by Alex Rivers
Drustan’s voice echoed in our skulls. Enough with the tour. Take us to your master.
The bodyguard coughed into his hand, then shakily rose to his legs. The mocking smile returned. If anything, it was even wider now.
“Of course,” he said. “Through here.”
We waited in a guest bedroom—this one mercifully blood-free. Elrine sat in a chair with her arms folded, staring angrily at the floor, while Nerius looked like he was going to tear through the furniture. Drustan simply swarmed darkly in the corner.
Grendel let us wait for another ten minutes before deigning to arrive. During that time, his cronies silently stared us down from their spots around the room. I glared back at them, leaning back in my chair. I propped my legs on the coffee table, crossing them.
When Grendel finally entered, he smiled broadly. I stayed right where I was, meeting his eyes.
“It’s the pixie of dread,” he rasped. “And her ragtag posse. If you had come alone, I could have easily accommodated you in your own room.”
Schooling my features to calm, I pulled my stiletto from its holster, keeping his gaze. I twirled the stiletto between my fingers, already fantasizing about how Roan and I would kill him. “You’ve crossed a line, Grendel. I’ve come to correct that.”
He cocked his head. “Have I?”
“Two hours ago, you sent your men to Hawkwood Forest to engage with the Elder Fae.”
“Spying on your allies, pixie?” He slumped into one of his chairs comfortably, scratching at his large belly. “What happened to trust?”
“Pull your men back from the Hawkwood Forest, Grendel.”
“Or what?”
I spun the stiletto between my fingers. “Or you’ll risk my wrath, and the wrath of the Unseelie Republic.”
He fell silent for a moment, holding my gaze, before he straightened. “And you… you are now the Republic’s spokeswoman? Did you hold a meeting without me, in which the rest of you decided our course of action with our enemies? You do realize the Elder Fae are letting the Seelie pass freely through their territories, aiming to destroy us?” His voice was rising sharply.
I rose, then walked over to him slowly, knife in my hand. “We have it under control.”
He stared up at me, wringing his hands. “Really? Because no one told me anything. No one said, ‘Grendel, most ancient Sire, the Republic is now negotiating with the Elder Fae, and a cease fire is in effect.’ In fact, I don’t think the Republic’s leaders have met once since we allied.”
“Starting a war with the Elder Fae will doom us all.”
His beady eyes gleamed. “If Ogmios had only listened to my council, the Elder Fae would have been eliminated centuries ago. Hawkwood Forest will be ours, a valuable strategic asset that will only help in the war against the Seelie.”
“Until we have a meeting with the other members of the Republic to discuss strategy, you will pull your men back.”
He looked up at me defiantly. “I think you are right. We should call a full meeting of the Republic, with all five heads of the houses. If the Republic decides that I need to call back my men, I will.”
Roan was in Hawkwood Forest right now, and Grendel knew it. If a single Elder Fae died, Roan would pay with his life.
The blackness surrounding Drustan billowed around the room, his voice booming, Pull back your leeches, or I shall drown this house in darkness, and leave you blind for eternity.
The sound of unsheathing swords pierced the air.
Grendel snarled. “Control your soldiers, pixie. I am within my rights. You have entered my home, attacked one of my bodyguards, and are threatening me for protecting the Unseelie people. It is only because of my courtesy that I allow these insults to go unpunished.”
I heard the bodyguards move as one, surrounding us. Drustan’s darkness pulsed, the sound of wings fluttering around us.
“Stop,” I said through clenched teeth. “We’re leaving.”
Grendel wasn’t about to give in, and I’d find another way to deal with him.
Chapter 23
In my hotel room, I peered out the wall of windows onto the city. I’d spent half an hour in the shower, wiping steam off the mirror and desperately searching reflections in Trinovantum. But wherever Roan was, he was out of the range of my reflection powers. I was pretty sure I could feel him through our bond, at least—that I could feel emotions of frustration, of hope. Or maybe those were my own emotions overwhelming me. I was starting to understand that with a soulmate, it was hard to know where I ended and he began.
Outside, clouds hid the moon, but London’s lights twinkled below. Sighing, I stepped away from the mirror. I pulled on a camisole, the cotton sticking to my damp skin. If I had my dread powers, and hadn’t given my word to him, Grendel would be quivering on the floor right now, sobbing in hysteria as I kicked him to death. But maybe it was best not to dwell on those fantasies.
Still, I had to come up with some kind of plan. I couldn’t allow Grendel to threaten Roan, and I couldn’t allow him to keep slaughtering humans. The slimy fucker had to die.
I stepped into a silky pair of pajama bottoms, shivering in the cool air. I couldn’t open the windows here, so I just blasted the air conditioning and imagined that the windows were open. It was slightly comforting, but I still needed Roan here to warm me, to soothe my bad dreams away.
Just as I was heading for my bed, a knock sounded in the room. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat as I anticipated Roan’s broad form on the other side of the door. A smile brightened my features.
“Who is it?” I asked hopefully, ready to run into Roan’s arms, to pull him inside and never let him go again.
“It’s Idelisa.”
I groaned under my breath. Ever since I had rescued that fae, she’d mostly come by my room to judge me for something or other. I could practically feel her disapproving stare through the door. “I’m in bed, Idelisa. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“It’s important.”
I sighed and opened the door. She stood in the entrance, her eyes bloodshot. At least her bruises had faded, leaving her olive skin looking perfectly beautiful.
“I’d like to come in,” she said, her face serious.
“Okay.” I stepped aside. “Did you meet Alvin?”
“Yes. He made a fuss after I threw his tattered shirt away.”
I sat at the edge of my bed. “I’m not surprised. Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“No.” She raised her eyes to look at me. “It’s Grendel.”
I tensed. I’d just spent the last hour trying to forget he existed. “Did he contact you?”
“No. But I need you to understand how dangerous he is. His treatment of the Weala Broc females has become even more violent, and his men are following his lead.”
Anger tightened my fists. “I want him dead just as much as you do, Idelisa, but I can’t.”
“A fae died today. Her name was Rowina. She was young, and caring, and kind. A Weala Broc male slapped her until she fell. Then he kicked her repeatedly in her stomach and ribs, until she stopped breathing. They said she was a whore.”
My stomach dropped. “What happened to the killer?”
“He was reprimanded for wasting a female who could still bear children. As if he was just careless with a piece of property.”
“Why do I feel like you have an idea of how I should handle this?”
“You are Cassandra Weala Broc, daughter of Ogmios—”
“I am Cassandra Liddell, a bastard and a pixie, with no real power or authority. When Roan returns—”
“Taranis will not help the women from the Weala Broc house.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know enough.” She shook her head sadly. “When you took me from that place, I thought you would change things. I thought you would care.”
“I care.” The words caught in my throat. “I can’t do anything until the Seelie threat is removed.”
“The Seelie don’
t kill their women,” she said softly. “They treat them with respect. For us, it is better that the Seelie come. If you won’t act, I might as well return to Grendel, where at least I can try to comfort the women he abuses.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I merely stared after her as she left the room. I wasn’t the Mistress of Dread. Not anymore. Whenever I could, I’d been wandering by the spot where the stone had once rested, trying to grasp onto that power, the subtle vibrations of terror I could still feel lingering around the neighborhood—faint background noise, like the music of the spheres. But I’d gotten nowhere, unable to pinpoint where it was coming from. Even if I did have that power, I had given Grendel my promise, and that bound me.
I let out a shuddering breath. Without Roan here, I felt completely alone.
Or was I?
I crossed to my purse on the desk, then pulled out the phone that Scarlett had given me. I dialed the only contact in it, Scarlet - No Wiretap. The name indicated that this phone was safe from the CIA’s prying ears.
She answered almost instantly. “Cass?”
“Scarlett,” I breathed, relieved to hear her voice.
“What’s up? You sound exhausted.”
“I think I need your help. The CIA’s help.”
“Yeah?” She sounded wary.
“Listen, it’s a bit complex. There’s a fae called Grendel. He’s a powerful player in Unseelie politics, ancient as hell. He’s the one who flooded London, and he’s killing humans, feeding off their terror to gain power. Now he’s destroying… everything. If we let him go on unchecked, a civil war is going to break out between the Unseelie. Millions will die, fae and humans. I can give you his location. One sniper with an iron bullet—”
“Are you talking about Grendel Weala Broc?” Scarlett interrupted me.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Oh yeah, we’ve known of him for some time. He’s a monster.”
I felt a wave of relief. “Then you’ll do it?”
A silence hung over the line for an uncomfortably long time. “Cass, I can’t.”
“Listen, Scarlett, you have to understand—”
“Grendel’s people approached us this morning. He offered to supply us with information, and my boss is thrilled. There is no way he’d give this up.”
The shock robbed me of my breath. “What?”
“You have to understand, it’s the first time a powerful fae has been willing to negotiate with us. Grendel agreed to deliver information, assistance, test subjects—”
“Test subjects?”
“We need all the help we can get, Cass. We need to protect ourselves. You are the one who said we needed to find allies within the fae. We took your suggestion to heart, and he’s the first fae who’s ever been willing to work with us.”
Anger flooded me. “He’s a complete monster. You said it yourself!”
“Yeah,” she said dryly. “The United States is negotiating with a person with no moral compass. Not exactly a shocking precedent.”
I sat on the bed, emptiness welling in my chest.
“I can think of one way our department would agree to end this relationship,” Scarlett said.
“What?” I asked weakly.
“The Mistress of Dread could come work for us. We’d need to work out the terms, but my boss would agree. You’d have to do it now, though. We don’t have much time left.”
I said nothing. I had known this moment would come, and I’d been dreading it. “I need some time to think.”
“We’re meeting with Grendel tomorrow afternoon,” Scarlett said. “Immediately after the banquet.”
“What banquet?”
“He’s celebrating his alliance with the Court of Dreams tomorrow morning. I gather there’s a big banquet at his mansion. At least, that’s the intel we have.”
Fuck. I shut my eyes in despair. The Court of Dreams? How did that happen? Grendel was ahead of us at every turn, and even the CIA knew more than us at this point.
You can’t let him outwit you, Cass.
“If you can get to us before the meeting, you’ll be able to sway my boss,” Scarlett said. “After that, it’ll be too late. I’m sorry, it’s not up to me.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Cass.”
“What?”
“Don’t wait too long.” Her voice was soft. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
The line went dead.
I dropped the phone on the desk, staring blankly out the window. Nausea climbed up my throat. Events had swirled around me, forcing my hand, leading me to this point. I’d never felt so desperate to see Roan before.
If I did nothing, Grendel would destroy the Republic, try to crown himself as the new Unseelie king.
Maybe he’d beat the Seelie threat, working with the Court of Dreams, and his CIA allies and their iron weapons. But where would that leave the Unseelie people? Roan would probably die, and my friends would follow. Unseelie women all over the kingdom would become enslaved. An image of Roan’s beautiful features, his tattooed skin, burned in my mind like a beacon, and I felt that overwhelming desperation to keep him safe, to lay down my life for him if I needed to.
I had to take Scarlett’s suggestion for his sake. With the CIA’s help, we could get rid of Grendel, maybe even defeat the Seelie army using their weapons. But that would mean giving the CIA information about the fae, and they wouldn’t stop at that list they asked for. They’d want to know how to find the portal to Trinovantum. Would the CIA be content to set this knowledge aside? Or would they launch a preemptive strike against the fae? I imagined an army of agents, marching into Trinovantum with iron weapons. The bloodbath that would follow would turn all of London into a decapitarium.
I thought about possible deals I could make with the CIA. Perhaps I could negotiate peace for my cooperation. I could control the flow of information that they had. Maybe I could work as a double agent, giving them constant intel about the fae, recruiting additional allies. I would have to maintain my relationship with Roan, and lie to him constantly, but he would survive, and a balance would be restored.
I felt sick at the prospect, but I couldn’t see many other options right now. I had no real power without the stone, and breaking my word to Grendel by attacking him with iron would end in disaster.
And with that, I felt the kernel of a decision taking root in my mind.
Chapter 24
In Grendel’s mansion, I stood behind the closed doors of the dining room. The sounds of talking, clinking glasses, and laughter floated lightly through the oak.
I was calm now, after silencing my doubts using an old therapy technique—deep breathing, and mentally naming all the objects around me. I couldn’t afford to let them feel my fear. Not now.
Raising my foot high, I kicked the door. It slammed open, the sharp noise halting all the conversation. All eyes turned to face me. Grendel sat at the head of the table, eyes wide with surprise, a half-eaten chicken leg in one hand. About two dozen fae sat around the table with him, most of them Grendel’s cronies. One of them wore the raven sigil of the Court of Dreams. It was the old woman Roan and I had talked to. She raised an eyebrow at my dramatic entrance, unimpressed.
Idelisa stood by Grendel’s side, her eyes lowered, not wanting to look at me. Her return to Grendel had already exacted its price in the form of a fresh bruise on her cheek.
I stared at Grendel, a dark smile on my face. “Grendel of Weala Broc. You have broken your word.”
Grendel dropped his chicken leg, frowning. “The fortal has come. And how exactly have I broken my word?”
“You promised to support the Republic. And you are undermining it, by purposefully harming our negotiations with the Elder Fae. I do believe that makes you an oathbreaker and a driushiud ki.”
Still wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it elicited the right reaction. Muttering broke out over the room. When a fae broke his promise, it instantly bestowed power to the person he’d promised.
In this case, me.
“I broke no word,” Grendel growled. “I promised to support the Republic of the five courts. But that Republic has never passed any laws or decisions or orders. And soon, this Republic will not exist. There can’t be a Republic of five courts when the Court of Lust is no longer. It’ll be a Republic of four courts, and I promised nothing regarding that particular number.”
Around the table, Grendel’s men grinned, and my throat tightened. They already knew. Roan was with the Elder Fae, and Grendel had sent his men to kill Roan—the last remaining member from the Court of Lust.
If they killed Roan, Grendel was freed from his promise. If he’d killed Roan, I’d rip his slimy skin from his body, dread powers or not. Pure rage would give me the strength I needed.
“All I did was protect the Unseelie people from its enemies.” He looked around him, all innocence. “I am not an oathbreaker. Nor am I the enemy of the Unseelie. The real enemy of the Unseelie, mongrel, is you.”
“Bullshit.”
“I have a witness!” he roared.
Silence reigned, and I held my breath.
He slapped Idelisa’s backside. “This female has been at the Mistress of Dread’s side. And last night she listened through the door as the mongrel spoke to a human agency, giving them her word that she would work as a spy amongst us. Cassandra Weala Broc promised them information and prisoners. In return, she asked that they kill me, and give her iron weapons.”
A murmur rippled over the room as the diners whispered amongst themselves. I shot a furious look at Idelisa, who wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“You are the real enemy,” Grendel said. “And should be arrested and tried for treason.”
I glared at Idelisa, my lip curling. “Idelisa of the Weala Broc. You’ve betrayed my trust. You really shouldn’t have.”
She met my gaze, her jaw dropping. I pointed at her, a midnight smile on my lips.
