by Emma Alisyn
“Prince Geza is not in charge of security.”
“Where is he?” Rhina asked.
They looked at her.
“If it becomes known certain procedures were not properly followed, fail-safes will be put into motion.”
Niko’s eyes narrowed, demeanor changing. He whirled, comm at his mouth as he snarled into the unit.
“There were no specific timelines,” Rhina said. “So, you have time to prepare. No one would yet know the procedure had failed.”
Bea sighed. “This is going to be interesting.”
16
She stayed in the office, and a new female ‘employee’ who happened to also be wearing the uniform of a trainee guard–what did they think a trainee was going to do against her?–took one of the desks in the office. Someone had quit a few days ago, and staffing had yet to fill the position. It amazed Rhina how much clerical labor was required to run the complex, but then, with the addition of the Prince’s little matchmaking hobby, the extra help made sense. Especially, since they were now processing an influx of applications to the female branch of the warrior-training program.
Which reminded Rhina, they were going about that all wrong. She waited until the Prince returned, Niko hot on his heels.
“In,” the head guard snarled in her direction, jerking his head toward Geza’s office.
She didn’t like his tone, but rose and followed, human demeanor firmly in place.
“Yes, sir?” she asked politely when the door slid closed behind her.
Niko turned on her. “You said there are other assassins in place.”
Not quite what she’d said—she’d made a subtle inference. Rhina responded impassively. “It’s highly likely.”
The decision to cooperate was already made when she had not attacked the Prince on his brother’s tower and forced them to kill her. The reason she’d made that decision was still up in the air. Rhina didn’t fully understand her own motivations and hadn’t really had time to process through the tangled skeins of emotion, memory, decades-long conditioning . . . or her own needs and wants for her life.
This was the first time she’d begun to realize she could have needs and wants for her life. Though that was probably premature. Geza could still have her executed any time he chose. That he was keeping her alive was only an indication of his realization that, currently, she was the best inroad they had into Mogren plans.
She ignored the kiss, pushed it out of her mind. Ignored their mad play in the sky, the brilliant freedom of wind and flight and a warrior at her side who could handle her strength.
They’d be pissed when they realized she didn’t know much more than they did, besides her personal speculations. Would they kill her when they realized she was not useful to them?
Fingers snapped in her face. She blinked, but didn’t jump, and focused again on Sir Nikolau.
“I need you to pay very close attention to me,” he said, cold and precise. “You live as long as your existence remains more valuable to us than your demise.”
“I expected nothing less. However, you’ve made a tactical error.”
“Really.”
She smiled a little at the flat tone of voice. It was all in his face, the desire to tear out her throat. Her respect for Bea went up just a bit. There had to be more to the human woman than met the eye if she was able to handle a warrior with such strong murderous instincts. There is no way he’d be able to keep his true self sheathed all the time.
“You believe I have a desire to live. I don’t. My life isn’t precious to me.”
“I see.” He leaned back a bit, studying her, and then in a completely unexpected moment, talons flashed towards her face, the first move in a series of attacks.
She countered immediately, mind shifting automatically into the cold, analytical place it went when assessing the strategy of an opponent and how best to defeat him.
“Enough!” Geza roared.
Rhina disengaged from a counter-offensive, giving Niko a bare split-second to decide if he was going to comply, then moving into a corner of the offices as far from Niko as possible.
“You fight like someone who wants to live,” Niko said. “So, I call bullshit.”
Now, she was angry, his admitted attempt to manipulate her shook Rhina out of some of her apathy. “You’re stupid. I didn’t say I was suicidal. I said you can’t use the threat of death over my head to make me comply with your demands.”
“I said enough.” Geza stepped in front of Niko, facing Rhina, expression hard. “I won’t have my decisions questioned—by either of you. Niko, unless I say otherwise, you will extend her the same respect you would an honorably-captured, enemy warrior. Moghrenna—”
“Rhina.”
His eyes narrowed. “That isn’t your name.”
“It wouldn’t be wise to get in the habit of using my name. Especially since I don’t know who may be listening.”
“That's exactly what we need to be talking about,” Niko snapped.
Geza’s shoulders stiffened, and he turned. Rhina wondered what his expression looked like, because Niko shut up, face smoothing into a mask. After a long moment, the Prince again faced Rhina. She almost felt sorry for him. Geza Ioveanu, caught between a rock and another rock, was going to have to learn fast to exert his will. From her weeks of observation, she’d come to understand that his people obeyed him from loyalty, tradition, and because they liked him even . . . plus, his personal estate paid their salaries, rather than the revenues generated by the clan taxes. It was a peculiarity of the Ioveanus—they liked their guards to be dependent on them personally as another layer of protection, which was an incentive for each Prince to maintain the wealth of his household and not squander it away.
Geza hadn’t learned his elder brother’s hard, aggressive command, however. He hadn’t had to because there were no issues his people had pushed back on in his tenure. She knew that, for whatever reason, she was becoming the issue he would cut his baby fangs on. His people wanted her dead, he didn’t.
He was going to have a fight on his hands. Which meant they would all learn just how badly he wanted to keep her alive. And why.
She needed time to consider the reasons behind his actions, but for now, she set the puzzle aside to focus on Geza as he continued speaking.
“Do I have your attention, now?” the Prince asked icily.
“Yes.”
“Thank you. My guard will not harass you while you are here. I’ve made it known you are under my personal protection.”
That made no sense. Glancing at Niko, who’d stepped slightly to the side, so she was again in his line of vision, she asked, “Does Prince Malin know about this?”
A low rumble began in Geza’s chest. His talons extended and retracted, eyes brightening as he visibly struggled to rein in his temper.
“I’m not questioning your decision making,” she said, understanding the reason for his ire. “If you have his support, it’s likely the guard will take it as tacit permission to attempt my assassination, regardless. You’ll have to have him publicly acquiesce to your command if you want to keep me alive.”
“She’s right,” Niko bit off. “ But it’s not necessary. If I’m forced to obey this wish, then everyone else damn well will obey. I will ensure it, myself.”
Rhina understood, then, the key to handling Niko, and couldn’t stop a pleased smile from spreading across her face. Sir Nikolau might question his Prince in private, but in front of those he considered his inferiors, his loyalty and obedience would be seen as flawless. His dignity would suffer nothing less.
“I’ll still speak with Prince Malin,” Niko said.
“No,” Geza said. “I’ll handle my brother. I don’t need you two plotting behind my back. Three. Shit, four if you throw in Bea.” He grimaced. “I fucking rule by family committee.”
“It’s not a weakness,” Rhina said, surprising them all. “It’s not very Ioveanu, but it isn’t necessarily a weakness. Your family is seen as
a shield around you, and because the Mogren finally accepted they could not turn you against one another, word spread throughout the clans, and those who may have thought to exploit weaknesses now see strength in unity.” She considered, and added almost casually, “It makes the job of those trying to kill you more complicated. Not impossible, but more care in planning is required. I should have asked for a larger stipend.”
“What did they offer you?” Niko asked, taking a step.
“Rhina, you can’t say things like that. You’re baiting him on purpose, and I won’t allow it. Either behave, or I’ll lock you in your room. No, my room. That will drive you crazy.”
She shrugged. Annoying Niko was fun, but it wasn’t worth her tenuous, limited freedom. “You brought me in here to question me, I presume.”
Niko opened his mouth, and Rhina lifted a hand to silence him. Geza just watched–he was a little smarter–and waited for her to finish speaking.
“It’s in your best interest if I cooperate fully, and willingly, and not under the threat of torture.”
Niko scowled. “I won’t negotiate with a Mogren assassin.”
“Then, you’re dumber than I thought, and Prince Geza needs to get a grownup in the room to handle things, stat.” She focused her attention on Geza, who understood the situation. Strangely enough, his pride wasn’t invested in the same manner as Niko’s. “I want immunity.”
The Prince’s brow rose, but after a moment. “The court will want to hear the extenuating circumstances of your—”
“Not for me.”
“For who?”
“Someone innocent. Who is no threat to you, and has no desire to be a threat.”
“It was her,” Niko said, almost leaping on her words. “I told you! She broke the other Mogren female out. Where did you put her? She’s a fugitive from justice.”
“She’s a chef,” Rhina growled, hands clenched into fists. She was getting sick of Sir Nikolau and regretted her decision not to kill him after all. “She had nothing to do with any of the charges laid on the members of the family responsible for the assassination attempts.”
“If she turns herself in,” Geza said, “then I can make a case for clemency.”
“The Prince can defer matters of the law to the court, but he doesn’t have to. You have the right to demand clemency, without asking for permission.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. “I know what my rights are, Moghrenna. You do recall it’s my family at stake? I’m not going to acquiesce to your request without speaking to the Mogren female first. I will look her in the eyes and determine, myself, what kind of threat she is.”
She heard the steel in his voice and wanted to gnash her teeth in frustration. Of all the times for him to decide to be princely. “You’re asking me to trust you. To bring her to you and trust she won’t be killed or imprisoned again.”
“I’m trusting you with the lives of my brother, my sister, my nieces. Mine as well, incidentally. That makes it even, wouldn’t you say?”
They stared at each other. “It's not the same thing,” she said finally.
“It is exactly the same thing.”
Under the glamour, her wings snapped out and in, a sign of frustration. There wouldn’t be a chance for her to arrange a fail-safe for Tyra in case Geza betrayed her. If she wanted her cousin to have a chance at clemency, she would have to trust the Prince.
So, she had to know why he was doing all of this. “Why are you trying to keep me alive? What are you getting out of it?”
His expression was inscrutable, and, for a moment, he looked like Prince Malin. “My reasons are my own. Suffice it to say I believe I owe a debt to your mother, and I also believe you aren’t to blame for how you were fashioned.”
Rhina laughed then. “You think I’m a victim?” She had to place her hands on her knees as she laughed harder than she had in years.
“Told you,” Niko muttered sourly.
“I don’t care what she’s been brainwashed to think,” Geza snapped. “Or, what you think, for that matter. I knew Alexa. She would not have chosen this path for her daughter.”
Rhina stopped laughing and straightened, because it was true. Her mother would have hated that Rhina was the family Dark Horse. Would have protested it, fought it with every breath. Which hammered home the possibility she had mostly accepted as fact—that Lavinia had had Alexa murdered.
“Well?” Geza asked. “Will you trust me?”
Her lip curled. “Trust an Ioveanu. I thought your line had no sense of humor.”
“Or irony,” Niko said.
She didn’t really have a choice. She was in Geza’s power, at least until she figured out an escape path, if she even wanted to bother with an escape path. At this point, her only vulnerability was the strange desire to ensure Tyra went free. It would be Rhina’s good deed for her lifetime. Which made this current confinement more or less voluntary since she was doing nothing to get out.
Was this what guilt felt like? Odd.
She rubbed her chest absently. “I need to think about it. I’m not going to expose her to you unless I’m sure she’ll be safe.”
Niko opened his mouth, and Geza held up a hand, not glancing away from Rhina. “That’s fine,” the Prince said quietly. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
Malin came online as well as Kausar, who was still on the training field but found a quiet corner to conference through his wrist unit.
Malin hammered her with questions, many of them regarding the technology utilized by her family, both what she was aware of and what she could speculate on. Rhina heard Bea’s voice a few times in the background and realized the human must be on duty from her primary employer and wondered how in the hell she’d gone from setting up the ballroom to working downtown in Prince Malin’s offices. The amount of work she did between the two Ioveanus was . . . impressive.
“I have a final question, Lady Mogren,” Prince Malin said.
She waited, a little curious at the appellation he’d begun using. Her mother had been entitled to use Lady because she was the daughter of the former family head’s brother. But Moghrenna Mogren was the unsanctioned birth of an unknown liaison with a father who could be a street sweeper for all anyone knew. She’d never called herself, or been called, Lady.
Rhina decided it was a subtle tactic to win her loyalty. Did he think she was vulnerable to flattery? Because she was Mogren or female, and they assumed a female would preen at being called ‘Lady’?
“Ask,” she said.
He raised a brow at the new coldness in her voice. “You say you don’t know of any threat to my mate and children other than yourself.”
“I also said it’s likely there is one, whether I know it or not.”
He nodded. “Yes. If they were attacked, would you defend or would you remain neutral?”
That was the one question she had hoped he wouldn’t ask. The response would determine to whom she gave her loyalty.
“You would be a fool to trust my answer.”
“I want an answer, nonetheless.”
They allowed her the time to think. To choose her words. “I would defend, Prince Malin, but I would not attempt to kill the attacker.”
“Would you let him or her go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fair enough.” He glanced at Geza, then his side of the screen went black.
“It’s a start,” the remaining Prince said.
17
“What do you want, Niko?” Princess Surah asked in a forbidding tone of voice as she strode out of the secured area of the lab to meet him. “Do you have any idea what my workload is like right now?”
Irritation snapped in her eyes. She wore her white lab coat, and her hair was in a messy braid down her back.
“I need those DNA results.”
“You and every other gargoyle in the country,” she snapped. “Everyone’s gone mad this month. Do you know how many homicides I’ve had to process because Malin got it in his head to
tell every tower Lord in North America to start sending their lab request to me and not the humans? He thought he was doing me a favor!”
By helping his mate forge a place for herself in their society that was independent of her identity as an Ioveanu princess.
He cut to the chase. “What can I bribe you with?”
Her gaze was keen. “You know what you and my dear brother are asking me to do is illegal? She didn’t give consent to have her DNA analyzed.”
“We need to know what she is. I’ve seen her. She’s not full-blooded gargoyle even though she can shift.”
Surah crossed her arms. “Who gives a fuck what she is?”
“If she’s some kind of non-human, then we’ll have an idea what her powers are.”
Her look turned withering. “That's what you really want me to do. Figure out her ability markers, so you can create a defense plan.”
“You’re on her hit list. And your little ones.”
She sighed and tugged at her braid. “God, I can’t stand gargoyles sometimes. All you all know how to do is war. Fine. I’ll get you your results by tomorrow. You owe me.”
Turning on her heels, she stomped back into her lab
She commed him the following evening. “I’ve got your results. She’s forty percent Fae which means somewhere in the Mogren bloodline someone already dipped outside the approved, genetic pond.”
“I knew it,” Niko said, pushing the button on his desk that closed the door to his small office and locked it. There were built in aural shields, so he could speak without someone outside overhearing. “Her abilities?”
“It isn’t a precise science, we can only guess at this point.”
“Just tell me what you think.”
“We already know she can glamour,” Surah said, giving him a look. “She inherited the main gargoyle traits that allow one of us to shift and fly. Bone density should be on par, too. She’ll be faster than one of us, and there’s an indicator for telepathy. Probably undeveloped. A touch of precognition, enough to make her fast in a fight if she accesses the ability. I don’t know if she can.”