I stared at him. He didn’t know the King wanted Archwood wiped off the map anyway. I shook my head. “You’re a fool.”
“You really think that? You don’t know anything.” He pushed off me and rose. Lifting a hand to his cheek, he wiped away the faint trickle of blood from where I scratched him. “Fucking bitch,” he muttered.
I sat up, clutching the edge of the cushion. “You didn’t tell them I could read thoughts, did you?”
“No.” He glanced at the door.
“Why?” When he didn’t say anything, it occurred to me. “It’s because you don’t trust the Hyhborn, do you? You were hoping I would listen in on their thoughts and warn you if they were planning to betray you?”
Hymel didn’t answer, so I rose. He hadn’t gone far, and when he faced me, he likely thought I was about to hit him again. He lifted a hand, but I wasn’t about to strike him. Instead, I grasped his hand with my senses wide open and I pushed, shattering that shield.
I didn’t see or hear the answer to my question.
I saw something else entirely.
I felt it.
A laugh parted my lips, spilling out from me.
Hymel jerked his hand free, backing up as he stared at me. “What did you see?” The skin above his beard paled. “What did you see?” He took a step toward me—
The door behind him opened then, stopping him. My gaze lifted, and my laugh died on my lips. The sight of the cloaked Rae waiting in the hall sent my heart racing, but what came into the chamber behind Hymel caused me to take a step back.
The too-shallow breath I took felt heavier, thicker, and tasted of . . . of something I hadn’t thought about in years— mints the Prioress used to keep in the pockets of her robes. Power suddenly drenched the air, seeping along the walls and across the floor, soaking every nook and cranny of the space. My skin danced with static.
Cloaked shoulders almost too wide to fit filled the entrance; the male was so tall he had to dip his head to step through the door-frame. He straightened, revealing sculpted, sharp features, and hair a light, silvery blond.
I recognized him.
It was the Hyhborn I’d seen in the Great Chamber, earlier this evening. He’d looked at me and had smiled. The one I thought looked so much like Lord Samriel, and he did. His hair was shorter, though, reaching his shoulders, and his face even thinner, crescent-shaped.
“Lord Arion.” Hymel bowed quickly.
I would swear the lunea blade heated in its sheath as I took another step back.
“So this is her?” Lord Arion asked, his appraisal cooler than Lord Samriel’s.
“Yes, my lord.”
His head tilted in a distinctively serpentlike manner. “For your sake,” he said to me, “I hope he is correct. My brother seems to think so, but we shall see.”
Lord Arion was so quick, and there was no place for me to go. He was standing before me in a heartbeat, one hand at my throat, his eyes identical to Lord Samriel’s. “Well, let’s not delay this, shall we?”
“What— ?” I gasped.
His other hand flattened against my temple. His lips moved. He spoke low and quick in a language that sounded like Enochian—
A sudden sharp pain darted across the back of my skull, then over the front of my face. Pressure built inside me. I cried out, squeezing my eyes shut as the pain traveled there. Bright white lights exploded behind my closed lids. The agony, it felt like a fire. My legs shook, and I thought I would fall. That I’d fall and be burned from the inside—
Then the pain eased off as quickly as it had started, leaving only a dull ache behind, in my temples and below my brow.
“Open your eyes,” Lord Arion demanded.
I blinked them open, half afraid to discover that I was now blind, but I wasn’t. My eyes locked with the Lord’s.
“My brother tells me you were given to the Priory as a babe.” Lord Arion stared down at me, his lips parted. “He was right. They tried to hide you, but you’re no longer hidden. I see you for what you are.” The grip on my throat vanished. “Our liege will be very pleased that we’ve found him an unbound ny’seraph.”
I stumbled back, hitting the settee but keeping my balance.
Lord Arion smiled, turning away. He spoke to the Rae in Enochian. Half of them departed quietly, leaving two remaining.
“Where are they going?” Hymel asked.
The Lord turned his head to him. “They are going to share the good news.”
“All right.” Hymel nodded, a tentative smile appearing. “Then I should go to them, to close out our deal.”