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“Fabulous.” Mara picks up her flute of champagne. “Now, on to the real news: Desmond, you killed Karnon?”

Next to me, the Bargainer says nothing, looking both savage and insolent.

“Desmond,” Mara presses. She appears almost predatory, waiting on his answer.

Idly, he picks up my hand and plays with it, a small gesture that draws our audience’s attention. “Yes, I killed him. He hurt my mate.”

“Hmm.” Mara takes a sip of her drink. Her eyes move to me, calculating, curious. “What was it like, being Karnon’s prisoner?” she asks me.

My heart’s racing. I take a steadying breath. “It was hell. Absolute hell.” I’m proud that my voice doesn’t waver. I might feel like a mess, but I sound sure of myself.

Mara leans forward, a sick light to her eyes. “Did he rape you?”

“Enough.” Power rides Des’s voice.

The Flora Queen sits back in her seat, taking another sip of her champagne.

My skin crawls at her question, at her disturbing interest.

“I believe Karnon was behind the women’s disappearances,” she says, “but the fact remains, the spell hasn’t lifted. Someone else is still out there pulling strings.”

A chill runs through the room.

“Our investigation has assumed as much,” Des says.

“As has mine,” Janus adds.

The two rulers’ eyes meet. I’m pretty sure oil and water do a better job of mixing than these two.

I get the impression this rivalry predates me. Light and darkness, constantly battling each other.

“What I find interesting,” the Green Man cuts in, “are the casket children.”

All eyes move to him. So far, he hasn’t added much to the conversation.

He tosses his utensils onto his cleaned plate. “Those children drink blood and prophesize—traits closely associated with the Night Kingdom.”

He lets that little revelation linger in the air.

Traits closely associated with the Night Kingdom.

His meaning is clear: whoever fathered those children was a Night fae, and the only Night fairy powerful enough to wield the kind of magic the Thief of Souls does would be…

Des’s mouth curves into a vicious smile, his whole face turning sinister. “So you believe it was me. That I raped those women and fathered those children?”

The idea isn’t just ridiculous, it’s abhorrent.

“It wouldn’t have to be rape,” Mara says contemplatively. She eyes Des, her gaze disrobing him. My hackles rise at the sight. “I’ve heard tales of your conquests. Who can resist the Night King with all his charms?”

My fingers curl around the edges of my seat, and I fight to keep my anger at bay.

“Surely you guys can’t be serious?” I say. “Any of the women taken can tell you—Karnon and Karnon alone touched them.”

“And yet my mate’s point remains the same,” Mara says. “The casket children have Night fae—not Fauna fae—traits.”

This is the same conundrum I grappled with when I went to see the children in the royal nursery. I hate that it’s now being twisted to incriminate my mate.

Des, meanwhile, is doing nothing to dispel the accusations against him. He just continues to stare at Mara with that malevolent grin on his face, unaffected by her words.