,” he said sarcastically. “Besides, I was too busy trying to protect my own hide from the frightened citizens. You know, in case they decided to attack the person who just killed a demon in front of them.”
“There were witnesses?”
Raimel shrugged. “A few, but none of them saw the Lone Wolf.”
“Does he know you’re here now?”
“Yes. He wanted you to know about the messengers as soon as possible. He thinks someone on the Privy Council let the contents of the letter leak to our favorite sadist.”
Aerrin inhaled another sharp breath, this time making no effort to hide his panic. “He thinks someone on the Privy Council is in league with the Raven Bringer?”
“You said it, not me. Of course, he’s the overly suspicious sort, and there is no love lost between him and that collection of incompetents. My piece of advice would be, be careful who you talk to about this matter. Don’t let on that you know what’s happened tonight, and it might be easier to trap the culprit.”
“I’m the king, and I’m supposed to sit around and play dumb while one of my own people betrays me?”
“Pretty much.” Raimel looked out into the crowd. “What’s going on down there?”
“Who cares?” he replied with an added pinch of impatience. He had more important things to worry about than the silly exploits of nobles.
“It looks like Nyssa and Leandros are at it again.”
Aerrin followed his gaze and saw Seroney struggling to break them up. He started to rise to help her, but within a few seconds, it became clear she could handle it.
Raimel grinned. “She has more balls than me. Nyssa looked ready to stupefy him until Seroney got in the way.”
Both parties stormed out of the ballroom, while Seroney slipped out into the gardens.
“It certainly looks that way.” Aerrin slowly eased back in his throne, wondering what triggered the fight. “I just hope they’ll get it out of their systems soon and go back to being friends. I need their help.”
“Were you planning the next stage?”
“I was, but your information has just complicated matters.” Aerrin stared out into the crowd, wondering which one of them had betrayed him. “Seroney wanted to scout the room before I entered.”
“Which leads me to believe she suspected there was a traitor in our midst.”
“And what makes you the expert on such things?”
“I’ve been around longer than you, Aerrin, and I’ve learned a thing or two about backstabbing.” Raimel’s expression seemed to daze as he continued to watch the door she’d disappeared through.
The silence that followed only added to Aerrin’s unease. “What? Do you see something?”
Raimel blinked several times, his attention sharply focused on Aerrin again. “Not something we need to worry about, if that’s what you’re asking. Just something I want to check out.”
“Tell me.”
“Why add to your worries? Besides, this is probably nothing.”
Raimel was right, he supposed. He had other matters to worry about. He was about to ask Raimel what they should do next, but when he turned to speak to him, the lanky thief was gone.
In front of him, the members of court were enjoying the evening, unaware of the danger that lay outside the palace walls.
And completely unaware of the traitor in their midst.
Chapter 22
Raimel found Seroney sitting alone on a boulder in the garden. There was something strange and ethereal about her sitting under the light of the full moon. If he were an artist, he might paint her as the Green Lady, a name commonly given to the goddess, Mariliel. Everything about her reflected the vibrant hue, from the color of her eyes to the aura he glimpsed when he peered at her through the Shadow Realm.
He snickered at the thought. If she was a goddess, then he was in deep shit.
She cringed when she heard his footsteps. “Go away,” she ordered without looking in his direction.
“Fine, if you want to be that way.”
She turned and, after taking in his appearance, laughed. “Where did you get those clothes?”
“Do you like them?” he teased, modeling them like some trussed-up turkey. Between the rainbow of ribbons, the oversized gold buttons, and the frou-frou lace spilling out from every opening, he knew he looked ridiculous. “Do you think I’ll be the envy of the court?”
“No,” she replied, continuing to laugh. “They’re absolutely horrible.”
At least he’d won her over with his sense of humor. He scampered over and sat on the grass next the boulder. The first dew of the evening penetrated his clothes, cool and damp against his skin. “I got them off of Lord Searcy. He’s sleeping off an excess of wine at the moment.”
“He’s drunk?”
“Not exactly.” Raimel shifted and glanced around to make sure no one else was there. “More like I knocked him over the head with a wine cask.”
She laughed again.
He liked the sound of her laughing, and he didn’t mind if any of it was at his expense. Laughter made people lower their defenses, after all. And since he had learned she wasn’t who she was pretending to be, he wanted to discover as much as he could about her, especially when it came to that strange aura. Master Binnius had only hinted at her purpose in all this. He needed confirmation if he wanted to have any hope of convincing Ceryst she was on their side.
“Besides, I needed to borrow his clothes so I could at least look respectable here at the ball.”
“You could have chosen a better-dressed victim.”
He shrugged. “You make use of what you have. So, I saw your little incident with Aerrin’s friends in there.”
Her jaw tightened. “I was half-temped to reprimand them like children.”
“And they would have deserved it, too.”
She studied him, and his pulse quickened. Seroney was many things, but dumb wasn’t one of them. And since she knew enough about demons to be teaching Aerrin about him, he needed to be the one on guard. He focused on gazing at the moon, his legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back on his elbows and trying his best to appear relaxed.
She slid down the boulder and sat next to him on the grass.
He grinned at her as she arranged the skirt of her dress around her legs. “Be careful. I’d hate to see your dress stained from sitting on the ground.”
“It’s just a dress.” Once she’d smoothed everything out, she turned to him. “Why are you here?”
“Good question. Why are any of us here? What purpose do we serve the gods?”
“Not that. I mean, why are you here in the garden right now?”
“Aerrin hinted that you suspected there was an agent of the enemy in the ballroom, so I decided to compare lists with you.”
Her face hardened. “I didn’t have t
ime to form a list.”
“I figured as much. But I can confirm that Prince Altos is not on my list. It’s a well-known fact that he hates being the Prince Regent, so I’ve deduced that A) he wouldn’t have killed his brothers, and B) he can’t wait for Aerrin to make it to his eighteenth birthday so he can be relieved of his duties.”
“That’s pretty much what he told me.”
“Good to know we can agree that he’s not the Raven Bringer.” He laced his fingers behind his head and slid all the way down to the grass. “You don’t mind if I stay here for a while, do you?”
She shook her head, and he closed his eyes. She might have thought he was sleeping, but he used the ruse to get a closer look at her from the other realm. She appeared dark, like most mortals in the Shadow Realm, but the green halo seemed brighter than before.
He opened his eyes and caught her staring at him. “Yes?”
The blood rushed to her cheeks. “I thought I noticed something strange about you that day in the cave.”
His stomach flopped, and he rushed to find a way to deflect her. “Besides my rugged good looks?”
She snorted. Not the response he’d hoped for, but better than her continuing to dig at the truth.
“I suppose I was just seeing things,” she said as though she were trying to convince herself.
Or throw him off guard, judging by the way she continued to study him.
Time to find out what she suspected. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“I thought I saw something strange in your eyes.”
He laughed to cover his nerves. Shit! Maybe she does know. “And this coming from you. You have eyes like a cat.”
She stiffened, a reaction that did not get past him. Maybe there was a connection between the aura and her feline eyes. “You’re changing the subject,” she remarked.
“Perhaps I am, but since we’re talking about those remarkable eyes of yours, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you. I met this guy about sixteen years ago. About my height, blond hair, strange golden eyes like hawk, talking some strange language I’d never heard before. A total bastard, if you ask my opinion. Any chance he’s related to you?”
She narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like my father.”
“Oh, sorry about that.”
“Why?” Her brows rose in a polite sort of disdain. “I agree that he’s a bastard. How did you meet him?”
“He was in Master Binnius’s office one day. I don’t know all the details since he promptly ordered me to leave the moment I arrived.” He pulled one of the buttons off the jerkin and flipped it up in the air. “I’m used to be being asked to leave during important conversations like that.”
Seroney pulled her knees closer to her chest. The wind had picked up since he’d arrived.
Raimel removed the cape that hung around his shoulders and draped it around her own. His hands lingered on her arms. He’d always been a sucker for a pretty face, but judging by his attraction to her, she was downright dangerous. “I should leave you alone,” he said, even though he wanted to do anything but that.
Strangely—or thankfully—she didn’t nod her head. Instead, she continued to stare into his eyes. “Why?”
He had the oddest sensation in that moment that she might see him for what he really was. He’d always imagined that would scare the crap out of someone, yet the thought warmed him like a pint of strong ale. She was different than the others, and he didn’t need to peer into the Shadow Realm to see that.
He lowered his gaze, only to land on her lips. In a different time or a different place, he might have asked to taste them. But since she had to continue to make others believe she was a student at the Academy, he decided to play along. “You’re too young for me.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and he wondered if she would reveal the truth.
Then she suddenly turned and pried his hands away. “I am too young for you.”
Fine. They could play that game, but first, he wanted to see if he could get her to trust him enough to confess what he already knew. “I have a hard time believing you’re fifteen.”
“I’m not fifteen.”
Finally. The truth. And perhaps a chance to feel more at ease with his attraction toward her. “How old are you?”
A coy smile played upon her lips, but she continued to look at the grass. “Sixteen?”
The inflection in her voice made it sound like she was testing to see if he believed her.
He decided to call her on it. “Bullshit.”
She snapped her head up, giving him a glimpse of what he’d expected.
Fear.
Then anger flashed in those feline eyes of hers. “Just because I’m another year older doesn’t mean I’m old enough for you.”
He’d touched on a nerve, and he liked it. If he ruffled her feathers enough, maybe she’d let something else slip. He leaned back on his elbows again. “And how old do you think I am?”
“Thirty-one, thirty-two.” She grinned. “Forty.”
“You’re being cruel on purpose, aren’t you?”
She shook her head and then laughed.
The first of the king’s royal birthday fireworks exploded. An ironic symbol of joyous celebration over a city infested with demons. “I guess I’ve been around Ceryst too long. I’ve turned into an old man.”
“You’re not that old.”
“But I’m too old for you, is that it?”
Her chest shook with silent laughter, so at odds with the booming display overhead. “For the moment, yes.”
“For the moment?”
“I just want to make sure I can’t get anyone younger,” she teased.
“You’re just trying to make me feel better now.” And using my tactics against me.
Ceryst was right about her.
But it didn’t take the edge of the attraction he felt toward her. If anything, knowing she had a sneaky side to her made him like her even more.
He propped his head up under his arms. Time to try another tactic. “One day, you’ll have to entertain me with tales of Oudesta.”
“Maybe.” She pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders, her gaze focused on the sky. “How did you and Ceryst end up together?”
“You make it sound like we’re an old married couple. But if you must know, I saved him from being executed. He tolerates me for that. Sometimes I think he enjoys my company, although he’ll be the last to admit it. But we’re both outcasts in our own way, and we keep the other from being completely lonely.”
“How did you save him?”
“Blame Master Binnius for that. He asked me to sneak in and rescue him from the prison here in the palace. I got in, brought him a disguise, and we were able to get out of Dromore before anyone knew he was gone.”
“But why did he choose you to rescue him?”
A jolt of warning streaked down his spine. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was trying to get him to reveal his ancestry.
“Master Binnius and I have both seen the real Raven Bringer,” he replied, his voice taking in a steely edge, “and we both knew Ceryst was innocent. Innocent men should never be made scapegoats.”
“You’ve seen the Raven Bringer?”
“More than just seen him. We had a rather pleasant discussion over tea and crumpets before Aerrin’s parents were murdered.”
Seroney raised one brow. “Truthfully?”
“Truthfully? He wanted me to join him. I refused and took a nasty hit for it. I can show you the scars if you want.” He raised the hem of his jerkin, but she shook her head. “I managed to escape and went directly to Master Binnius. He and Master Eamon fixed me up. I figured I owed him a favor, so when he asked me to save Ceryst, I did. I just never realized I’d still be looking out for Ceryst fifteen years later.” He pulled another button off the jerkin and flicked it at a nearby tree.
“You mentioned that you were an outcast. Why?”
Still prying into his past. Time to throw her prior argument back i
n her face. “You’re too young to understand.”
She gnashed her teeth, and he grinned. Score a point for me.
“I might be able to understand,” she offered in her most sympathetic voice, “being a bit of an outcast myself.”
He stood and pulled another button from his jerkin. “You have no idea what it’s like to be me.”
She jumped to her feet. “Maybe I do.”
Back to playing games. “If you tell me your secrets, I’ll tell you mine.”
And for a fraction of a second, he thought he’d broken through that last barrier keeping him from the truth.
Or, judging by the way she was leaning into him, at least the barrier that would keep him from kissing her.
“He went that way,” a man cried out, shattering the moment.
Raimel cursed and peered around Seroney to see half a dozen members of the Royal Guard streaming into the garden.
“I want that thief dead,” the man continued to bark. A plain cloak covered him, but his bare feet and arrogant sneer proclaimed him to be the unfortunate lord who’d donated the clothes currently on Raimel’s back. “Look for a man wearing my colors and run him through.”
Seroney shook her head. “Got an escape plan?”
“Of course I do.” He searched for a getaway, but every path led to a guard. “I always have a plan.”
“Liar.” She took his hand and pulled him into a small alcove created by two trees and the palace wall. Once he was wedged inside, she moved in front of him. “Kiss me.”
“What?” He’d been so preoccupied by the heavy footsteps that were coming closer and closer that he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.
She gave him a frustrated growl before pressing her hands on his cheeks and lowering his lips to hers.
The initial shock wore off when he realized she was just using the kiss as a ruse.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take advantage of it. After all, she was the one who’d initiated the role-play, and if they wanted to fool the guards into thinking they were lovers, then he might as well do his best to make a convincing case.
He wound his arms around her waist, pulling her against him until their bodies molded together. Then he gave her a proper kiss.