To Kill a King (Hollowcliff Detectives Book 2)

by C. S. Wilde

  Leon followed her slowly, the way a tiger did when on a hunt, silently challenging Mera to attack first.

  “You’re hurting your brothers,” she stated, her voice shakier than intended. “You love them, Leon. What you’re doing makes no sense.”

  Sniffing back his tears, he opened his arms, his sword still in hand. “I’m made of nothing but regret. Can’t you see, Detective?”

  The ashen taste of his magic set on her tongue. He was getting ready to use it.

  Mera had to distract him for as long as she could… and then what?

  She had no freaking clue.

  “Why did you kill Theodore?” she blurted.

  The madness in Leon’s pitch-black eyes gave way to a world of sorrow. Lowering his arms, he glanced to his right, toward the dark pond and Benedict. “I asked Theo to give Father the chocolate box. He knew I had killed the old prick the moment Bast told us the bonbons were poisoned.”

  “So he didn’t report you,” she stated.

  Theodore should have come to them, not his older brother. If he had, he would still be alive.

  “Of course he didn’t. Theo was Night Court and my brother.” Leon scoffed, his focus still on Benedict. “He begged me to turn myself in, said Danu would forgive my sins.” His nostrils flared, his breathing accelerating. “Father’s was one body atop a pile of corpses. Why should his death be any different from the hundreds haunting my past?” Leon waved his hand violently as he turned to Mera. “We used to be assassins! What about those deaths, Theodore? Should I pay for them? Should Bast and Corvus pay?”

  Technically yes, but she wasn’t about to open that can of worms right now.

  “Theo told me we must do better,” he spat, his face wrinkling with bitterness. “He said I’d given him no choice, and that he would go to Bast. What a time for him to grow a conscience!”

  Shaking his head, Leon clicked his tongue.

  “My little brother would be forced to arrest me. How was that kind, Theo? How was that right?” Knocking on his temple, he gave her a knowing grin. “The monk made no sense, you see, because the nightblood had taken over him. No one deserves to live in madness, Detective. Ending Theo’s pain was a mercy.”

  “Was it?” Mera swallowed as panic set cold and deep in her chest.

  Leon was so far gone… Maybe he’d been right.

  Maybe he couldn’t be saved.

  “Years as an assassin taught me how to kill quickly and without leaving traces,” he explained. “But Corvus meddled, as always. That baku winnowed into the throne room at the last minute. It’s a gift of his darkness, you see. Bast’s corrodes and destroys, mine shields like any other, and Corvus, he can winnow several times without losing his strength.” He frowned to himself. “Theo’s magic could soothe hearts, bring others peace. Ironic, isn’t it?”

  Mera cleared her throat. “How did Corvus find you?”

  “He shared a mind link with Theo, much to my own surprise.” Leon’s face wrinkled as if he was about to cry, but he took a deep, steadying breath instead. “Corvus tried to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing he could do. Our magic can’t heal.”

  Understanding fell over Mera, almost crushing her. That was the reason Corvus’ fingerprints had been stamped around Theodore’s neck. He wasn’t trying to kill him; he was trying to save him, and in his despair, he’d nearly choked his brother to death.

  “The way Corvus howled when he realized Theo was leaving us…” Leon drifted off in sorrow.

  “Your brother was holding Corvus’ necklace when we found him,” Mera carefully reminded. “Did you place it in his hand?”

  “Theo tore it off by accident when he urged Corvus to flee. It was his last word… ‘Run’.” He shook his head, coming back to himself. “Corvus winnowed out of there faster than I could blink.”

  Leon might not have wanted to implicate Corvus at first, but he hadn’t removed the necklace from Theodore’s hand either.

  “I was left there, watching life ebb away from a brother I’d sworn to protect,” he went on, his gaze lost. “A brother I helped raise.”

  Maybe that was when Leon snapped. When Bast’s big brother died and gave way to the mad king.

  “You faked the attempt on your life,” Mera pointed out to him. “You murdered an innocent fae to incriminate your brother, and still, Corvus didn’t tell on you.”

  “Of course. He’s my blood.” As if it was that simple. “Besides, the servant’s family will be well looked after. Vinci’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

  “And Benedict’s?” Mera nodded to the unmoving Night Prince near the pond.

  Leon didn’t turn to his fallen brother, almost as if seeing him had become physically painful. “If he’d drugged himself senseless as he was supposed to, he might’ve forgotten he saw me hiding the dagger. I trusted Ben to keep quiet, but I suppose twins will always be twins.” His face morphed into a beastly scowl. “He went behind my back and told you the truth. Therefore, he had to die.”

  “Not really,” she countered casually. “Ben wanted to take the fall for you. He confessed to the murders and asked me to arrest him, as he told you he would when you were crowned. If only you believed him… but you grew paranoid, didn’t you?”

  “Lies,” he snarled.

  No point in trying to argue with a mad fae.

  “Mera, where are you?” Bast’s muffled voice popped in her head again.

  That same force from before pushed against the base of her skull, but it quickly vanished.

  Odd.

  “Did you kill your father just to get the throne?” She pushed.

  Leon raised his head to the moon. It graced his crown and features, dimming the pink glow of his skin, making the monster before Mera seem nearly angelic. Yet he still gripped his sword tightly, the blade coated in Benedict’s drying blood.

  “Father told me he would make Corvus king. He hated me for taking care of my brothers when he wouldn’t. Hated me for being better than him at everything.” Leon shook his head like he was buzzing away a hundred bees. “He said Corvus could handle the crown’s weight. That I was too soft.” A single, loud laugh escaped his lips. “I proved him wrong, didn’t I? Rest assured, my brothers will forgive me, Detective. They love me, and I love them. We’ll meet in Danu’s prairies on the day of Argeddon.”

  “You Night Princes have a strange way to love,” she grumbled.

  Poseidon in the trenches, this would kill Bast. Of all his brothers, he loved Leon the most. Leon who’d blown on his wounds when he was little; Leon who gave him lemon pie when their father wasn’t looking. Leon who struck a deal to save Stella; Leon who always cared, who always gave and never took.

  Until now.

  A ruthless veil fell across the new king’s face. When he snapped his fingers, a crowd of guards burst from the inner porch that surrounded half of the courtyard.

  They’d been there this entire time?

  “Arrest him,” Mera ordered, hoping they would remember that they worked for Hollowcliff first, and the Night King second.

  Well, no such luck. The guards kept watching her and Leon without reacting; merciless statues in the night.

  Maybe if she threatened him… Quickly, Mera pulled up her dress, fetching the gun strapped around her thigh. Clicking the safety off, she aimed at Leon.

  “I see why Bast likes you,” the king chuckled. “Try your best, Detective.” He tapped his forehead. “One bullet is all you need.”

  She wanted to, she really did, but Leon was Bast’s big brother, even if he’d gone completely mad. Besides, his magic would probably shield him from the bullet⸺if what he’d said about his darkness forming strong barriers was true.

  Mera threw her gun aside, knowing it was useless.

  It was pretty obvious she wouldn’t leave with her life. She could never beat a powerful fae like Leon, plus some thirty Night guards, in their own playground. Even with her macabre and waterbending, it might be a stretch.

  Mera would give them the
fight of the century, though. Tonight, she died not as a human. Not as a lie.

  Tonight, she died free.

  As a waterbreaker.

  “Bast is a detective,” she stated as the siren soared underneath her skin, twirling and dancing within her veins. “Whatever happens here, he’ll never stop digging.”

  The pond’s water stirred, but the faeries didn’t seem to notice.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll tell him Ben killed you, and I killed him in return.” Leon waved his hand around the courtyard, showing her the guards. “I have plenty of witnesses. Indeed, I’ll be hailed a hero in Hollowcliff; no. In all of Tagrad.”

  For a mad fae, he could be incredibly lucid sometimes.

  “Corvus will talk,” she argued.

  Leon frowned at her with a certain pity, his lips pursed. “No, he won’t. He’s my brother, Detective.”

  He was so certain, and yet, Corvus had been willing to be imprisoned just to take Bast away from the island. He’d wanted Bast safe; not Leon. Which was mind-boggling considering he hated her partner.

  Corvus would always be an enigma to Mera. All of the Dhays would, for that matter.

  The Night King raised his sword. “I’ll make it quick. I’ll grant you this mercy, as I did with Theo.”

  “There’s still hope.” Mera insisted, trying to reach out to Bast’s loving brother, the fae who must still be in there, drowning in nightblood. “You can redeem yourself, Leon.”

  “I killed my father and two of my brothers.” His beady eyes glinted with tears, a mountain of pain inside them. “I can never come back from that.”

  He raised his sword, and Mera fixed her battle stance, lifting her fisted hands.

  Her siren thrummed through her veins as dread spread across her chest. If she died today, her only regret was not telling Bast about her feelings for him; feelings she didn’t understand or accept, yet kept burning inside her.

  “Danu in the fucking pra—,” Bast’s voice echoed in her mind before a void swallowed the space next to her, and then out he came, nearly stumbling over his feet.

  Chapter 27

  At first, Bast thought Master Raes had lost his mind.

  The old fae had pulled him into a weapons room filled with swords hanging from the walls, adorning the entire space.

  Inside it, none other than sarking Corvus himself waited for them, wearing a white suit awfully similar to Leon’s.

  Stupid really, to have a meeting between assassins in a room full of weapons, though Bast didn’t think about grabbing one before jolting at his brother. Master Raes held him back, however—remarkable how the old sag remained in prime shape.

  “Listen to him!” his mentor yelled as he pushed against Bast, blocking his path. “There’s more at play than you think, youngling!”

  “He’s a murderer!” Bast roared, stretching his arm toward Corvus, his fingers eager to squeeze around his brother’s throat.

  “That may be,” Corvus stated quietly, “but I didn’t murder Father and Theo.”

  Lies. They had to be.

  A sense of helplessness suddenly hit Bast, though the feeling didn’t come from him. It came from the dormant mind link he’d stablished with Mera when he had released the Faeish in her mind.

  He stopped struggling against Master Raes, his jaw hanging. “Kitten?”

  Fear overcame her helplessness, but Bast couldn’t tell what scared her, not unless she opened her side of the link.

  “Let me in!” he shouted through their bond, hoping she would listen.

  She didn’t—how could she?—but the strangest thing happened. Bast saw Leon’s blurred image through Mera’s eyes. It faded in and out, but it showed him enough. Big Brother’s pitch-black eyes, and his sword drenched in dark blood.

  No, no, no…

  Finding a limp form lying in the darkness, Bast gasped in horror when he realized who it was.

  “Ben!” he yelped, but the images disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

  Corvus stepped back, tears glistening in his eyes. “Don’t you say it.” His brother’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Don’t you dare… ”

  Bast heard his own heartbeats, felt the frantic rising and lowering of his chest. Warmth slid down his cheeks, and he realized he was crying. Wiping away his tears, he swallowed dry, trying to focus beyond his grief.

  Big Brother had murdered their father, which honestly, Bast could forgive. The problem was, Leon hadn’t stopped at that. He’d killed Theo like a pig at the slaughter, and now he’d hurt Ben.

  And Mera was alone with him.

  Reading her mind, or seeing things through her eyes without her permission, should have been impossible with a normal mind link. Emphasis on ‘should’. Incredible really, that Bast had seen as far as he did. Maybe their connection was stronger because she was his…

  It didn’t matter. Not now.

  He couldn’t explain why it happened, he just needed to get to Mera.

  “Ben wanted to take the fall for you,” her voice echoed in Bast’s mind. Torturing silence followed, until her words tuned in again. “If only you believed him… but you grew paranoid, didn’t you?”

  Halle fuchst ach, she shouldn’t poke a beast with a short stick, especially one such as Leon.

  “Mera, where are you?” he pushed through the link, but he couldn’t see their location.

  He caught the sound of waves in the distance, which probably indicated the eastern side of the castle, but the possibilities were too many. He couldn’t even tell if Mera and Leon were indoors.

  Bast kept trying to connect with her, until the image opened to him; a glimpse as fast as an eyeblink, but it was enough—a neon garden with a pond in the middle, underneath the night sky.

  The royal courtyard. And it was filled with guards.

  “She’s surrounded and alone,” he muttered to Master Raes and Corvus.

  Regret swarmed upon his partner, filling Mera with a longing for things she would never have. Bast knew that sensation well.

  It walked hand in hand with death.

  His heart lodged in his throat, and he struggled to form rational thoughts. The possibility of what Leon could do to her crashed against him, swallowing his common sense and replacing it with sheer panic.

  Could he get to her in time?

  Not from here.

  “Danu in the fucking pra—” A strange force swallowed him from behind, immersing Bast in a darkness with glittering stars. It felt both cold and warm.

  He floated inside it for a split second until a slit cut through the dark, showing him the courtyard on the other side. At once, he was pushed through it, nearly toppling over as he came stumbling onto the garden. The gateway of night and stars behind him disappeared.

  Mera stood beside him, shock and surprise filling her green eyes. “Bast? You winnowed?”

  “You’re okay,” he assured himself, thanking God, Danu, or whatever deity out there, for keeping his partner safe. Steadying his breathing, he stood straight. “Oh, kitten…” Bast pulled her into his arms, silently swearing he would never let go of her again.

  Mera hugged him back. Her body trembled against his, her fingers digging against his suit. “Thanks for coming, partner,” she croaked.

  A brief moment passed before she suddenly glared at him, stepping back. “Wait a second! You created a mind link with me without my permission!” She slapped his chest. “You dickwart!”

  He grinned playfully. “A smart dickwart, you mean.”

  She shook her head, but kitten couldn’t hold the smile that broke through her perfect lips. “Smart, and sneaky, too.”

  The air cracked and whipped as a circle of foggy mist, joined by a patch of night and stars, popped in the space between them and Big Brother.

  Yes, Leon stood there, at a distance and on the edge of Bast’s vision, but he couldn’t bring himself to face the monster he’d seen in Mera’s mind again, not yet. Besides, Leon had made no motion to attack. So far. The guards around them also watched in silence. />
  Raes stepped out of the mist, standing on the right. The light-gray freckles on his skin matched the color of his eyes, his blue flaming suit flickering against the night.

  Corvus came out of the darkness on the left. The neon canary patterns twirling around his body made it seem like the sun glowed underneath his skin.

  They must have followed Bast’s winnowing trace here. Also, they had brought gifts from the weapons room—three swords to be exact, plus a couple of daggers.

  Raes threw one sword at him, and he caught it midair by the handle.

  Wielding a blade against Leon felt horribly wrong. Bast’s heart ached, yet he had no choice.

  Well, no avoiding the inevitable.

  He turned to Big Brother, and all of Bast’s relief from seeing Mera safe vanished. He stepped forward and in front of his partner, protecting her.

  Ahead, his brother stared at them with balled fists, pain and rage making a strange mix in his face.

  How he resembled Father…

  “Hello, brothers,” he snarled through clenched teeth.

  Chapter 28

  A part of Bast wanted to leave with Mera and forget Leon had lost his mind to the nightblood. Then again, Ben was lying right there on the grass, as if he was a crumpled piece of paper. Not a whiff of magic flowed from him.

  Bast’s throat knotted, his eyes pricked with tears, but he stifled the indignity of crying again. First Theo and now Ben. Halle, his brothers were dropping dead like flies.

  Leon’s eyes were the problem. Not pink and gentle, but merciless and pitch-black. Bast had grown used to seeing those eyes in his father, Corvus’ face, even in Ben’s sometimes, but not in Leon’s.

  Never in Leon’s.

  Big Brother resembled one of Danu’s devils, not the giving and caring fae who’d practically raised him.

  “What have you done, Leon?” Corvus asked from Bast’s side, his focus on Benedict.

  Leon scowled at him. “You foul traitor. You led them here.”

  “Technically, I didn’t.” Corvus pointed at Mera. “You can thank the detective for that. I simply contacted Master Raes, because I feared you’d hurt our brothers.” He nodded at Ben’s limp form, the pain in Corvus’ semblance resonating with Bast’s own. “For Danu’s sake, Leon! I told Ben to stay away, but the idiot didn’t listen… ”