Crimson Truth (Onyx Assassins 4)

Of course, it was all utter bullshit.

The only real reason this winding staircase had been laid into the earth was to make sure every single creature that climbed it knew their place—at the bottom, struggling to get to the top, where the queen’s palace rested. Brutal, but an effective way to ensure that no one without true cause would venture up to the palace. It was much easier to access our coven’s market on the plateau of the forest—a bustling hub of wares, trades, and proper debauchery. We had a variety of businesses in the city of Edgemont in our designated territory there, and I was never one to say no to extended stays there when needed. But when it came to our hidden territory in the ancient forests outside the city? I’d rather sleep at the inn within the market than in my own luxurious rooms in the palace. One thrived with life, and the other was a cold, sterile palace of ice with only one warm spot, and that was my sister.

“Are you wishing you could wend?” I asked Benedict after we’d made it to the halfway point of the stairs. “Or are you regretting your decision to come with me?” I asked, even though it wasn’t really his decision. Avi was safe, thank the Goddess, and now turned spy, despite her brother’s outrage. And she hinted at a traitor among my kind, so the lie-detecting, infuriatingly delicious vampire didn’t really have a choice in coming with me. He had to if we were going to get to the bottom of what led to Avi’s kidnapping.

“I don’t believe in regrets,” he answered, and I bit back a laugh.

“Such a Benedict answer,” I said. My muscles were definitely burning, but I didn’t mind a good round of cardio. Of course, I’d much rather get my cardio elsewhere. Like with Benedict on his knees, my thighs on either side of his face as he licked and fuc—

“It’s so slick,” he said, and I about swallowed my own tongue, half-terrified the lie detector had become a mind reader. He cocked a brow at me, lifting one of his perfectly polished dress boots. “This is no way to treat leather.”

There I went laughing again. “I told you to dress for a hike.”

“I have boots on.”

I shook my head. “One day I’ll see you in something other than a suit.”

“How would you prefer to see me, oh powerful witch princess?”

I glared at him, increasing my pace just to hear those shoes slide along the moss-covered stairs. “Gray sweatpants are always a win,” I answered.

“What?”

“Never mind,” I said. “We’re almost there. Then I can fetch you a towel for your precious boots.”

I swore I heard him grumble something that sounded like insufferable when we reached the top.

But his entire teasing demeanor shifted then, those cunning, sharp eyes on the palace before us. With Conclave held at a neutral location, there really never had been a need for any of the Assassins to venture into our territory, especially not the palace. But we needed the lie detector’s skills today, so I supposed I shouldn’t fault him the moment he took to note every detail about the place.

And I meant every detail. From the ivy-covered stone walls to the wide colored windows, to the trees growing in and through the rich wooden decks wrapped around the palace, to the many guards stationed in strategic places on the sweeping forest grounds—his eyes scanned every inch.

After a few moments, I tugged on his arm, leading him past two guards at the main entrance who bowed as I passed.

“Not what you pictured?” I asked as I swung open the double wooden doors covered in more ivy, the greenery snapping as we walked through.

“It looks like the forest and the home have combined into some actual living thing.”

I raised my brows, nodding. “Not too far off,” I said. “Our land is steeped in magic and nature is a powerful conduit. The palace has belonged to queens for generations, so naturally the land around it would cling to such power.”

“Quite,” Benedict said, scanning the interior. Unlike the outside, which reflected the palace’s heritage—the forest, the mountains, the land—the inside was flat, boring, cold.

“The palace’s interior is spelled to suit the current queen’s needs,” I explained when Benedict frowned at the bare white walls and the almost hospital-sterile white marble floors. “And there is very little my mother needs. Unless you count excuses to torment me.”

“Interesting,” he said, and from the way those eyes were lit, I’d guess he was telling the truth. Which, you know, is kind of some bullshit that I had to guess at the truth with him when he could simply know.

I led us through the palace’s interior and beyond to the floor-to-ceiling glass doors that opened up to a great stone patio. Luna was already sitting to the left of a dominating wooden and velvet cushioned chair, which was more decorated than all the rest because it belonged to my mother, not that she was here, thank the Goddess. Business had taken her away from coven matters today—whatever the hell that meant—so it was a lucky day in my book. The chair to the right of the throne was empty, saved for me. Four of our twelve coven leaders were here, sitting in their coven’s assigned chairs, and the rest remained empty.