“Are you okay?” Ari asked, moving her face so she had to look directly at him.
“Yes,” she said through shallow breaths.
“You know, Sage, you’re the best. You could investigate without Leo even realizing it,” Ari said.
“He’ll figure it out. He’s not stupid. We have to tell him. Besides, I can’t go out and leave Zwaantie unguarded.”
“I’ll be okay,” Zwaantie said, her head light. “I want this solved. If nothing else, you can get necklaces on all those slaves, and maybe they’ll stop trying to kill me.”
Sage chewed on her bottom lip. “What about protecting you?”
“I’ll watch her,” Ari said, holding her a little tighter.
“No. You won’t. Sage, I’ll be fine. I promise. Get to those other slaves and figure out how far the Voice has spread.”
Sage stomped her feet. “Your safety comes first.”
“Zwaantie needs someone to keep an eye on her, but you’ve cracked more cases than even Leo. In fact, I’m surprised he’s handling the vipers on his own. Usually, that’s the sort of case he’d send you out on,” Ari said.
Sage shrugged and picked at her nails. “He did ask me. I said no.”
“What? Why?” Ari asked, his eyes wide.
“The original case was only a viper spotting. They creep me out, so he went instead.”
“Are you and Leo partners or something?” Zwaantie was having trouble putting all of this together. Sage was her guard, and Leo was investigating the vipers, but she didn’t fully understand what it meant. No one ever gave her a straight answer when she asked, and Leo never told her exactly what his job entailed.
Right now though, her pain was close to causing her to black out. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.
A carriage careened to a stop right in front of them, and two healers got out. Great, now she still wouldn't know what Sage and Leo did.
Ari stepped in front of Zwaantie before they could get to her. “Not a word of this reaches the Ticker, or we will throw both of you into the dungeon. Do you understand?”
Zwaantie let out a breath of relief. She wouldn’t have thought to demand that.
“Of course, Prince Ari, now what is the problem?”
“The princess has been stabbed.” Ari moved away, and the healer gasped at the knife sticking out of her shoulder.
They rushed Zwaantie inside the carriage. They were gentle, but she cried out in pain. She glanced at Sage and Ari, who were both watching her. She’d been ready to leave them behind, move on to more responsible friends so she could take her place as queen, but when she needed help the most, the two of them came to her rescue.
Chapter 3
The Mess
Three hours later Zwaantie was in Sage’s bed, her shoulder fixed up, with three cats curled next to her. The healer said her shoulder would be good as new in the morning, but she had to take it easy until then, which was no problem since she was exhausted from the lock-in. They napped for a couple of hours, Sage on Zwaantie’s right and Ari on the left.
Zwaantie didn’t have the heart to tell him to go away. Not after he rescued her, but they would have to talk about boundaries. Especially if Sage ran off to investigate the Voice and the slaves.
Her mind wandered to the attack. Why did the Voice want her dead? She’d never done anything that would warrant such an extreme response. She couldn’t even reason with the Voice.
By now she should be used to the attempts on her life.
Zwaantie woke before either of them. Ari had his arm slung casually over her waist, his fingers brushing against the exposed skin between her shirt and skirt. She was scared to move. She wanted to cuddle into him and let those fingers wander. Stars, that’d feel nice.
No. She couldn’t think this way. He was to be her brother-in-law.
He hadn’t said a word yet about her being his soul mate, and he wasn’t acting any different. To Zwaantie, those words changed everything. She was so aware of him. She had to to tell him they couldn’t hang out anymore. It would break his heart, but she didn’t have time to be nice. Leo had to be her everything.
“Oi, Ari,” yelled a voice from the wall. “What are you doing in bed with Zwaantie?”
Ari shot up, his hand sliding across her skin. Zwaantie gasped.
“Leo,” he said, slowly removing his hand. His shoulders were a little too tense for him to be relaxed. Maybe his words had affected him more than he’d let on earlier. “How goes the investigation?”
“We’re still no closer to figuring out how the vipers are killing people who are locked up tight. People in Deep Sky and the surrounding small islands are panicking. They are sleeping with machetes. So far, no one has been able to kill a viper. I want to come home, but I need to stay here.”
Zwaantie should tell him everything. She sat up gingerly. Leo’s pinched face projected on the wall.
Sage popped her head up “I’ve missed you, bro. We had a ball at the lock-in.”
“I hope you’re keeping her safe.” A muscle in Leo’s jaw flexed.
Sage rolled out of bed and plopped down on the couch in front of the screen. “You should’ve seen Zwaantie last night. Hot.”
“I know, I saw the Ticker.” He looked at her. “You were beautiful. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for it.”
Sage proceeded to fill him in on the details of the party. Not only about Zwaantie but gossip about others as well. Leo listened, but his eyes kept flicking to Ari and Zwaantie, who were still on the bed. Zwaantie wanted to ignore the electricity flowing between them and get up, but her shoulder hurt too bad.
Ari’s hand brushed her hair to her other shoulder, where Leo couldn’t see it. He played with her hair, sending shivers down her spine and warmth into her belly. Her eyes fluttered shut, focusing on his touch. This was impossible.
Leo coughed, and her eyes flashed open. He wasn’t watching her, but she had to stop this. She climbed down next to Sage, hoping Ari would sit on Sage’s other side, but he followed and settled next to her, resting his arm behind her on the couch. He wasn’t touching her, but she found it hard to breathe.
As soon as they got Leo off the wall, she’d be having words with Ari. He’d heard the Old Mother as clearly as she had. He could not pursue her, no matter what some stupid potion said.
Ari’s fingers brushed her arm and traced slow circles. Zwaantie closed her eyes, feeling guilty for enjoying the feel of his hand. He was so close to her. If Ari was trying to hide his feelings from Leo, he wasn’t doing a very good job. Maybe he was trying to egg his brother on.
Zwaantie listened to Sage prattle on and tried to think of Leo.
Her fight with him still lingered. She had to tell him how much she wanted to marry him, and beg for his forgiveness. If his love waned for her as well, they’d be in more trouble. But Sage never stopped talking and never gave Zwaantie an opening to apologize.
“And then, this morning we lost Zwaantie.” Sage cowered into Zwaantie as if that would lessen the blow.
Zwaantie understood now. Sage was trying to hide her attack in the middle of other events in the hopes it might not seem so bad. It didn’t work.
“You what?” bellowed Leo.
“There were a lot of people. She disappeared.” Sage shrunk even farther into Zwaantie, pushing her into Ari. His bare skin seared against hers. She leaned forward, away from the both of them, hoping Sage wouldn’t bring up the Voice.
Leo turned his gaze to Ari. “What the dark happened?”
“Brother, you have no idea. We hit a crowd, and Sage let go of Zwaantie. She disappeared. I’m not sure what happened after that, but somehow she ended up in North Bode, and a creep tried to kill her.”
Leo’s eyes got wider still. “Kill her? You said she just disappeared.” He glared at Sage. “You’re better than this. I thought you were going to take care of her,” he yelled.
Sage sat up taller. “Calm down. She’s still alive, isn’t she?”
“Sh
e’s pale. What happened to her?”
“Got stabbed. People keep trying to kill her. You know this isn’t the first time. She must have a price on her head. Sage is going to start investigating,” Ari said.
Leo ran a hand over his face. “Is there more to it?”
“Nothing you don’t already know, but they all have to be connected. The slave that tried to strangle her and the vipers in her room.”
“What makes you think the vipers in her room are connected to the other attempts?”
“Someone had to let them in. In the other viper attacks, the doors were locked, right?”
Leo nodded.
“What’d the attacker look like?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look at his face.” It was a lie, but she didn’t want him rounding up the slaves and sending them to Sol.
“Maybe I should come lead the investigation and give the vipers to someone else. I’m not making much progress anyway.”
Zwaantie felt a twinge of guilt. If she told him the vipers were her fault, he could come back. But she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Coward.
“Don’t be stupid, Leo,” Sage said. “I can handle this. No one else knows the viper case better than you. I’m the best, and you know it.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I do. Someone needs to protect Zwaantie though.”
“I can still be her guard. I won’t be out often.”
“I can take care of her when Sage is gone,” Ari said, pulling Zwaantie against him. She dropped her hand to balance herself, and grabbed his knee. He sucked in a breath.
“You’re not a guard, Ari.” Leo glared at both of them. He had to know something was going on. Except it wasn’t. Not yet, anyway. Zwaantie couldn’t let Ari take care of her when Leo wasn’t around. It was too dangerous. She wiggled out of Ari’s grip.
“I can still manage when Sage isn’t around. Besides, you’ll be back soon, right?”
“I don’t know. Nothing with the vipers is adding up. Sage, I want you to let me know everything you find. Be very careful. This cannot end up on the Ticker. Things are bad enough for Zwaantie as it is.”
They continued to chatter about the investigation, and Zwaantie leaned back and closed her eyes. Her shoulder ached, but she was still aware of Ari’s arm slung across the couch once again. She tuned them out and thought about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She still didn’t understand what Sage and Leo did, but anytime she asked for clarification, they deflected.
They didn’t have an equivalent role in Sol. Major investigations like this were rare since the Voice controlled things so tightly. If small crimes were committed, the guards or the lower chancellors dealt with the criminals. Zwaantie had never even heard of a crime that wasn’t solved within a day or two because of the Voice.
After a while, the conversation grew quiet, and Zwaantie opened her eyes. Leo smiled. Apparently he’d been watching her.
He flicked his eyes to Ari.
“So explain to me why you have your arm around my fiancée?” Leo asked with raised eyebrows.
Took him long enough to notice.
“I’m not treating her any differently than I do my other sisters. And as a good brother, I think I’ll let you talk to her for a while.” Ari turned to face Zwaantie, his gorgeous gray eyes boring into hers. “You’ll be okay?”
Zwaantie nodded, grateful Ari was leaving. She couldn't think straight with him around.
“I’m going to shower. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Me too. You guys enjoy your alone time,” Sage said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
When Ari and Sage left, Leo brightened considerably. Zwaantie wanted to get this over with. She needed his forgiveness so they could move on.
“How was the lock-in?” he asked.
Zwaantie smiled. “It was wonderful and magical. I’ve never seen so many illusions. The potions were amusing.”
The conversation was light and fake. Neither one spoke of her betrayal or about how someone was trying to kill her. Instead, he told her about the things they would see after they were married and how they would travel to the other kingdoms so she could meet the people.
When the conversation died, she took a deep breath and plowed forward.
“I met Lizzy last night.” The lock-in seemed so long ago, but if she didn’t bring this up now, she’d never be able to ask.
His face went pale. “Oh, did you like her?”
“She was nice, but she said something that bothered me.”
He rubbed his face but didn’t say anything. It was time to be blunt and put him out of his misery. If she didn’t attack this head-on, Ari was going to be the death of her. Leo had to know. Good relationships were built on honesty and trust.
“We are going to be married, right?” Zwaantie asked.
“I hope so,” he replied.
“We’ve already established I’m not here because I love you, but I need to apologize for what happened with Phoenix. I betrayed you. I can only hope you will someday forgive me, because I intend to make the best of this situation. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? Start over fresh?”
He rubbed his chin and stared hard at Zwaantie for a few moments. She met his gaze and allowed him time to think, time to consider her. She needed his answer to be yes. If he were angry with her, it would make it harder for her to love him.
Eventually he dropped his hand into his lap and looked over her shoulder instead of in her eyes. It saddened her a little that he couldn’t meet her gaze.
“You know, you captured my heart the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m still so hurt. I only ever wanted your love.”
Zwaantie’s heart broke. She had not been fair to him. She shifted and brought her knees up onto the couch so she was sitting on her legs. She leaned forward and studied him for a second.
“I’m sorry. I’ll make more of an effort. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Thank you.”
She steeled herself. Now she would tell him the truth. “If you love me that much, why in the sun’s name did you leave me with Ari? Lizzy told me she left you after he got his hands on her, and she wasn’t the first one. I hate to be so bold, but if we are going to be married, then I need to understand these things.”
He laughed, and she sat back, surprised.
“You are so much more than a pretty face, aren’t you?”
Zwaantie crossed her arms and glared at him. This wasn’t going at all like she planned. He gave her a crooked grin that would have sent her swooning if she wasn’t thinking of Ari.
“Ari and I have a great relationship and certain understandings where girls are concerned. But that is besides the point. I didn’t leave you with Ari, I left you with Sage. Not only do I trust her as your guard, but she is the best person to introduce you to Stella. She is never far from Ari’s side. As far as Lizzy and those other girls are concerned, Ari simply took them off my hands with my blessing and encouragement when I got tired of them. I’m not too prideful to admit that I’m horrible at breaking up with girls. I trust Ari, and I thought I could trust you too.”
“Then why did you yell at him for having his arm around me?”
He chuckled. “Because he’s my brother, and I want to make sure he doesn't forget you are mine.”
She wondered how he would respond if he knew what Ari confessed to her last night. That, according to some magic potion, she was his soul mate. Or how she felt about it. Not that she really understood how she felt about it. She wanted Ari, in spite of everything. No, she would not be telling Leo about that.
“Can you forgive me? Please?” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Leo probably thought she was asking for forgiveness for her sins with Phoenix, but really, she was asking for her feelings over Ari.
He stared hard at her. “I can. Under one condition.”
She let out a breath of relief. “Anything.”
“Will you promise me you’ll do your bes
t to learn to love me? I can’t imagine spending my life with someone who will never love me.”
“Of course. That’s not even a question. I promise.” She had to. The Old Mother had made that clear. She should just tell Leo about Ari. It would make everything easier, but the words would not come out.
A knock sounded on his door, and he yelled, “Come in.”
Candace walked in, baby in arms. She gave Zwaantie a glare. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Candace, be nice,” Leo said.
She plopped on the couch next to Leo. “Why should I? Everyone knows it’s her fault Castor is dead.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zwaantie asked, terrified of what people might know.
“Candace, stop. Zwaantie, she doesn’t mean it. She’s just upset.”
“It’s true. None of the deaths started until she showed up. People are talking, and you know it. It’s time she learned it as well.”
Leo shook his head. “Don’t listen to her. This isn’t your fault. We’re going to go. I’ll find out the real cause, and then Candace will owe you an apology.” Candace snorted. “We’ll talk tomorrow. I love you.”
He turned off the screen before she had a chance to answer. She expected he didn’t want to hear the silence when she didn’t return his love. Because she wasn’t about to lie to him.
She might be a coward, but she wasn’t a liar.
Chapter 4
The Plan
“We’re going to eat lunch in Ari’s rooms and figure out how to run the investigation,” Sage said.
Zwaantie nodded, her heart still heavy with Candace’s words. She’d just stepped out of the shower and dressed. She didn’t particularly want to hang out with Ari, but he was one of the few who knew what was going on. He had to be involved.
Sage didn’t bother knocking and led Zwaantie into Ari’s bedroom. She followed Sage past the bed and down a small hall into a dining room. She’d never been down here before. Her own suite had several rooms as well, but she usually only spent time in her bedroom—when she was there anyway. Most of time Sage’s room was better.
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