“Yes. Please, follow me,” the elf said.
And then we were moving, passing a stone-faced Roger. His dual-colored gaze caught mine for a moment, and I heard, Watch yourself, Reagan, before I was swept through the doors and out of his sight.
No Darius, and now no Roger. Another of my protections stripped away.
“When you give up the solitary life, it turns out to be no fun going back to the solitary life, especially when danger is mounting all around you,” I murmured.
Halvor dropped back beside me again, leaving Penny and Emery directly behind me.
“Why are we in formation when we won’t be fighting?” I asked him.
“You never know when you will, or will not, be fighting,” he replied, and regardless of Romulus’s hopeful outlook, it seemed Halvor was no dope. He expected the worst. He probably didn’t understand why we were here any more than I did. Except it was obvious the fae trusted their prophet, drug habit and all.
The wide, curving staircase took us up to the third floor, and no, I would not be flying out of the window at this height, but it surprised me that no one had suggested that I could hover my way down. Maybe they didn’t realize I had that talent. From what I’d been told, the other heirs of Lucifer hadn’t possessed the full range of his magic.
A red carpet cut down the middle of the wide hallway, chandeliers dotting the way, sparkling in the orange light from the windows. Large oil paintings hung on the cream walls, elves in battle dress, or picking grapes, or tending odd-looking animals I’d never seen while passing through the Realm.
“I see you have redecorated,” Romulus commented flatly.
This hall used to be full of paintings of the fae fighting beside or working with the elves, Emery thought, glancing first at the paintings, and then at the window across from us. This is quite the statement they are making.
“Not a good statement,” I murmured.
No.
“What?” Dizzy whispered, pushing through Emery and Penny to get closer. “What’s up? Is it just me, or is everyone tense? It’s making me nervous, Reagan. Thank God we came, huh?”
I didn’t know about that. I was certainly glad for more firepower—I was sure we all were—but I didn’t want them in danger, either. I hadn’t trekked through the Underworld to spare them just so I could force them into a similar situation down the line.
My heart thumped wildly as we reached a wide archway with a heavy wood door I would definitely try to kick in at some point. I had a feeling it would be a serious challenge. The elf stopped at the door, the procession stopping with him, and I was forced to do the same.
“If you need anything, just ring for assistance,” the elf said.
“Yes, of course,” Romulus replied.
We started up again, the fae pushing in tighter around me as we neared the entrance. Not many could fit at a time, however, and when I passed through, I got a good look at the tall, slender creature with the magically flowing white hair and hard, nearly black eyes. Its power pulsed, like needles prickling every inch of my body. Halvor hissed through his teeth, and my magic swelled, ready for action.
Do not respond, Emery thought, the words barely registering beneath the rush of magic.
“I will see you soon, Rogue Natural,” the elf said softly as Emery passed it by. “It will be a pleasure to watch you swing.”
In that moment, it took everything in me not to kill the elf on the spot. As I continued on, it wasn’t his stare that stayed with me, or the threatening pulse of his magic. It was the elf’s assurance that Emery would die, sooner or later.
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
It didn’t help.
“That will happen literally over my dead body,” I ground out, red tingeing my vision. “We’ll burn this place to the ground if they go after you, Emery, don’t you worry. We’ll leave a pile of rubble with all those nasty bastards trapped under the stones.”
“See?” Penny said to Emery. “Told you.”
The solid door closed behind us, and one of the fae slid the metal bar into place, securely locking them out. Halvor sighed, and it was the first time I’d seen him react to stress.
“Well.” Romulus looked over the finery around us, the gold filigree on the trim, the solid and artistic woodworking, the plush rugs underfoot. “This is much, much worse than I thought.”
“The king and queen are going to charge you for something,” Emery told Romulus, looking out the window in the grand sitting room. Down the hall, several doors stood open, clearly leading to the bedrooms. “They’ll offer you the option to be punished, or to head home and stay out of their business. It’ll likely be an offer you can’t refuse. I’m not positive, but that’s my guess.”