Page 11

CHAPTER NINE

T he night lies dark and still around the imposing manor before us.

Hidden in the shadows outside the garden wall, the six of us move until we are positioned at the back of the property.

Draven rises up on his toes and casts a quick glance over the top of the tall stone fence before yanking his head back down.

“Two more here,” he whispers as he meets our gazes. “That makes six total in the gardens. Just like Orion said.” His eyes lock on mine. “Selena, how many inside?”

Calling up my magic, I throw it across the house. First, I aim it at the gray sparks of boredom. Then tiredness. Then impatience and suspicion and several other emotions that the guards inside might be feeling. Each time my magic connects with a different person, I add it to my mental count.

“Eight, most likely,” I reply as I let my magic fade out again.

Draven nods.

“That also matches what Orion said,” Galen comments. A pensive expression blows across his features. “Maybe he’s not trying to screw us over after all.”

“Who even needs fourteen guards?” Alistair huffs and casts a scowl in the direction of the house. “Who does this guy think he is?”

“Someone who knows that he has pissed off the Unseelie King,” Lyra replies with a shrug.

Next to her, Isera scoffs and rolls her eyes. I raise my eyebrows in silent question, but she doesn’t elaborate. However, I think I can guess. Her animosity towards the Unseelie King was plain for everyone to see during that disastrous dinner yesterday evening.

“Just stick to the plan,” Draven says, his voice pulsing with authority. “The faster we get this done, the faster we can get the hell out of this court.”

Alistair narrows his eyes at him. “Anyone ever tell you that you give a lot of orders? Who even made you team leader anyway?”

Draven slides his gaze to Alistair, and a sharp smile plays over his lips as he flicks a deliberate look up and down Alistair’s body. “Remind me again how many assassinations you have carried out?”

“I… That’s not?—”

“Enough with the dick measuring contests,” Isera snaps. She shoots the two of them a pointed look. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Alistair crosses his arms and scowls but doesn’t argue. Draven gives him one last smirk before turning back to the rest of us.

“Alright,” Draven begins. “Everyone understands their part in the plan?” When we all nod, he adds, “We need to time this perfectly. The Unseelie fae are very particular about their bargains, and Orion requested an assassination where we get seen. Which means that it needs to look like an assassination gone slightly wrong and not like we were trying to get caught from the beginning. And that means stealth. Especially for this first part.” He locks eyes with Alistair again. “So keep the fire small.”

“Look, bossy pants, I’ve already told you.” Alistair gives him an exasperated look. “I don’t do stealthy. My magic is loud and messy.”

“Adapt,” Draven simply orders before turning back to the rest of us. “Let’s go.”

Alistair mutters under his breath and shakes his head but sneaks along the stone fence towards the front of the mansion. Isera simply spins on her heel and starts in the other direction in silence.

Still lingering by the wall, Galen and Lyra cast hesitant glances at Draven, as if they want to say something, but Draven doesn’t appear to notice because he, in turn, is looking at me.

When they notice that, Lyra swallows while Galen clears his throat before both of them slip away after Isera without another word.

“Ready?” Draven asks.

I nod. Calling up my magic, I once more throw it across Danzo Wolfstalker’s mansion.

But this time, I only aim it at the six guards who are positioned across the grounds outside.

All of them feel a flicker of suspicion as they keep watch.

I latch on to it and start to steadily decrease it.

We don’t want them to spot Alistair before he can start the fire.

While we wait for the others to get into position, I tilt my head back and glance up at the tall stone wall that separates us from the gardens inside.

“You know,” I begin, shifting my gaze back to Draven. “Getting over this wall would be a lot easier if you could fly.”

Draven’s eyes glint, and a knowing smirk ghosts across his lips. “You mean like this?”

A small cloud of black smoke erupts before me. My jaw drops as Draven’s wings suddenly appear from his back. He spreads them out slightly, looking very pleased with himself. For a moment, I just stare at those imposing black wings for another second before I lock eyes with him again.

“But…” I begin, completely bewildered. “I thought Orion said that you couldn’t shift in here.”

“We can’t. While you were still unconscious, all three of us tried to shift into our dragon forms. It doesn’t work. The magic from the wards makes it impossible.” That smug smile on his lips widens. “But this form is half human, so the wards apparently can’t suppress it.”

“That’s—”

My sentence is cut off as suspicion tries to spike through one of the guards at the front of the mansion. I flick a glance in that direction, even though I can’t see anything from behind the stone wall. While still lowering the guard’s suspicion, I turn back to Draven.

“Alistair is in position,” I explain.

He nods and shifts his stance so that he’s ready to fly us over the wall at a moment’s notice.

A warm night wind caresses my cheeks as I wait another ten seconds for Alistair to start his fire. Suspicion tries to flare up from the second guard at the front of the mansion. A smile blows across my lips. Showtime .

With a rapid push of my magic, I make the flame of suspicion that all six guards are feeling erupt into a massive fire. Raised voices come from the front of the grounds, though we’re too far away to hear what they’re saying.

Then the screaming starts.

“FIRE!” a voice bellows from where Alistair snuck off to.

Clanking noises echo from the other side of the stone wall as the two guards who were stationed there leap into motion and rush towards the screaming voice. I cut off the flow of my magic and turn to grin at Draven.

“Well, then,” I say. “Shall we?”

He lets out a breath of amusement before wrapping his arms around me. My stomach lurches as he quickly flies us over the wall.

The moment our feet touch the grass, he shifts back into his fully human form and summons his magic. Storm clouds gather around us. In the dark of night, it adds further shadows to the already darkened garden and hides us almost entirely from view.

After exchanging a nod, we dart across the grass and towards the back door. Alistair should be making his way here right now as well, while Isera, Lyra, and Galen are securing our escape route.

I cast a quick look towards the front of the gardens while Draven and I cut across a patch of neatly trimmed grass. Yellow and orange flames flicker faintly from one of the outbuildings at the front. All six guards who were stationed in the gardens are converging on the small fire.

My heart patters in my chest. So far so good .

Gravel crunches and clatters slightly as Draven and I skid to a halt outside the back door. His storm clouds are still rippling around us, keeping us hidden from view. I shove down the handle and yank the door open. Except it doesn’t move.

“It’s locked,” I state, rather superfluously.

“Of course it is,” Draven replies, looking entirely unworried about that fact.

While keeping his magic swirling around us, he reaches into one of his belt pouches and pulls out a pair of lockpicks. I draw back slightly and stare at him in surprise as he gets down on one knee in front of the door and begins picking the lock.

“You know how to pick locks,” I blurt out. Again rather superfluously. If there was a queen of obvious statements, I would surely steal the crown from her tonight.

Draven casts a quick glance up at me before continuing his work. “That surprises you?”

“Uh, yes. I’ve always taken you for more of a kick-the-door-down kind of guy.”

A surprised laugh escapes his throat, making him almost drop one of the lockpicks. With a smile on his lips, he shakes his head and shoots me a look before concentrating on his task again. “Kind of hard to pull off a stealth assassination if you simply kick the door down.”

“True.” I slide a considering look over his body. “Got any other secret talents I don’t know about?”

The lock clicks open.

Draven gets to his feet and slips the lockpicks back into the belt pouch. Mischief sparkles in his eyes as he replies, “Oh, lots.”

Warmth fills my soul. It’s followed by a sudden burning hunger.

A desperate craving that sears through my entire being.

Because I want to learn everything there is to know about Draven Ryat.

I want to spend centuries getting to know every single part of him.

Unraveling all aspects of him. Every secret talent and every odd quirk and every wonderfully complex emotion.

Everything that makes him who he is. I want to know it all.

“You—” I begin, but the sudden sound of crunching gravel interrupts me.

Draven and I whirl towards it.

Outside the dark clouds that Draven is keeping around us, a figure rapidly moves towards us. I let out a relieved sigh when I realize that it’s Alistair. He squints and turns his head from side to side. It takes me another moment to realize that he can’t see us in the darkness of the clouds.

Draven moves the clouds aside a little so that we become visible from his direction. It makes Alistair jump since he was much closer to us than he apparently thought. Then he quickly closes the final distance to us.

“It’s done,” he says.

“Good,” Draven replies. “Then we?—”

An explosion booms across the grounds.

I duck and throw an arm up to protect my head, and it takes me another second to realize that it wasn’t an attack on us. Straightening, I dart to the corner of the building and peek around it in the direction that the explosion came from. Draven and Alistair appear next to me a moment later.

My mouth drops open as the three of us stare at the scene at the front of the gardens.

The outbuilding where the small fire was located is now… gone. And the three buildings next to it are all engulfed in flames. Dancing firelight illuminates the entire estate, and red and orange flames lick their way up the walls of the outbuildings and towards the dark night sky.

For a moment, no one says anything.

Across the grass, the guards are running around and screaming in panic.

Then both Draven and I slowly turn to stare incredulously at Alistair.

He scowls back at us and lets out a huff. “What part of loud and messy did you clearly not understand?”

Draven flexes his hand and then rubs his face in exasperation. “Azaroth’s fucking flame.”

“Call for reinforcements!” the guards bellow. “The liquor storage just exploded! The fire is spreading! Water magic! Get people with water magic! Call for reinforcements!”

The three of us exchange a glance.

Reinforcements.

This was so not part of the plan.