Page 61

He tugged on a leather cord he had around his neck, extracting a gleaming skeleton key. “This little baby will open any door in the place, even if it’s warded,” he whispered.

Victor canted his head. “Now, where did you get that?”

Thorne leaned closer, winking. “I have aninwith the queen’s handmaiden. She gave me a token of her affection so I could attend to her needs with none the wiser. Mind you, the key is spelled to only function for me, so no funny business.”

Victor’s expression turned calculating.

I cut the attractive interloper a hard glare. “Only funny business going on is yours.” I’d never met a male with so much sex appeal who could be trusted. It was bad enough I was forced to work with the vampire. No way did I want to add the flirt with fire breath to the mix.

While Thorne stowed his key down the front of his tunic again, Drazen scanned him with a speculative eye. “If you have a magical key, then why are you still here? Unless you’re lying, and it’s nothing more than the key to the nearest latrine.”

Thorne firmed his jaw. “Maybe I want to be here.”

“What a liar,” I scoffed. “Nobody in their right mind would place themselves in the trials deliberately.”

Perhaps realizing this required some honesty, he admitted, “The king has something that belongs to me. I entered the trials to get it back.”

While I sensed no deception, his hidden agenda could interferewith our own instead of aiding our escape. “And what do you get out of this deal?”

“Word is your vampire is peddling venom in exchange for intel. I’ve got a key but no way out. All known exits are heavily guarded. What I need is the location of a hidden door that is rumored to exist. This door is said to lead to an underground passage that will lead us under the wall. Find that door, and I’ll provide the key, along with transportation out of here.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Sounds to me like you snuck into the trials to recover some stolen trinket with no way out. Talk about poor planning.”

“One”—he held up his index finger—“I came here with at least half of a solid escape plan, minus a few details. Two, did I mention my stolen item was incredibly valuable?”

Kronk stopped eating, leaning closer. “How valuable?”

Something in the guy’s manner didn’t sit right with me. While his words sounded truthful, there was an odd tension in his shoulders that said he wasn’t giving us the whole story. No way I was trusting some random treasure hunter when my brother’s lives were on the line.

I shook my head, preparing to shut him down. “Listen, I—”

“Deal,” Victor stated.

My teeth snapped together. “Deal?”

“Yes. Deal.”

No. Hell no. The fallen vampire leader was not in charge. I slapped my palms down on the table. “And since when did you become king?”

At my question, gold sparks glimmered in his eyes, and the low rumblings of some sort of strange energy hummed over my skin.

Before I could comment on the odd sensation, a servant ambled behind us with a sweets-loaded tray in his hand.

Unlike most of the brownies who served Idris, this one was male and quite a bit larger than the others.

I eyed his offering. “What is this for?” The rest of the food was served on large platters and placed on the tables.

“A special treat. Compliments of Queen Raelynn.”

“Yeah, no thanks.” I recoiled as though he’d handed me sea slugs.

“Pass that over here,” Drazen said, and the servant extended the tray.

“Drazen, are you cra—”

Pastries, along with the platter, exploded against Drazen’s chest.

My brother belted out a roar, teetering on his chair legs, coated in creamy confections.