by Bella Klaus
“What?”
My gaze flicked up to meet Valentine’s stern glower, and I raised my shoulders. “When he was rolling about in pain, I took back your heart. The fire mages I came with snatched me, and we escaped into the Flame.”
He drew back, letting out the kind of forceful breath people made when they were either feeling frustrated or betrayed. The corners of Valentine’s lips turned down, and he folded his arms across his chest. “That was when you left me behind to wreak havoc on Lamia, starting off a chain of events that resulted in my decapitation.”
A lump formed in the back of my throat, and I swallowed hard. Perhaps I should have elaborated more on the part where the Mage King had ordered Valentine to seize me and Valentine had obeyed. But I really didn’t want to delve into the memory of Jonathan slicing off Valentine’s arm.
I exhaled a long sad breath. “Back then, I barely had control over my power. Firestone encased my heart, absorbed all my magic, and—”
“Enough.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, massaging them with his thick fingers and easing my tight muscles. “I should never have allowed you to roam free in London.”
I stiffened, my eyes rising to meet his grave expression. Something in his words implied that he was regretting not keeping me confined in a pocket realm like this the moment he discovered I had fire power.
My throat dried, and I placed a hand on the base of my neck. If I didn’t convince Valentine to let me attend the meeting of the Supernatural Council, I might never leave this prison until he tired of keeping me as a pet.
“Valentine.” My hand slid up to his cheek. “Let’s go and see what the Supernatural Council wants. Afterward, we can continue what we were doing before they interrupted.”
His brows rose, and he dropped his gaze to my lips. “Continue refusing my advances?”
I cringed. Valentine wanted assurances that I would work off my debt, but could I say those words? My past attempts at making outlandish promises in exchange for short-term freedom always backfired. But what were my choices?
No one powerful enough to rescue me knew my location. Valentine could tell his colleagues in the Supernatural Council that he’d released me into the Human World and I must have run away or gotten recaptured by Kresnik. I needed for someone to see that he was keeping me in the palace.
“Maybe I’ll stop saying no when you give me a better incentive to say yes,” I said, giving his cheek a playful pat. “Nothing makes a girl more eager to get down to business than a man who isn’t trying to make her work off a debt.”
The corner of his lips curled into a smile. “I look forward to breaking through your defenses.”
“Can’t wait,” I said with a wink.
Valentine wrapped an arm around my waist, and we stepped toward the ward. With a flick of his wrist, the solid air thinned, and sparkly magic crackled against my skin. I closed my eyes against the onslaught and continued walking at Valentine’s side. When I opened them again, we were in the stone hallway, facing a quartet of armed guards.
My steps faltered. “Are they here to make sure I don’t break through the ward?”
Valentine shook his head. “Their role is to subdue you until I can place you in a backup location.”
A shudder ran down my spine. “How… romantic.”
He paused, cradling my face with both hands. “You’re my most precious possession, a creature unlike any other. I will go to any length to protect your existence.”
I offered him a tight smile. It was funny how those words used to fill my chest with warmth when Valentine was a preternatural or a disembodied soul residing in a heart. Now that he was mostly whole, they sounded downright creepy.
Still, it was better to hear those words out in the hallway than trapped behind wards I couldn’t yet escape. I patted Valentine’s hand. “You say the sweetest things.”
As we strode down a hallway lined with armed guards, I turned to him and asked, “What about my friends?”
“Neither of them are prisoners.” He rubbed the small of my back with his large hand. “Their keys allow them to exit at any time.”
My jaw clenched at his unspoken confirmation that I was his captive. “When will I get one of those keys?”
He smirked. “Never.”
I patted him on the chest. “How reassuring.”
Caiman emerged from around the corner, now wearing a holster over his butler’s uniform. A pair of swords dangled from a belt slung beneath his waistcoat. My stomach tightened. The ancient butler had never before carried weapons.
“Sire, your presence is urgently required—”
Valentine raised a hand. “I’m on my way.”
The butler turned on his heel, and we followed him around the corner and into the room of mirrors where we’d had that confrontation with Prince Draconius the night before. At least I thought that had been yesterday. Mrs. Meg’s enchanted tea could have kept me asleep for a week and I wouldn’t know the difference.
Eight armed guards wearing gray instead of the usual black stood in pairs at each corner of the room, a mix of vampires and wizards and demon hybrids. Among them stood Captain Zella and Corporal Penumbra, who both carried automatic rifles charged with magazines that glowed white.
Without acknowledging my presence, Captain Zella stepped through one of the mirrors, and a second later, stuck her head through and beckoned at us to proceed.
“Where did all these extra guards come from?” I whispered to Valentine.
“The Royal House of Sargon keeps mercenaries from around the Supernatural World on retainer.” Valentine swept his arm toward Captain Zella’s mirror, gesturing for me to go first. “Take the captain’s hand and let her escort you into the meeting.”
I stepped forward, placing my hand on the woman’s outstretched palm. She pulled me into the circular room of white floors and ceilings, and steadied me on my feet.
“What’s going on?” I glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows, which were now obscured with white shutters. “Where are all the guards who were here the last time?”
The only source of illumination in the room came from a gigantic white lightbulb that was almost the circumference of the round table.
Captain Zella glanced over my shoulder, presumably at her colleague, who was escorting Valentine into the room. “Logris is on a level ten lockdown.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.” She stepped aside, and Valentine placed a hand on my shoulder and walked me toward the table.
The Witch Queen was already sitting beside the Shifter King, who gave Valentine a wide grin. She inclined her head at me in greeting. My lips tightened with a touch of resentment, and I gave her a slight nod.
Maybe I was being unreasonable. The Witch Queen might not have accepted me back on the Striga census because I was engaged to Valentine and was therefore the responsibility of Lamia. Maybe my exclusion had been an administrative oversight. Either way, it still rankled that Aunt Arianna and I had paid all those taxes that should have covered hospital bills, and because Valentine had financed my treatment, he now thought I owed him my body.
Valentine pulled out a chair and invited me to sit. I hesitated for a moment, making a tally of the seven seats before remembering that the Mage King was no longer alive to complain that I was taking up a valuable space.
As soon as Valentine sat, the Angel King, Fae King, and Hades appeared in their places. I straightened in my seat, trying to make eye contact with Hades, but he leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
“Thank you all for coming.” The Witch Queen’s silvery eyes dimmed. Today, she wore her white hair in a loose bun with thin tendrils framing her face. Her mahogany skin looked ashen, with deep frown lines that gave her the appearance of a woman in her fifties.
“This had better be important,” Hades drawled, his gaze drifting away from the ceiling and toward me. “I was entertaining a fascinating and exceedingly important young woman.”
I placed my damp palms on my lap and swallowed. Maybe it was a good sign he was trying to make me jealous—it meant he wasn’t interested in telling the others what really happened to the Mage King.
“No one has time to listen to your filth,” the Shifter King snarled.
“Well said.” Valentine inclined his head at the other monarch. “What intelligence have the enforcers gathered about Kresnik’s abduction of the Mage King?”
I held my breath. Right now, I would gladly listen to Hades boast about his prowess with women than hear anything related to the man I had murdered.
The Demon King leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. “Yes…” He lengthened the syllable, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “What in Hades happened to the poor fellow?”
Muscles stiffening, I clenched my hands into fists beneath the table and tried to remain as small and as unmoving as possible. If the monarchs continued to bicker, perhaps they would forget I was here and not ask me any questions.
The Shifter King flared his nostrils, shooting me a suspicious glance.
Sweat beaded on my brow, and my breaths became shallow. He knew. He knew I murdered the Mage King because his superior shifter senses could smell my fear, hear my elevated heartbeat… He could probably taste my guilt.
Hades turned to me and winked, making my insides explode with panic.
“It was the most peculiar thing.” The Witch Queen wrung her hands. “He’s usually so conscientious and punctual.” She launched into a story about how the Mage King didn’t turn up for an appointment, and none of his staff could remember the last time they saw him.
The pounding between my ears muffled whatever she said next. My throat burned, and a coppery scent filled my nostrils. I don’t know if it was blood or metal or some supernatural manifestation of guilt, but if Hades didn’t keep making faces at me, I would shift into a phoenix and burn my way out of the enclosed space.
Captain Zella approached the table. “We searched his palace and found records of information on children suspected of having fire who had been smuggled out of Logris.”
“What’s that?” Hades cupped a hand behind his ear. “Are you suggesting that he was passing information on to Kresnik’s allies?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions,” said Valentine.
“Am I?” Hades turned to me and grinned. “Miss Griffin, we haven’t heard from you yet. What do you think of the Mage King’s disappearance? Was it Kresnik-induced or something more nefarious?”
Every head at the table turned to look at me, making a palpitation squeeze my chest. Of all the stunts the Demon King ever pulled, this had to be the worst.
I placed a hand over my heart. “Why are you asking me?”
“You’re our resident expert on Kresnik, are you not?” He placed his palms flat on the table and leaned forward, the flames in his pupils dancing with amusement.
“I barely know the man,” I said.
“If there’s any insight you can share, it might help us locate our colleague,” the Witch Queen said, her voice breaking.
“Yes, Miss Griffin.” Hades nodded, his brows creased into an earnest frown. “Kresnik has already taken my lead enforcer. If he is also responsible for the disappearance of the Mage King, we must put an end to these abductions before he targets one of us.”
The Angel King also leaned forward with a similar frown, except his expression reflected genuine worry compared to Hades’ mockery of concern.
I clenched my teeth, resisting the urge to snarl. Why the hell did that Demon King keep drawing everyone’s attention to me?
With as much calm as I could muster, I spoke. “When I spent time in the Flame, they mentioned having spies within Logris but nobody would confide in me because I wasn’t trusted.”
Silence stretched out, and six sets of eyes burned into my soul—seven, if you included Captain Zella, who stood at my back. What more did these people want from me?
They’d already got a detailed report from Hades about the goings-on at the Flame. I was out of my mind on thrall half the time I spent in that place, and the other half I was too worried about Valentine and preoccupied with unlocking my magic to gather anything useful.
Valentine placed a hand on my shoulder. “Elaborate.”
I licked my dry lips. “Well, the supervisors usually had photos and other documentation on the families of children with fire,” I said, thinking back to the time Aurora showed us photos of Petra’s family in the training room. “They knew when raids would take place, and sent out fire mages to the homes before the enforcers even arrived.”
Hades clapped his hands together, making me flinch. “Evidence that whoever was supplying them with power was higher up than the average enforcer.”
“Thank you, Mera,” said the Angel King. “Are there any other insights you can share?”
My shoulders sagged. “You have to understand that being Kresnik’s daughter isn’t a big deal in a community where practically everyone was his direct descendent. I sat in a room full of young people who Kresnik directly fathered. Even his henchwoman, who was an old lady, was his daughter. We were all tools and power vessels to him.”
The Angel King turned his attention to Hades. “What other information did you gather during your undercover infiltration of the Flame?”
Hades shifted in his seat, his lips tightening. No one but he and I knew that he’d been thoroughly defeated by Kresnik the day he’d come to the Flame, trying to recapture Valentine.
I leaned forward, watching the Demon King spew a bunch of useless facts.
The Shifter King slammed his fists on the table with a massive clang loud enough to make both the Witch Queen and me clutch at our chests. “I say we attack now before he finishes picking us off one by one!”
“We’re not ready for a wide-scale battle,” the Angel King said in a calming voice. “The magical flares alone would risk exposure of the Supernatural—”
“How can you say that with the armies of Heaven and a troop of invisible reapers?” the Shifter King sneered.
“Here we go again.” The Fae King slid down his seat with a weary sigh.
I narrowed my eyes at the silver-haired faerie who hadn’t said a word the entire meeting. Every time I looked at the male, he appeared bored or acted like he had better places to be. What was his problem?
The Shifter King leaped off his seat and balled his fists, looking ready for fisticuffs. “Why are we sitting around talking when we should have teams of enforcers scouring the country? My rodents can infiltrate any building, my birds can take to the skies, yet you all refuse to deploy my teams!”
Guilt clutched at my chest. He was getting worked up over a disappearance that had nothing to do with Kresnik. Kresnik would never have abducted the Mage King. Not when he had been supplying the black-hearted wretch with the power to help him rise from the typing pool to become a monarch.
Valentine stood. “He has a point. We must be proactive and strike at Kresnik and his preternatural army before they regroup and strike at us.”
“You’re a fine one to talk,” Hades muttered under his breath.
An idea slammed into the side of my head, and I stumbled to my feet. “We have someone who worked undercover as Kresnik’s second-in-command.”
The Angel King’s brows drew together. “But the Vampire King’s memories were destroyed during his escape.”
Hades shot me a warning scowl, which I guess was a reminder for me to play along with the story he’d told the Council weeks ago. Everyone thought that I had restored Valentine to life days after he had risen from the dead.
Ignoring him, I turned to the rest of the table. “What if I told you there was a way to restore Valentine’s memory?”
Chapter Twenty
Valentine whirled around and glared at me with eyes cold enough to turn my heart to ice. The muscles of his forearms grew taut, and his hands curled into fists.
My throat dried, my lungs stilled, and my insides churned at the intensity of his f
ury. I’d seen him angry in the past, but those emotions had never been directed at me—until now.
I held my posture rigid, trying not to tremble and forcing myself not to feel the regret churning through my insides. This was probably worse than the time I’d offered myself up to Irdu in exchange for sparing Valentine’s life, but I’d seen an opportunity to pressure Valentine into healing his soul and I had to take it.
At best, Valentine saw me as a plaything or a pet, and at worse a possession. Actually, he suspected I was an agent of Kresnik sent to beguile him into performing a dubious enchantment that would affect his memory and soul.
After the strength of his refusal to listen to me this morning, I still hadn’t earned his trust.
Every face in the room turned to me—even Hades, whose brows rose to his hairline. He gave his head a quick shake, telling me to drop the subject, but I ignored him, too. It was in the Demon King’s best interest to drive a wedge between Valentine and me, and the best way to do that was if Valentine was no longer himself.
“Mera?” asked the Angel King with a frown. “Do you know a way to retrieve the Vampire King’s lost memories?”
Valentine shook his head. “Miss Griffin is mistaken.”
“Miss Griffin?” The Angel King tilted his head to the side and frowned. “Is that how you address your fiancée?”
Valentine’s lips tightened. “I refuse to discuss a private matter.”
“Why would you resist having your mind restored when you could have information that might help us win the upcoming war?” said the Witch Queen.
The glower Valentine shot me made my stomach flip like a crepe, and its soft underside stuck to my diaphragm and wouldn’t fall back into place. His eyes promised a stay in the backup prison he had mentioned as we left the wards.
“Is everyone forgetting that Kresnik is a master at mind control?” Valentine said. “If he engineered my downfall once, he can do it again.”
