Page 84

“Err—thanks.”

I pretend to read the fake dust jacket, and Lori snorts. “Oh, come on. Do you think I’m too dumb not to notice that you’ve brought her a book she isn’t supposed to have access to yet?” We both stare at her for a moment, and she rolls her eyes. “I’m not an idiot, guys.”

“Sorry,” I say quickly.

She stands up and gathers her things. “Hey, I don’t want to know any more. There is no way I will spend the next quarter on library duty again. Uh-uh.”

“How did you get stuck on library duty, anyway?” Jo asks, and I clench my teeth, remembering how torn up Lori looked the last time we broached the subject.

“Nope. Still not answering that question.” She shakes her head forcefully and walks away from our contraband book club.

Jo doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave, which I take as a good sign. “One is back.” He shrugs on a black t-shirt before taking Lori’s empty seat. “I saw him last night.”

My eyes bulge, my spine suddenly straight as a bolt. “And Mara?”

The light in his eyes dims, and he inches closer. “When I saw One was back, alone, I asked Two about her. Mara is gone, Nell. She washed out of training two weeks ago.” He pauses, hesitating. “Since there’s only three seeds this year, the king decided not to broadcast it too publicly, so keep it to yourself, please. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about it.”

The quasi-continuous strain I’ve endured in my ribs the last two weeks eases at the knowledge that One and Mara are not together, after all.

Jo moves to stand up, but I grip his arm to stop his retreat. “Wait a minute. Could it explain why the king closed the library?”

“Probably. To have a seed wash out before Morheim…it’s going to worry the High Fae.”

“So it’s not about me and the dance?”

He relaxes in his seat, beaming. “You’re in the clear, milady.”

All the tension I’ve been carrying around drains from my body, my breaths coming more freely than they have in days. The High Fae ban is not about me, and the king hasn’t shown his face once in the last thirteen days, so maybe after my next trip to Demeter, everything can go back to normal.

I observe Jo from underneath my lashes, suddenly feeling much better. “You look…wary.”

“Truth is; I’m worried about our future. The king’s magic has grown weak, and Morheim is coming soon. Our tepid hunts won’t be enough to keep his court happy. The Sombras’ influence dwindles with every passing season, and the talk in Fanstamagorie is that a formal challenge could be issued to the king. If they find out that he can’t even keep the few seeds he has, he might have to abdicate.”

My heart fanfares. “Abdicate? But who would replace him?”

He thinks for a moment, his eyes half-mast. “Another High Fae, I guess.”

“And what would happen to his knights? To us?”

What would it mean for me and the bet? If the Shadow King was overthrown, would it nullify our deal? Or would his successor inherit my fealty, along with his magic?

Worst thing is… I’m not sure which possibility scares me the most.

“One would die before he swore fealty to a new king. Two’s a wildcard, and Three only cares about fucking beautiful girls—” Jo says.

A fiery blush sears my cheeks, and my gaze flies to the ground between us.

He offers me a sheepish grimace. “Christ—I offended you.”

“It’s okay.” I shake off the hot line of embarrassment, but the slight shred of hope from earlier burns and dies in my chest. If Damian is about to lose his throne, then it means that he’s even more motivated to trick me into losing the bet. “Thank you for the book. I’m going to check on Lori.”

I excuse myself and build a fort in the library, reading through Jo’s book for the entire day, desperate to find a clue as to how courting me could help the king keep his crown.

Damian the Dauntless: the Rise of our Dark Sovereign is the second-floor book I coveted for weeks when I first arrived. It’s a fluff piece about the king’s exploits, detailing his rise to power through sheer force of will, incredible cleverness, and some ill-advised choices. It’s written in a boisterous style, and I find it impossible to reconcile its depiction of the Shadow King with the stoic, elusive monarch I’ve met.

Historians always exaggerate the virtue of their current rulers while minimizing their faults, but this book is just…wrong.

“You look ready to pull your hair out,” Lori says over my shoulder. “Wait a minute…is that the book Jo lent you? It’s nonsense.”