Page 3 of A Taste For Lies (The Apex Kingdom #1)

Chapter 3

TARAN

C arter blinks rapidly. “Gods, the smell of those lilies is making my eyes water. How are you bearing it?” He glances sideways at my nauseated expression and answers his own question. I’m not.

Maeve casts an unimpressed look around Count Zhao’s ballroom. “White lilies are on the Shanterran royal crest. They’re a staple at every Elite revel in this country.” She sniffs delicately, and her emerald eyes widen. “Although they appear to have overdone it tonight. Perhaps we should have informed our hosts that the Elite Veridian prince and infamous Apex olfactory would be in attendance?” She waves a bejeweled hand pointedly in my direction.

We all glance over at the count and his wife, holding court with their guests across the ballroom. I offer them a polite, princely smile and they both blanch as if I snapped my teeth at them instead.

I wish I could claim I’m immune to that reaction, but you never really get used to it.

“No,” I bark for the umpteenth time. In most political matters, I’ll defer to Maeve, but not this. “It would have tipped off the thief,” I mutter under my breath, conscious of the Apex guardians posted around the room, obvious in their uniforms marked with Faunera’s sigil, even if I couldn’t sense them. Only a few are auditory and with low power levels besides, but it’s still best to be cautious.

“How do you even know she’ll choose tonight for the heist?” Maeve murmurs back. Sometimes, I find my cousin’s stubborn need to be right endearing. Not often, and definitely not right now.

“She likes to make a scene.” For months, I’ve been poring over everything my spies can gather on the Shanterran thief known as “The Lynx.” Ever since I realized we’d need to bring in a professional if we’re going to have any chance of pulling this job off. I can’t stop berating myself for not coming to that frankly fucking obvious conclusion much earlier.

Since the mark’s high profile makes contracting with the Veridian Guild impossible, and given we’re now facing an increasingly urgent timeline due to my own stupidity, the Lynx isn’t just a choice for the job—she’s the choice.

Notorious for targeting Elite houses, she was the clear pick to take the pearls commission. The Lynx ticks every box: female (which is unusual enough), foreign, and a reputation for successfully completing every job she accepts, no matter how impossible it appears.

She’ll need to be the best thief in Valenrae for this to work.

I gesture to the younger Lady Zhao in the far corner of the ballroom as she accepts compliments on the stunning pearl necklace draped around her neck. Despite the overpowering lilies, an undercurrent of brine still coats my tongue from the ocean scent emanating from the artifact. The Pearls of Azure are just as tantalizing as promised. “And she couldn’t be sure the count really had the pearls until this evening.”

“Do you think she’s an Apex?” Carter wonders aloud, not for the first time.

Maeve brushes a hand through her vivid red mane. “Unlikely. Apex in Shanterra are conscripted to serve the Elite the day they emerge, same as back home. The odds of one escaping servitude, much less a notorious criminal with a bounty on her head, are minuscule.”

“Either way, we’ll know soon enough.” If she is an Apex, I’ll be able to scent her power level, inner creature and unique gift the second she walks into the mansion. That’s my gift. Even with all the guardians around, and my own standing beside me, I have a feeling the Lynx’s power would stand out.

“Her alias is a creature name,” Carter insists.

A frustrated huff escapes me. “I told you already, that’s typical. Nearly every member of the guild goes by an Apex creature name, and probably all of them are human. Just trying to make themselves sound more impressive.” And lynx are sneaky wildcats—just right for a thief looking to bolster her reputation.

Not that it needs much bolstering, I silently acknowledge. There’s a reason we traveled all the way from Veridia to make this proposal in person.

I do wish she had less of a flair for dramatics, though. Leaving an amber lynx carving at the scene of all her crimes? Taunting. It’s a bold move and unusual for the guild, whose members are surprisingly professional despite the unscrupulous nature of their services.

Carter’s tawny brown eyes scan the crowded ballroom with his enhanced Apex sight. “Is she already here, do you think?”

“Hard to say. Just keep your sight trained on the pearls.”

“She hasn’t even gotten a proposal yet,” Maeve grumbles. Carter and I exchange equally bemused looks before turning to my petite cousin. She makes an exasperated sound in her throat. “You two are hopeless. The girl is clearly wearing the pearls to attract a match.”

“You Elite with your matches and your revels and your marriage marts.” Carter tosses her a crooked smile—the kind that usually makes most females, and a fair number of males, swoon. As always, Maeve remains unaffected. “I’m just a guardian,” he continues. “I don’t need to know about all those…games.”

“Taran does,” she shoots back.

“Well, that’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” His teasing grin widens. “The only Elite to emerge as Apex in a world where Apex and human relationships are forbidden. However is the beast prince meant to make a suitable match? ”

The infamous moniker—one that never fails to enrage me whenever it comes from anyone else’s lips—slides off me like water out of the mouth of my best friend.

Maeve raises her voice. “There’s a rumor going around that Their Majesties intend to make an exception for Prince Taran. If the gaggle of Elite women of marriageable age arriving in Ravenscrest every day is any indication.”

Excited whispers ignite around us, leaping across the ballroom like wildfire. A smug smile plays on Maeve’s rose-tinted lips.

“Lucky me,” I deadpan.

Carter gives me a bracing clap on the shoulder—he’s one of the few who can reach. “And where is your match, Lady Ashbourne? Surely the king’s niece warrants her own attention.”

Maeve waves a delicate hand dismissively at my guardian. “Yes, yes, eligible Elite men are arriving as well. They all want to take advantage of the upcoming revels and annual masquerade.”

“As do we,” I murmur quietly, my gaze still fixed on the young Lady Zhao and her spectacular necklace.

“As do we,” Maeve concurs. “Now do you think—”

But I never hear what Maeve wanted to ask because at that moment, I’m hit so hard by the explosive scent of jasmine that everything and everyone else falls away.