Crimson Truth (Onyx Assassins 4)

I rolled my eyes. “The Cornswallows and the Leifstars live to disagree.” I shook my head. Most of the time, the covens lived in a peaceful and carefully spaced out existence on my territory, but when we had to all come together on issues that affected the people as a whole? Goddess, it was taxing. Sometimes I swore the witches and warlocks argued merely to hear their own voices.

“That is true,” Luna said, and I resumed my unpacking. I’d been given the same room I’d slept in before and had been too tired to unpack last night. The stone walls were covered in luxurious lavender and midnight tapestries and the one the bed was pressed up against connected with Benedict’s room on the other side. I tried not to think about the calm, cool lie detector next door.

“What are your thoughts on it?” I asked, knowing Luna would have already three plans of action. She was fantastic like that.

“I believe we should do the protection spell, but only after we’ve gathered all of the Greenbriers to help us repair the damaged earth beneath the mountain. Healing it and giving it a boost of life is the only way to sustain mineral production within the mountain.”

I smiled from ear to ear. She was so damn good.

“Of course,” she went on, a hint of annoyance in her tone. “Mother didn’t let me speak a word of that. She was content to sit and watch the drama unfold. I swear, she’d rather sip her tea and watch the other covens tangle themselves into a blood feud than actually do the work that needs to be done for our people. I had half a mind to will her emotions into agreeable submission just so she’d allow me to speak.”

I dropped the set of clothes I held into a black walnut dresser drawer, my lips parting open. “Damn, sis!”

“Don’t tell her I said that.”

I scoffed. “Like I ever would. We’re not known for our heart to hearts.” I wasn’t even sure my mother had a heart. Maybe she once had, but sometime after I was born, it had turned to ice. “I agree with your plan. This is why you should be queen and not me. You have compassion and insight. Your abilities are centered on soothing people’s emotions whereas I can only counteract other supernatural abilities. I’m a weapon, you’re a beacon of light.”

“You’re only a weapon if you let someone wield you,” she corrected me, and I shook my head while I slid my now empty suitcase underneath the enormous four poster bed. Everything I needed to scry and cast had been delivered a few hours ago, and after a good sleep-sesh—where I slept through the night and on and off throughout the entirety of the day—I was feeling more like myself than I had since Avi had been taken. I flung myself onto the fluffy monstrosity of a bed, sighing against the soft pile of blankets that cushioned my back.

“You know I’m right,” I said.

“I think you’d make an excellent queen,” she said, her voice lifting. “Especially since I’d be your first choice as advisor.”

I laughed at that, but nodded all the same. “If I ever do take the throne, I’ll be succeeding it to you within the following five minutes.”

Luna laughed. “So, how is it at the vampire residence? Is it as terrifying as mother has always made it out to be?”

I glanced around the ornate room, noting all the details from the tapestries to the lush furniture, to the black walnut dressers and bookcases filled with ancient looking texts. The bed on which I laid on was incredibly comfortable, and while I’d been raised to be terrified of vampires, I never honestly had been. That’s why I was always getting into trouble when I crossed territory lines to confer with the other supernaturals. I didn’t believe in hard rules or judgment. “It’s actually quite cozy,” I admitted finally.

“Cozy?” Luna asked with a shudder in her voice.

“Yeah,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll have to bring you here sometime. Everything in their estate looks like it was selected with intent for comfort or pleasure. It’s a real home.” Nothing like the cold lines of our palace, all the rooms void of any personal touches beyond putting our royal status and power on display.

“I’m good,” she said. “But I’m glad you’re okay. I was quite surprised Mother so easily handed your services over. She usually likes to keep you all to herself.”

Indeed. I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering if there was a strategy there or if my mother secretly hoped I’d be killed while helping them. It would definitely solve the problem that I was in her life. But, unfortunately for her, killing me wasn’t an easy task.

“I hope you find the princess,” she continued. “I know you and her are close.”