Bryce pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. But Cormac—he did indeed take a breath. Another. Bryce glanced at Ithan, but his attention remained on Cormac as the prince breathed, studying his every movement like he was an opponent on the sunball field.
Ruhn, however, met her stare, surprise lighting his features. He said into her head, I did not see this coming.
Bryce might have replied, but the shadows on Cormac’s arms faded. His broad shoulders relaxed. Then he stalked to the dining table and sat. His eyes were clear—calmer.
The star on her chest winked out as well. As if reassured that all was well.
“Good,” Hunt said in that take-no-shit tone that did funny things to her insides. “First things first: How’d you get in? This place is warded to Hel and back.”
“That cat—or not-cat. That somehow knew who—what I am.” A glimmer of displeasure in his face hinted that the prince was only leaving that question aside for the moment. “It left a gaping hole in the wards.”
Hunt nodded, like this wasn’t a big fucking deal. “And why did you come here, at this exact moment?” He’d gone into full-on interrogation mode. How many times had he done this in the 33rd?
Cormac pointed to Tharion. “Because I believe we’re hunting for the same person: Emile Renast. I want to know what you know.”
Bryce couldn’t stop her low sound of surprise. But Tharion’s face remained stony. The expression of the River Queen’s Captain of Intelligence. He asked, “Did Pippa Spetsos send you?”
Cormac barked a laugh. “No. Pippa is the reason Emile fled the Bodegraven.”
“So who sent you to find Emile?” Hunt asked.
“No one,” Cormac said, taking another long breath. “I was sent to this city for another reason, for many reasons, but this matter of finding Emile …” His jaw worked. “Sofie and I were close. I helped her free Emile from Kavalla. And before she …” He swallowed. “I made her a promise—not only as one agent to another, but as a … friend. To look after Emile. I failed her. In every way, I failed her.”
Either he’s an amazing actor, Ruhn said into her head, or he was in love with Sofie.
Agreed, Bryce said.
“Why did Emile run from Pippa?” Tharion asked.
Cormac ran his hands through his blond hair. “He was afraid of her. He’s wise to be. Pippa is a fanatic on a fast track to promotion into Ophion Command. With so many of our bases recently destroyed, Ophion is nervous enough to start considering her ideas—and I worry they’ll soon start following her as well. There are no lines she and her unit of Lightfall soldiers won’t cross. Did your news over here get wind of that story about the leopard massacre a year ago?”
Bryce couldn’t stop her shudder. Ithan said quietly, “Yeah.”
Cormac said, “That was Pippa’s idea, carried out by Lightfall. To use those Vanir kids and babies to lure their parents out of their hidden dens—and then kill them all. Simply for sport. For the Hel of it. Because they were Vanir and deserved to die. Even the children. She said it was part of cleansing this world. Working their way up to the top: the Asteri. Hence the Lightfall name.”
Hunt looked to Tharion—who nodded gravely. Apparently, the Captain of Intelligence had heard that, too.
Cormac went on, “Pippa sees Emile as a weapon. The night of the escape, he took down those imperial Omegas, and she was practically beside herself with excitement. She spooked him with her eagerness to get him onto a battlefield, and he fled on an escape boat before I could convince him that I was there to help. The boy sailed to the nearest port, then stole another boat.”
“Resourceful kid,” Ithan muttered.
“I tracked him as far as these shores.” Cormac jerked his chin at Tharion. “I saw you in the marshes at the abandoned boat. I figured you were on his trail as well. And I watched you find the remains of the Lightfall soldier’s body—so you must have at least guessed that Pippa wants Emile for her Lightfall unit. If she catches him, she’ll drag him back to Ophion’s main base and turn him into a weapon. Into exactly what the Asteri feared when they hunted down the thunderbirds centuries ago.”
His gaze shifted to Hunt. “You asked why I came here, at this exact moment? Because when the mer kept returning here, I figured you lot might be involved somehow—some of the very people I was sent here to meet. I hoped Emile might even be here.” Again, his jaw tightened. “If you know where Emile is, tell me. He’s not safe.”