Page 84 of With Wing And Claw

‘Understood,’ Gadyon said, and she could have sworn he sounded almost …cheerfulabout the matter. ‘We’ll take care of it as soon as possible.’

‘Wouldn’t it be wise to give that a little more time?’ Nicanor cut in before Thysandra could say anything else, a hint of bewilderment to his gaze as he nudged the outside door open and held it for her. ‘Making this change the very day after Bereas and his mob almost killed you …’

She shrugged, stepping onto the meandering shell path outside. No one in sight behind the rose trees and the boxwood hedges. ‘We alreadyhave payments and legal protection established. It’s a largely symbolic change at this point.’

‘Symbolism is all they care about,’ he said, sounding desperate. ‘I shouldn’t have to explain this toyou, Demonbane – this will be taken as a bloody clear message to everyone sympathising with them.’

Old Thysandra would have cowered at the thought. Old Thysandra would have believed she was failing her people, her throne, her sacred duty to the court.

New Thysandra just smiled and said, ‘Good.’

‘Gods help me,’ Nicanor muttered, releasing the door as Gadyon stepped out last. The hand he raked through his silvery locks was tense with exasperation. ‘No one benefits from more violence right now, Thys. Even ifyoumanage to keep yourself alive—’

‘Oh, don’t bother pretending you’re selflessly concerned about the wellbeing of the human population,’ Inga grumbled, kicking a pebble. It splashed into the nearest pond. ‘Your altruism is deeply unconvincing.’

‘If the High Lady believed I was acting out of selfless concern, I would be significantly more concerned for her sanity,’ Nicanor testily shot back. ‘She ought to know damn well that I’m just trying to save my own hide here. Thysandra—’

‘You know I have no intention of hurting your poor hide,’ she said, in thatend of discussiontone she’d only ever dared to use with those decidedly beneath her in the army ranks. To her pleasant surprise, it seemed to be just as effective now. ‘But my decision is final. If you decide your current position comes with too much risk to your person, I will of course not hold it against you if you decide to resign.’

He glared at her – a look that carried as much unwilling admiration as annoyance. A gamble, of course, but she was almost certain of the path he would take. This was Nicanor of Myron’s house, after all, ambitious to a fault, the male who maintained that safe decisions did not lead to victory, and she could not for the life of her imagine him stepping down from a position of power to go live a quiet life in the countryside.

Indeed, he gave a wry sigh and said, ‘You know mebetter than that.’

Good.

This was the game she knew so well – the alliances she understood how to wield. She wasn’t going to trust him, or anyone else for that matter; life was still not a charity, and no one with a lick of sense in their brain would voluntarily join her in pissing off some of the Crimson Court’s most bloodthirsty inhabitants. But shecouldtrust the simple rules of self-interest. She could figure out what people around her wanted and make sure she was the easiest path to achieve those goals. It was the safest way of building a network that she could rely upon.

She might be turning into a traitor, but she certainly wasn’t going to be a fool about it.

They walked in silence to the spot she had in mind – a small, man-made pond in which a marble fountain in the shape of a dragon gurgled quietly. Three elegant benches stood around the water feature, looking out over the eastern beach of the island and the crystal-clear ocean beyond.

And there, behind a row of hedges …

A glimpse of pink.

Something in her wings relaxed for the first time since she’d left her rooms that morning.

‘This should do,’ she said out loud, as if she hadn’t been walking purposefully towards this spot since the moment she’d left the humans and their breakfast behind, as if she hadn’t painstakingly described it to Naxi as they made their plans in the depth of the night. ‘I’m sure Nicanor’s guards have kept the place free of listening ears.’

More accurately, she was sure Naxi’s demon senses would have picked up on any intruders in the vicinity of this little pond … but the demon remained where she sat, hidden behind her shield of boxwood, and so Thysandra assumed the coast was clear.

It was an odd sensation, actively relying on the little menace in her plans. It made her feel uneasy. But she had decided on her flight back from the Cobalt Court that there wasn’tthatmuch of a difference between fae selfishness and demon selfishness: the principles were the same, to know another’s goals and be an asset rather than an obstacle.Naxi’s apparent selflessness had been dangerous. Unpredictable. Giving her what she wanted, on the other hand, was a perfectly sensible way to guarantee her loyalty.

Admittedly … it had been a rather pleasurable way, too. Knowing that those bloody demon senses would pick up on the heat still smouldering in her lower belly only intensified the sensation.

‘Take a seat,’ she hastily made herself say, because weakness was death, and drowning in the image of Naxi shattering into yet another climax under her lips was about as close to the definition of weakness as one could come. ‘This won’t take long, but we need to have a chat about the events of yesterday. About the spread of information, more specifically.’

The silence was both abrupt and deafening.

She didn’t even need to ask the question. It was visible in every stiffening pair of shoulders, in every narrowing pair of eyes and every gaze darting sideways –Who of you talked?

Who of you leaked our plans?

One of them must have. And no matter how many times she’d gone over the matter during hours and hours of flying, no matter how many times she’d lined up their wishes, their individual interests, their actions, she could not make sense of it.

‘This is not an accusation,’ she added when they remained silent, which was not entirely true but seemed a more productive way to go about the conversation than to threaten and blame. ‘I’m the first to acknowledge that mistakes happen, and perhaps no one involved had malicious intentions. The most important thing is that we find out what—’

A shadow fell over her.