She holds in her sobs as I straighten and walk away. Hank doesn’t know it, but he’ll be dying too.
It’ll be a parting gift to my mate.
Fucking Ella.
Forcing me to scramble to recover.
If she hadn’t s
lipped and given away her source by telling me she knew he wanted to die, then I’d have had nothing to deal with the fiasco that my obsession with her just brought about.
Slamming my door behind me as I enter the cabin, I drop to a seat, immediately pouring a double shot of bourbon. At least the liquor has improved over the centuries.
I’m not so impressed with much else since I’m not a mortal.
It still takes a lot of it to even bring me any real sense of inebriation, though.
Kya walks in, gauging me warily as she lowers herself to a seat. “The stars aren’t sticking to their patterns. The last portal knocked everything out of whack. I have people checking in and searching for answers on when the next portal can be opened.”
“I’ll figure it out,” I say dismissively, staring at a spot on the wall and still refusing to close my eyes and see her.
“What about Gavin? I can’t do anything to betray them, but I will give you information.”
“Is that not betrayal?” I ask her absently.
“We’re still in a truce. A shaky one, but a truce. It’s not a betrayal to offer useful and helpful information with an ally. They’re sharing this information knowing I’ll share it with you.”
“Was Ella really a distraction?” I decide to ask, cutting my gaze toward her.
“I didn’t know that until after they were done. I was here when they got the tip on his location and made a plan to go after him without you interrupting. That forest was tricky enough to—”
“She was captured by a Type A incubus,” I say coolly, causing her to clear her throat.
“Clearly, a threat like that is not supposed to exist in that forest. The forest is the worst of it, and it won’t kill a royal when it was created by one. Well, that’s not a guarantee but a very promising theory.”
“You knew the forest was created by Alyssa?” I ask, then curse my own self for fixating on that. “Never mind. None of it matters. I’ll be here if anyone needs me.”
My star charts are suddenly back in my lap, and I resume my interrupted work.
“Follow Ella,” I tell her. “The second she leads you to Alton, call me. I’ll take it from there.”
“What?” she asks, confused. “We agreed I wouldn’t—”
“Betray your lover?” I supply dryly.
“Technically, we’re apparently mates because he’s part dragon shifter and—”
At my look, she closes her mouth. I don’t need to hear the word mate, but she doesn’t know that’s what’s irking me.
“Ella is doing this behind her family’s back,” I remind her. “Alton is just as dangerous as I am, but I doubt he’d feel as obliged to spare her life as I have.”
“Funny. We once had the argument about her saving us, and I was the one defending her. Today you used my argument to make your point. Sounded a little artificial, if I’m being honest.”
“You sound more like one of them every day, if I’m being honest,” I retort, eyes still on my charts as I try to figure out the new pattern.
Snorting, she sits down closer.
“Simone was crying. Simone doesn’t cry,” she goes on.