“Somewhere safe. Apparently, the Vipe found it in herself to put him into the care of people who will look after him.”
“Who?” His face was white with rage. Tharion’s eyes had widened.
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Then I’ll make her tell me.”
Ruhn laughed. “No one makes the Viper Queen do anything.”
Into her mind, her brother said, Cormac might not know you well enough to tell when you’re lying, but I do.
It’s not a lie. Emile is safe.
He’s just not where you’re claiming.
Oh, he was with the Viper Queen. And now he’s somewhere else.
Cormac shook his head. “Why would the Viper Queen have any interest in that boy?”
“Because she likes to collect powerful beings to fight in her pits,” Hunt snarled. “Now put the fucking knife away.”
To her relief, the prince lowered the knife from her neck with an easy flip of the blade. “But why would she let go of someone so powerful, if she likes to use them in fights?”
Bryce said, “Because Emile has no powers.”
Are you shitting me? Ruhn asked.
Nope. Kid’s totally human.
Cormac’s eyes narrowed. “Sofie said—”
“She lied,” Bryce said.
Cormac’s shoulders slumped. “I need to find him. I shouldn’t have put off questioning Spetsos—”
“Emile is safe, and cared for,” Bryce interrupted, “and that’s all you need to know.”
“I owe it to Sofie—”
“You owe it to Sofie to keep Emile out of this rebellion. Your life is hardly what I’d call a stable environment. Let him stay hidden.”
Cormac said to Tharion, “What are you going to tell your queen?”
Tharion offered him a razor-sharp smile. “Absolutely nothing.” A threat of violence simmered beneath the words. If Cormac breathed anything to the mer, to the River Queen, the Avallen Prince would find himself in a watery grave.
Cormac sighed. And to her shock, he said, “I apologize for the knife.” To Hunt, he said, “And I apologize for threatening your mate.”
Ruhn asked, “Don’t I get an apology?” Cormac bristled, but Ruhn grinned.
Bryce caught Hunt watching her, his expression proud. Like she’d done something worthy. Had it been her smooth weaving of lies and truth?
“Apology accepted,” Bryce said, forcing herself to sound chipper. Steering away from the topic of Emile. “Now back to training.”
Cormac shrugged, pointing to the spots he’d taped off: X’s on the floor, atop chairs, atop piled mats, beneath a table.
Bryce groaned, but marked them, cataloged the path she’d take.
“Well, that was exciting,” Tharion announced, groaning as he got to his feet. “Right. I’m out.”
Hunt arched a brow. “Where to?”
“I’m still technically employed by the River Queen. Regardless of what happened with Emile, there are other matters to attend to.”
Bryce waved at him. But Ruhn said, “Dinner tonight?”
Tharion winked. “You got it.” Then he sauntered through the metal doors and was gone.
“All right, Athalar,” Bryce muttered when the mer had shut the doors. “Time to level up.”
Hunt laughed, but his lightning flared again. “Let’s do this, Your Highness.”
There was something in the way he said Your Highness that made her realize that the expression on his face a moment before hadn’t been pride in her manipulation—it had been pride in the way she’d defused things without violence. Like he thought she might actually deserve the title she now bore.
Bryce tucked the thought aside. By the time the bolt of lightning slammed into her chest, she was already running.
Despite the exhaustion weighing on his very bones, despite the urgency that had sent him and Hypaxia racing here, Ithan couldn’t help gaping from the doorway as the party girl he’d loved moved through the Aux training space like the wind, vanishing and appearing at will. At his side, Hypaxia monitored the remarkable feats, studying Bryce intently.
Bryce finished the obstacle course and halted at Hunt’s side, bending over her knees to catch her breath.
Hypaxia cleared her throat, stepping into the gymnasium. Even the queen looked … ruffled after the endless, terrifying night they’d had.
They’d passed Tharion on his way out. The mer had been speaking in low tones to someone on the phone, and had raised his brows with concern at the sight of the dirt and sweat on them. But whoever had been on the phone must have been important enough that he couldn’t hang up, and Tharion had only continued on after Hypaxia had given him a gesture that seemed to assure him that she was fine. The mer had stopped and peered back over a shoulder at Ithan, as if needing to confirm the queen’s claim, but Ithan had nothing to offer him. What the Hel could he say? They weren’t fine. Not at all. So they’d left Tharion in the hall, the mer staring after them for a long moment.