To Kill a King (Hollowcliff Detectives Book 2)

by C. S. Wilde

  Mera repeated the gesture, sorrow knotting her throat. “I think it might.”

  Bast gave her a grateful nod.

  The queen’s hands shook slightly. It must be hard for a mother to be standing there, not knowing what would happen next, even if her mind wasn’t fully… present.

  Would her kids kill each other? Argue? Fight? Miraculously behave themselves?

  Mera had no idea, either.

  “We apologize for the short notice,” Bast told the other two nightlings. “But time is of the essence.”

  The biggest fae in the space⸺a remarkable feat considering Bast was the tallest male Mera knew⸺gaped at her partner with glistening pink eyes identical to Seraphina’s. He was on the verge of saying something, but the words didn’t come out.

  The other fae, who was the spitting image of Benedict, stepped forward. This must be Theodore, the monk—and Ben’s twin brother.

  The two might share the same face, but even at first sight they seemed so different. Unlike Ben’s cropped hair, Theodore’s graphite threads were tied in a long braid that reached his knees. Instead of a fancy suit, he wore a humble white robe with a golden rope tied around his waist.

  “We’re family, Sebastian.” he offered kindly. “There’s no need to apologize.”

  Placing both hands on his chest, Theodore bowed to them. This was the way Danu’s followers greeted others, so Mera mimicked the gesture.

  “Thank you both for your collaboration,” she offered.

  Heck, she might become a better diplomat than Charles Grey, though considering how the vamp behaved, that couldn’t be incredibly hard.

  “It’s good to see you, Theo.” Bast bowed to him as well. “I’m hoping Big Brother didn’t tell Corvus and Benedict about this meeting?” He nodded to the big fae, but didn’t make eye contact with him.

  So that was Leon, the older brother.

  His skin was a shade lighter than Bast’s, his muscles bulged and evident underneath the white shirt and perfectly tailored navy pants he wore. He had a silver belt wrapped around his waist with the crest of the Night Court engraved on the buckle⸺a half-moon crossed with a curved dagger.

  Leon shared Bast’s high cheekbones, straight nose and moonlight hair, only his tresses cascaded behind his back in long curls, highlighting his straight and regal posture.

  Apparently, being stupidly handsome was a family trait.

  “You’re back after years, Bast,” he finally spoke. “Of course I told them you called for a meeting. We’re family, brother.” Scratching the back of his neck, he scoffed. “Punctuality, however, has never been one of those shigs’ strengths.”

  “You’re a fool,” Bast spat, not bearing to look his brother in the eye. “You do know Corvus put a bounty on my head, right?”

  “I heard about it yesterday. Surely his intentions were good. Corvus has a different way of feeling, but that doesn’t make it any less real.”

  Finally, their gazes connected, but Bast scowled at him. “How can you be this naïve? You’re supposed to become the Night King!”

  Leon swallowed, his eyes brimming with tears. “I suppose I’m a fool indeed, especially for hoping this reunion would be fruitful.” Shaking off his sadness as if it was dust he’d gathered over time, he turned to Mera. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Detective, despite the circumstances. I’m Leon.”

  He spoke with the poise and kindness of a great king, which he’d soon become as the oldest son.

  Hollowcliff granted the Night Court a world of power and trust, so Leon would become a ruler almost like in the old days, when fae courts were basically different countries—as long as he abided by Tagradian law.

  Since Charles Grey was there to “control” his practices, Leon would be free to do whatever he wanted, which was a good thing according to Bast, who’d assured her his brother was the best of all Dhays, and the most sensible Sidhe in Hollowcliff.

  Still, Bast couldn’t face him. Couldn’t be kind to him, either.

  She bowed her head at Leon. “Mera Maurea, and the pleasure is mine. Also, do forgive my partner for being an ass. I believe deep inside, he is happy to see you.”

  The future king’s eyes lit up. “Forgiving him is one of my specialties, Detective.”

  “Of course I’m happy to see my brother,” Bast grumbled, his arms crossed. “I’m just pissed he told Corvus about our meeting today.”

  “You are? I mean, happy to see me?” Leon asked, genuine shock grazing his features.

  Approaching Bast, he stood right in front of him, forcing his little brother to face him. They stared at each other for a while, until Bast gave a rolling shrug of assent. Grinning, Leon trapped him in a big hug that lifted Bast off the ground.

  “You’re breaking my back,” Bast grunted, but Leon didn’t let go.

  “I’ve missed you, brother.”

  Bast huffed in annoyance, but eventually let go of his walls and hugged him back. “I’ve missed you too, baku.”

  A giddy sensation invaded Mera’s chest as she watched the two, one the queen seemed to share. Seraphina Dhay also had a smile on her lips, but her attention quickly drifted to the outside, toward the unending sea.

  “If only we could all get along the way they do,” Theodore confessed as he approached Mera’s side. With a despondent sigh, he pointed to an empty space toward their left. “They’re coming.”

  As if on cue, two clouds of night and stars swallowed the air above that spot, and a pair of faeries blinked into existence before the clouds dissipated.

  Mera recognized Benedict immediately. He wore the usual fancy black suit, but this time, he held a glass of wine in his hand.

  “Don’t let Ben fool you,” Bast’s previous words rang in her mind. “He’s nothing but a philanderer and borderline alcoholic.”

  “You shouldn’t drink so much,” Theodore chided.

  “Where’s the fun in being sober, brother?” He winked at Mera in a playful hello. “I see you’ve already met the detective.”

  The fae next to Ben watched Mera with a wicked grin on his fiercely beautiful face, and a prickly sensation crawled up her spine. His skin was bark-colored, contrasting perfectly with his bright yellow eyes, while his short, spiked hair was the color of the moon, a similar shade to Bast’s and Leon’s.

  Corvus had a dangerous kind of beauty, the type that dragged people under before they realized it. A beauty similar to Bast’s—though her partner would hate her for comparing him to that brother.

  “Ah, you must be Karthana’s replacement,” he said in a perfect English as he eyed Mera up and down. “I’m unimpressed.”

  Offering him her hand instead of bowing, just to spite him, she countered in fluent Faeish. “Aes gafrin eres tu, Corvus et baku.”

  ‘I guess you’re Corvus, the asshole.’ Or idiot, depending on the intonation.

  Shaking her hand, Corvus’ eyes widened with excitement. “Perhaps you’re not as underwhelming as I assumed.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Their contact didn’t last long, however. Bast shoved his brother away from her, standing between them with his shoulders hunched and his fists balled. “Don’t go near her, you malachai.”

  Corvus wiped his shoulders as if his brother’s touch had tainted the fabric of his black suit. It was the mirror image of Benedict’s, except he carried a silver necklace with a pendant shaped like a half moon, which stood out discretely against the silken black fabric.

  “You needn’t worry. She’s not my type, brother dearest.” He narrowed his feral eyes at Mera. “I don’t fancy humans in my bed.”

  “Forgive me for worrying,” Bast countered casually, his manner shifting from angry to careless way too quickly. “Can you blame me, though? You seem to enjoy taking my leftovers.”

  Wait, what?!

  Since when was Mera his leftover?

  Corvus lost his playfulness, his fists balling. “For the sake of Mom, I’ll pretend you didn’t just demean my betrothed. Our friend.”

>   “For your sake, Corvus,” he growled, “you better fucking behave, you deceiving shig!”

  Bast’s magic thrummed from his core, slamming against Mera’s own, his relentless night pushing to get out.

  Crap.

  Things were escalating quickly. Mera had to put a stop to this before her partner charged at his own brother. Stepping closer to Bast from behind, she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Remember why we’re here.”

  Bast turned to her, and in his blue eyes, Mera saw him centering his thoughts. As if he’d found something in her, something that gave him balance.

  He took a deep breath, followed by another.

  “You’re right, Detective Maurea.” Clapping his hands together once, he surveyed his brothers. “I need access to Father’s quarters, and I’ve come to ask permission from Leon to do so. Before you ask, this is official Hollowcliff business. I can’t disclose any information at this time.”

  Raising one silver eyebrow, Corvus scoffed. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course I approve, Bast.” Leon nodded courteously, ignoring Corvus’ remark. “Though I can’t fathom what you think you might find in there. Father went peacefully in his sleep.”

  “It’s standard procedure,” Mera lied.

  She didn’t want to startle the Dhays, especially since she and Bast didn’t have proof of murder.

  Yet.

  “Very well.” Leon showed them a set of stairs to the right which went down the mountain’s façade—a path similar to the one they’d taken to get here—before leading the way.

  Bast ordered the rest of his brothers to stay with their mother. Theodore nodded, Benedict rolled his eyes, and Corvus grumbled a curse under his breath. Mera could swear he’d grunted “This is stupid,” but she couldn’t be sure.

  She and Bast followed Leon down the stairs, until they reached a small hall with a white-painted door. Taking a set of keys from his pocket, Leon opened it, and as the lock clicked, a miniature firework popped in the air.

  “The room has been locked since father’s death, as it is our custom,” the future king explained before Mera could ask. “It should only be unlocked once the new king is crowned.”

  “The lock is enchanted to alert the priests of Danu if the room opens before time,” Bast added as they entered the space. “They won’t like it, but I’m sure Theo can smooth things out.”

  The moon cast a soft glow across the king’s bedroom, highlighting the dust that set atop the furniture. Running a finger over the armoire, Mera drew a line across the thin specks.

  Having this place locked the moment the king died had been a ginormous stroke of luck. They had a nearly immaculate, potential, murder scene to survey. Yet, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nothing really jumped at her… until Mera’s attention fell on a white box on the night stand near the king’s bed.

  Her heart skipped a beat. “Bast. Look!”

  His gaze followed hers to the half-open box of chocolates. “Danu in the fucking prairies. Could it be that easy?”

  Could the murderer have been that careless?

  Hurriedly, Mera pulled out the black device that resembled an epi-pen from her pocket, and removed the cap. Going to Lunor Insul to solve a crime meant getting a ton of gadgets from the CSI team back in Clifftown, all thanks to Ruth. Including the handy device that could analyze substances for poison.

  Sure, magic could be useful, but science? It had its perks.

  She pushed the needle at the end gently into one of the bonbons.

  Three blinks and a beep. Green light.

  No poison.

  “Surely this is futile?” Leon asked from behind. “If I recall correctly, mom ate some of those, and she’s fine.”

  If that was true, he had a seriously valid point.

  Mera tested the next one to make sure, but it was also clean. Sighing, she scratched the back of her neck. “A dead end. Great.”

  “Not yet.” Bast narrowed his eyes at the box. “Try the cherry ones. They were Father’s favorites.”

  With a nod, she pressed the device’s needle into the cherry bonbon. Three blinks and a bleep.

  Red light.

  Chapter 10

  If her partner had followed procedure, he would have bagged the box and left with Mera. Bast did bag it safely, but asked Leon to winnow him back to the precinct in Lunor Insul instead.

  The future Night King nodded, and a circle of darkness and twinkling stars immediately split the air beside him in two. He and Bast entered it casually, as if walking through a door.

  “Hey,” Mera shouted, but before she could join them, the portal—only way to describe it, really—collapsed onto itself.

  Jerks.

  A few moments passed until the circle of void opened behind her, and out stepped Bast with his brother, minus the evidence.

  “Where did you put it?” Mera begrudgingly asked her partner.

  “Somewhere safe.”

  Mera knew him enough to get the message. Safe. Quite literally.

  He had placed the box inside the precinct’s safe, but he must have used his magic to hide that from Leon somehow.

  “Well, thanks for bringing me along, partner,” she grumbled.

  “In Bast’s defense, all humans puke when winnowing for the first time.” Leon intervened. “Profusely, if I might add.”

  Well, Mera wasn’t human, but she wouldn’t correct him on that.

  “Shall we?” Shrugging, her partner went out the door and headed back to the throne room.

  She and Leon exchanged a confused glance before following after him.

  Once they arrived, Bast surveyed his brothers with a cruel smirk, his eyes glinting with mischief.

  “What is it, Sebastian?” Corvus asked, impatience coating his tone.

  “Oh, nothing much,” he countered. “It’s just that one of you bastards killed Father, to which I’d say good riddance, but,” he raised his index finger, “I’m a detective, and that means it’s my job to bring the culprit to justice.”

  Grabbing his arm, Mera yanked him aside. “What are you doing? We shouldn’t accuse anyone at this point. We can’t prove the killer is one of your brothers.”

  “Yeah, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?” He frowned, his manner awfully calm considering… well, everything. “The killer knew exactly what kind of chocolate my father liked. Also, they spared my mom.”

  His logic was kind of solid.

  A killer without any connection to his mother would’ve poisoned every chocolate to make sure the job was done. Then again, a servant who loved his mistress but not his master could have done the same.

  Bast once mentioned his mother used to have a fire in her, but it had left her eons ago, along with her sanity. “Father broke her in a way,” he’d explained. Which would constitute one hell of a motive for murder, if Seraphina herself hadn’t asked them to investigate the king’s death.

  Charles Grey, for example, made a much better suspect, but so did everyone with access to the castle. Narrowing the pool of suspects down to Bast’s four brothers was careless at best, and stupid at worst.

  “Is it plausible? Yes,” Mera snapped quietly, “but that doesn’t mean we can accuse them of murder, you idiot. Not this early in the game.”

  “Wait,” Benedict asked. “Father didn’t die of natural causes?”

  “He was poisoned,” Leon stated as he stepped forward. “Which means the detectives will have our full cooperation. However,” he addressed Bast, “I believe our family is innocent. You’d do well to keep your investigation impartial, Detective.”

  Mera found an unrelenting strength under his tone, the might of a protective big brother, or maybe, of a king in the making.

  “Innocent before proven guilty, right?” With a shrug, Bast turned to the rest of his brothers. “So, which one of you was it? My money is on the obvious choice.” He tilted his head toward Corvus.

  Nostrils flaring, his brother closed his fists. “How dare you, baku?”

  “Ea
sy, you two.” Theodore nodded to their mother, who stood on the verge of tears.

  Seraphina had suspected her husband was murdered. It’s why she’d come to Tir Na Nog to ask Bast for help, but she certainly hadn’t imagined that one of her children might have done it.

  Groaning inwardly, Mera rubbed her forehead, her other hand resting on her waist. Bast was royally fucking with this investigation.

  With his family, too.

  “I wished my whole life that you boys would get along.” A sob escaped the Night Queen’s lips, and she promptly took a white tissue from her dress’ pocket. “Yet, the light does not shine where there’s shadow. The song of demise caught up to your father, and it will catch up to all of us.”

  Song of demise?

  Odd thing to say, but Bast’s mother didn’t always make sense.

  Seraphina’s gaze abruptly shifted to the floor as if she’d lost herself in thought, her impending cries dying in her throat.

  Walking to her side, Leon took her hand. It looked small and frail against his. “We’ll get along, Mom. We promise,” he assured soothingly as he stroked her back.

  She kept staring at the marbled floor, failing to acknowledge his presence.

  “Detective Maurea,” Leon called, “Will you watch these buffoons while I walk our mother back to her quarters? Also, please tell Sebastian that if he insists on mistrusting his own blood, then he must suspect me as well.”

  “Certainly,” she agreed.

  One of them had to keep a professional façade, and that sure as hell wouldn’t be Bast.

  “Your father ruined you,” Seraphina mumbled as Leon led her forward, her gaze lost and dazed. Her head suddenly snapped up at Mera, pointing to something at the back of the room.

  Only now did Mera notice the dais at the far end of the vast space. An ivory throne, shaped like a thousand pointy bones, stood atop the platform, its red velvet cushion carrying a silver crown atop it.

  Spiky and uneven, it seemed like the crown had been made out of thorns. It couldn’t be comfortable to wear, but Mera supposed it had been crafted this way to show the strength and resilience required of the Night ruler.