by Karen Lynch
“You had no right to question him about me.” I shot up from my chair, angry at him for interfering in my business and at myself for putting Tennin in that position.
Lukas ignored my outburst. “Tennin told me you believe Davian knows something about the ke’tain, but he was vague about how you came to that conclusion. Since I also suspect Davian’s involvement, I am very interested in what led you to him.”
I crossed my arms. “Good detective work.”
“And then you managed to get invited to one of Davian’s exclusive parties where you disappeared for an hour. Tennin said he didn’t see or hear from you again until you texted him on your way home.” Lukas pinned me with his shrewd eyes. “The question is, where were you and what were you up to during that hour?”
I went with a half-truth. “I was in the library for a few minutes, and then I went upstairs to look around. I was going to look through his office, but the door was locked.”
“And then you left the party,” he said.
“Yes,” I snapped, too irritated by the questions and his presence to see he was leading me into a trap.
He rubbed his jaw. “Here’s the thing. Conlan and I were upstairs with Davian for a good thirty minutes, and we returned to the party approximately fifteen minutes before Kerr saw you come downstairs and leave. That would have put you and us upstairs at the same time, but neither of us remembers seeing you there. Why is that?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Poor observation skills.”
His mouth curved into a smile so achingly familiar it sent shards of pain through my chest.
“You went through all that trouble to get into the penthouse, only to leave after an hour.” He shook his head. “You would never give up so easily. The only reason you would have left the party early is if you found something. Not the ke’tain because you would have turned it in, but something important.”
“I guess you have it all figured out.” I let my arms fall to my sides. “Is this why I was invited here today? You thought you would ambush me and find out what I know. What’s next? Are you going to have Faolin make me talk if I don’t give you what you want?”
“Goddess, no!” Faris came unsteadily to his feet and lost his balance.
I lunged for him, but Lukas got there first. He caught Faris and lowered him back to the couch with great care. When Lukas straightened, his troubled eyes met mine.
“No one here will ever harm you, Jesse,” he said roughly. “Don’t blame Faris for this. He had no idea I was going to question you.”
Feet pounded on the stairs, and Faolin ran into the room. “What’s wrong? I heard Faris shout.”
Faris waved him off. “It’s nothing, Brother. I tried to stand too fast and fell over.”
“I told you not to tire yourself,” Faolin scolded, but there was concern in his eyes.
I cleared my throat. “I should go.”
“Please, stay.” Faris gave me a beseeching look that was impossible to refuse.
Avoiding Lukas’s eyes, I sat. I immediately wished I’d left when an awkward silence fell over the room.
“Faolin and I will be upstairs if you need anything,” Lukas said.
Faris waited until their footsteps had faded before he spoke. “I’m sorry about that. Since I came home, Lukas’s main focus has been finding the ke’tain and those who took it.”
“The ke’tain is important to your people.” I didn’t have to like Lukas or agree with his methods to understand why he’d want to get it back.
“It is, but that’s not the only thing that drives him.” Faris sighed heavily. “He’s also doing it for me.”
“For you? Will the ke’tain help you heal faster?”
Faris shook his head and stared out the window for a long moment. “I was investigating the ke’tain’s disappearance when I was taken.” He turned his head to look at me. “I should say I was taken because I was investigating its disappearance.”
My hand went to my chest. “The Seelie royal guard.”
“How do you know that?”
“Rogin’s sister, Raisa, told me the queen’s guard did that to you. She said Queen Anwyn has no mercy for her enemies.”
He rubbed his chest as if it pained him. “She is right.”
“Raisa also told me it was the Seelie guard who took my mother and father. Her brother was supposed to kill them, but Raisa saved them.”
Faris frowned. “Why would the queen’s guard want your parents killed?”
“All Raisa knew was that they had done something to anger the guard. I think my parents stumbled onto something about the ke’tain on their last job. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Have you asked your parents about it?”
I shook my head. “Mom and Dad can’t remember anything that happened to them, and their doctors told me I have to be careful about what I tell them. I’m afraid the Seelie guard will try to stop them from getting their memories back. That’s why I’m looking for the ke’tain.”
Understanding filled his eyes. “If the ke’tain is found, they will have no reason to go after your parents.”
“They still might hold a grudge, but I can’t think about that now.” The thought chilled me, and I rubbed my arms for warmth. “I can only fight one battle at a time.”
“Then let us fight it for you.”
“No.”
“Please, hear me out,” he implored. “If you don’t agree, we’ll never speak of it again.”
I stared at the floor as if it miraculously held the answers I needed. Finding no guidance there, I lifted my eyes to his. I hadn’t known him long, and he was one of Lukas’s closest friends, but for some reason I couldn’t explain, I trusted him.
I folded my hands in my lap. “Okay.”
He smiled. “I am impressed by the way you hold your own with Lukas. There are few who could stand up to him like you do.”
“But?”
“But squaring off against Lukas is one thing. He would never harm you. Going up against Queen Anwyn and her guard alone is not just folly; it’s asking to die. You need look no further than me for proof of it.”
I thought about how close he’d been to death the first time I saw him. He was an Unseelie royal guard, a trained killer, and he’d had no chance against them. What hope could I have of surviving a similar encounter?
“My friends hurt you deeply, and your anger toward them is justified,” he said. “But if you put your feelings aside for one moment, you’ll admit there is no one better equipped to deal with the Seelie guard.”
“You’re right, but you’re asking me to trust them with my family’s lives. How do I know they won’t turn on me again?”
Faris was quiet for a moment. “They’ve given you every reason to doubt them, so I understand your reluctance. All I can do is tell you they regret their actions more than you know, and they would make amends if you allowed them.”
“I don’t care about amends. I care about keeping my parents safe.”
“Then you need a powerful ally, and we both know who that is.”
“What I know might not even be helpful to them.” Lukas already knew the Seelie guard was behind Faris’s imprisonment, and Davian Woods was after the ke’tain. What could I tell him that he couldn’t find out on his own?
Faris shrugged. “You won’t know until you share it with him.”
I inhaled deeply and set my shoulders. “This doesn’t change anything. I’m not going to be their friend just because we’re working together.”
“Of course,” he replied seriously, but I glimpsed a small smile as he took a drink from his glass. He wiped his mouth and tilted his head back to call out, “Lukas, Faolin, Jesse would like to speak to you.”
“Does it have to be both of them?” I whisper-shouted at him.
“Faolin is the head of security, and there is no one more motivated to bring my captors to justice.”
“Then can I speak to him?”
“I am touched,” Faolin said dryly from above.
“Don’t be.” I scowled at Faris and steeled myself as Lukas and Faolin descended the stairs.
They entered the room, and Faolin went to sit on the couch with his brother. Lukas took one of the other chairs instead of standing like he’d done earlier. Neither spoke, waiting for me to start.
I shifted in my seat under the weight of their stares, and my palms began to sweat. It wasn’t from fear. Not exactly. There were so many emotions warring inside of me I couldn’t single one out.
I remembered what Faris had said about needing Lukas and the others as allies, and I pushed forward. “Do you know about the Agency’s raid on a black market dealer in Flatbush last week?”
“Lewis Tate.” Lukas said. “They told me he got away, and their search turned up nothing.” He gave me a questioning look. “What about it?”
“I was there. They needed a bounty hunter to do some cleanup. I was in his office after they tossed it, and I saw a New Year’s Eve party invitation from someone named DW. I didn’t think anything of it until Tennin mentioned Davian Woods and told me about his Fae obsession. That’s when I put it together. The Agency raided Tate’s house because they thought he had the ke’tain, and Davian likes to collect Fae things. It was too much of a coincidence.”
“That was good detective work,” Faris praised.
Lukas nodded in agreement. “And the party?”
“Tennin told me he was going to a party at Davian’s, and I asked him to bring me as his date.”
Lukas cocked his head. “He said you blackmailed him. You threatened to seek out Davian on your own if he didn’t take you to the party.”
“That was only after I asked him and he said no. He agreed to take me because he was worried I’d do something dangerous.”
Faolin scoffed, and I glared at him.
“What happened at the party?” Lukas asked. “Why were you in such a rush to leave that you didn’t tell Tennin first?”
I rubbed my palms on my jeans. I hadn’t told a soul about what I’d witnessed that night, not even Tennin. The secret hung around my neck like a fifty-pound yoke, but I’d been too afraid to share it with anyone.
I looked at Faris, who gave me an encouraging smile, and then I plunged ahead. I told them about sneaking upstairs, looking at Davian’s gallery, and my plan to break into his office, which got aborted when I heard Lukas, Conlan, and Davian on the stairs.
Lukas’s eyebrows shot up. “You were out on the terrace that whole time?”
“No.” I realized I was fidgeting and stopped. “I went back inside after Davian’s phone call.”
A gleam entered Lukas’s eyes when he realized what I wasn’t saying. He leaned forward with his arms on his knees. “What did you hear?”
I told them everything, as close to verbatim as I could remember, including the change that had come over Davian during the call. Lukas’s eyes darkened, and I couldn’t tell if he was angry with me or Davian.
He and Faolin exchanged a look, and Faolin said, “We were right. Davian is in the middle of this.”
Lukas nodded. “We need to find Lewis Tate.”
Faolin stood. “I’ll go through his financials again.”
“There’s more,” I blurted.
Lukas and Faolin looked at me as if they’d forgotten I was there. Faolin took his seat again, and the three of them watched me expectantly.
“After Davian went inside, I hid in his pool room, or whatever you call it, until you all went downstairs.” My stomach twisted as I told them what I had seen and heard in the room.
Lukas swore and got up to stand by the fireplace. His eyes were blazing when he faced us again, and I pressed back into the couch reflexively. But it was Faolin he spoke to.
“He created a portal. You know what this means?”
Faolin’s expression turned almost as dark as Lukas’s. “Yes.”
I looked between the two of them and then at Faris, who seemed to know what they were talking about. Were they planning to let me in on their little secret?
“I don’t know what it means,” I said pointedly.
It was Faris who answered me. “It means Davian Woods is working with Queen Anwyn.”
I frowned. “How do you know that for sure? Maybe Davian had no idea her guard was there.”
Lukas returned to his chair. “Do you know what a dampening ward is?”
“Yes.” Dampening wards limited the use of magic inside them. They were used mostly on important government buildings, but big venues had started to use them, too.
“Davian has a dampening ward on his penthouse, which means no faerie can create a portal there,” Lukas said. “Unless they have been granted access to bypass the ward.”
Ice formed in my veins. Davian and the Seelie queen were dangerous on their own. Together, they were unstoppable. Short of hiding my parents in a secret underground bunker, how could I possibly hope to protect them from such powerful enemies?
My face must have betrayed my fear because Lukas said, “We will deal with our friend Davian and the queen. Neither of them knows what you witnessed, so you have nothing to worry about on that front.”
“As long as you keep your distance from Davian and maintain a low profile, you’ll stay off their radar,” Faolin added with his usual glower.
I rubbed my suddenly cold hands together in my lap. “I think I’m already on someone’s radar.”
Lukas narrowed his eyes. “What have you done?”
“I haven’t done anything. Three days ago, two men posing as agents approached me while I was out having coffee with Violet. They asked about the raid on Lewis Tate’s house and wanted to know if I searched for the ke’tain while I was there.”
“How do you know they weren’t agents?” Faolin asked.
“They looked the part, but there was something off about them. They asked questions about the raid that agents would already know the answers to.”
Faris caught my eye. “Could the men have been other bounty hunters looking for the ke’tain?”
“I considered that, but their Agency IDs looked real, and those are not easy or cheap to forge.” I paused. “And…they tried to get me to leave with them.”
“By force?” Lukas’s voice had taken on an edge that could slice through stone.
“It didn’t come to that.” I filled them in on Violet’s intervention and my call with Ben Stewart. “As far as I know, the Agency hasn’t identified them yet, and I haven’t seen them since.”
I had been extra vigilant since the incident, but there had been no sign of the men or anyone else nosing around. I had spotted Agent Curry as I was leaving my parents’ treatment facility yesterday, and I’d wondered if Ben Stewart had sent him to check up on me and my parents or if he was there on other business.
“Do you have the photo your friend took of the men?” Faolin asked.
I took out my phone and texted the picture to Faris because his was the only number I had now. He gave his phone to Faolin, who forwarded the picture to himself before he handed the phone to Lukas.
Lukas looked up from the phone. “Do you know if the men talked to anyone else who was at the raid?”
“They said they did, but I asked another hunter who was there, and she hasn’t heard from them.”
“Why you then?” he asked suspiciously. “Did anything happen that night that would cause them to single you out?”
I nodded. “I was the only one who spent any time alone in the house, and that was what the men were most interested in.”
“Why were you alone in the house during a raid?” Faolin asked.
“Tate released a few dozen verries when the agents got there. I was there to round them up.”
Lukas’s nostrils flared. “The agents sent you in alone to deal with them?”
“They didn’t send me anywhere, and I got paid very well for that job.” Depositing that check into my bank account the next day had felt pretty damn good. And Levi had been so pleased he’d promised to start saving some of t
he choice jobs for me like he had for my parents. This morning, he’d hinted he might have a Three for me tomorrow.
Faolin typed something on his phone and asked, “Have you told the Agency what you told us about Davian and the Seelie guard?”
“No. I’ve told no one but you three.”
“Why not?” His eyes grew suspicious. At least, some things never changed.
“Because our priorities are not the same. The Agency’s is finding the ke’tain, and mine is keeping my parents safe. If it came down to it, the Agency would choose the ke’tain over the lives of two bounty hunters.” I held his gaze so there would be no mistaking my intentions. “My family comes before anything else. As does yours.”
He tipped his chin in acknowledgement, which was the most I could expect from him. It still baffled me how he and Faris were brothers. If not for the physical resemblance, I never would have believed it.
I stood, prompting the three faeries to follow suit. “That’s everything. If I learn anything else, I’ll let you know.”
Lukas smiled. “Don’t call me; I’ll call you.”
I didn’t return the smile. “Exactly.”
Faris’s face fell. “You’re leaving? But we never had our visit.”
“Work,” I lied. “I’ll come back next week.”
I didn’t realize Lukas had followed me until he spoke as I stepped outside. “Thank you, Jesse.”
His voice was warm and sincere, and it made my heart constrict. I felt lighter having shared my burden with him and his men, but I couldn’t let that lure me into a false sense of security. I forced my expression into a cold mask before I turned back to face him. “I didn’t do this for you. I did it for my parents and Faris.”
“I know.”
I pulled up my collar against the cold. “It doesn’t change anything.”
“I know,” he said again.
“Good.” That settled, I spun and walked away.
Chapter 10
I shivered in my small leather jacket and thigh-length dress and stuck my hands into my pockets. Ahead of me, women pressed together in small groups, trying to fend off the cold in their skimpy outfits.
“I can’t believe I let you convince me to wear a tiny dress in this weather.” I scowled at Violet, who seemed unaffected by the subzero temperature, even though her sapphire-blue dress was as short as mine.