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I lifted my brows, surprised that he was going to eat with me, but I didn’t say anything about it.

Instead, I said, “I know about thisitemthat everyone’s looking for now, so don’t worry about keeping Mistral’s secrets. He told me last night.”

He speared a hunk of scrambled egg with his fork. “I am aware.”

“Then why are you so cranky this morning?”

He ate his food, staring back at me.

“Does this have something to do with whatever Mistral ran off to accomplish so early?”

Ringo had stopped eating his melon to glance warily back and forth between us.

“It hassomethingto do with the devil waiting at our gates,” he said tersely.

I dropped my fork without taking a bite. “What? And Mistral went to meet with him?”

He nodded curtly.

I stood. “Let’s go.”

He stared at me. “I’m not sure what you hope to accomplish.”

“Neither am I, but they clearly dislike each other, and they are my only two allies… Sort of. I would like to make sure they don’t kill each other.”

He set down his fork with a sigh. “At least eat your breakfast.”

I shook my head, remaining standing and staring down at him defiantly.

His shoulders slumped. “Fine. But you’re going to have a hell of a time straddling a saddle in that dress.”

The horse’shooves thundered toward the gates. Gabriel had one arm wrapped tightly around my waist, keeping me steady. Without my messenger bag, Ringo had nestled into my coat pocket.

Mistral stood on one side of the gates with his horse behind him, and Sebastian stood alone on the other side, outside the boundary.

“See,” Gabriel said into my ear as he slowed the horse. “You could have eaten your breakfast.”

I rolled my eyes. “Enough with the breakfast already.”

He slid down from the horse, then wrapped his hands around my waist, lifting me off just as he had done before. He set me lightly on the ground.

“Thanks,” I said, then turned to walk toward the gates.

Both men had ceased whatever discussion they had been having to watch my approach.

Suddenly I felt incredibly awkward walking down the broken cobblestone path in my little boots and dress.

I wrapped my coat tightly around myself, prompting Ringo to stick his head out of the pocket.

I reached Mistral’s side, then turned my attention to Sebastian. “What do you want?”

He furrowed his brow. “Our bargain is far from complete, Eva.”

“Oh, so you’d like to try to get me killed again today?”

He frowned. “Actually, I was thinking I would takeyou to that diner you seem to adore, so I could explain things to you properly.”

I crossed my arms and jutted out my hip. “Yeah, in return for what?”