Page 21 of Deadly Little Games (Four Ways to Fate #2)

21

We waited at the golden gates of Emerald Heights for Elena to arrive. Sebastian had escorted me to my apartment, and I now was freshly showered and wearing clean jeans, a lightweight blue flannel, and brown boots. I wiped my palms on my jeans again, shifting my weight nervously.

Sebastian had told Elena and Crispin the night before that he would find me and bring me here. Then, instead of waiting for me at the Bogs, he had paid Elizabeta, the vampire master of the city, a visit. Because if Ivan was still sending people after me, he was going directly against her orders, and her alliance with the elf king.

There he had learned one highly important piece of information. Ivan was dead, killed by Elizabeta herself for scheming behind her back.

That left one very important question. Who had actually sent the fae?

Hopefully soon, all would be revealed.

I straightened as I spotted Elena approaching, once again riding the huge buck, with a second creature for Sebastian. She looked a little green around the edges, and I imagined too many beers, plus a battle to the death, followed by a car ride, wasn’t good for anyone. Let alone an elven princess who likely hadn’t seen many wild nights.

She climbed down from her buck, then opened one side of the golden gates, her oversized gray sweatshirt barely revealing her hands as she did so. Despite her disheveled state, she smiled at me. “Gods, am I glad to see you. When you disappeared like that, I wasn’t sure what had happened. But this one assured me you would be fine.” She nodded toward where Sebastian stood, arms crossed beneath the shade of a tree. “Is Gabriel…”

“He’s fine.”

Another relieved smile. Sebastian didn’t think she was hiding anything from us, and I had to agree. Whatever schemes were afoot, Elena was not part of them. “You must truly be a miracle worker.”

“It was an interesting night,” I said vaguely. No way was I revealing everything that happened, at least not in front of Sebastian.

She reached into the pocket of her jeans and produced another small glass leaf. “Courtesy of my father, although after he got a look at me this morning, he did express concerns over my new… friends.”

“Hey, you’re the one who tried to out-drink a bunch of werewolves.”

Sebastian approached, taking the offered leaf. “We would like to explain things to your father ourselves. Can you bring us to him?”

Her eyes shifted to me, and I gave her an encouraging nod.

“We should get going then. He should be just finishing up his daily game of chess with Zenith by the time we get there.”

I assumed Zenith was the cranky companion I had met previously, but I didn’t ask questions. I merely nodded, nervous about the events ahead.

“Eva will ride with me.” Sebastian walked toward the second buck.

Elena lifted a brow at me, and I shrugged. We didn’t think Elena was in on anything, but we couldn’t be sure. Not that I thought she was going to push me off a moving animal, but Sebastian was being unusually paranoid after all he’d learned.

I followed Sebastian, feeling a little braver than before. If I took nothing else from my recent experiences, at least I was a lot more comfortable around large animals.

I looked up into the buck’s glassy dark eye. I was a lot more comfortable, but that didn’t mean I was any better at climbing on top of them. Before I could request a boost from Elena—I couldn’t imagine Sebastian letting me step into his palm—Sebastian had his hands around my hips, propelling me upward.

I let out an embarrassing yip of surprise, landed across the buck’s back on my stomach, then had to wiggle one leg over before I could sit upright. I blew my hair out of my face, then glared down at Sebastian.

“Really, you’d think you would be better at this by now.”

My glare deepened. “Careful, or I’m going to ride this buck away from you and you can walk.”

With a smirk, he used a low stump to vault up behind me, settling in far too close as he whispered, “Such animals don’t obey terrified masters.”

“I’m not terrified,” I grumbled, then gripped his arm around me as the animal lurched into motion.

Elena’s buck galloped beside us—did buck’s gallop, or was that just horses?—then took the lead. Even at the high-speed, it would take a little while to get to the palace, so I settled in as comfortably as I could. But despite my best efforts I knew my butt was going to be bruised, and I was far too aware of Sebastian right behind me. My magic wasn’t being called out, not yet, but it was still there just beneath the surface. His arm around me felt oddly intimate, and for some reason, I kept remembering him carrying me away from the fae he’d killed to save me.

A fae who was most certainly not what he seemed.

Crispin met us as we arrived at the stable outside the palace. He looked fresh and rested in his crisp white button up, the top few buttons undone. Houndstooth slacks fit him perfectly, and his open waistcoat looked just right with the cobblestones and idyllic greenery. He jogged up beside our mount, plucking me from my place atop its back, then steadying me on the cobblestones.

I winced at the fresh pain in my backside. Elena must have buns of steel to ride around like this all the time.

Crispin looked at Elena as she dismounted, then over at Sebastian, then down at me. “Well? Is somebody going to tell me what happened? Did your giant goblin friend survive?”

“He’s fine.” I stepped away from him. We didn’t think Crispin had lied to us either, but we couldn’t be sure, not until we could confront the king.

It seemed a little foolish now, confronting him in his own palace, but Sebastian seemed confident we would survive.

“Then why do we all look so glum?”

Elena hurried past us, looking more green than glum. “Take them to see my father. I’m going to be sick.”

Crispin watched her retreat around the corner with an eyebrow raised. “I did tell her all those beers would affect her differently than her father’s honeysuckle wine.”

I smiled. If I weren’t so nervous, I might have enjoyed seeing Elena at her worst. Not that I wanted her to suffer, but she seemed so formidable in every other aspect. Seeing her hungover made her more relatable.

Sebastian pressed a hand against the small of my back. “Shall we?”

Crispin bowed his head. “Of course. Though I don’t know what you hope to learn. King Francis is a kind and honest man. Even if he knew of the—” he glanced around, then even though we were alone, finished, “ thing , he surely had a good reason for keeping it to himself.”

“We shall be the judge of that,” Sebastian said tersely.

With a hesitant nod, Crispin gestured for us to walk through the nearest door.

As we walked down the long, sunny interior hall with greenery blooming brightly outside every window, my nerves kicked up another notch. Crispin glanced at me, almost as if he could sense it, but he didn’t comment.

We found the king where we had expected, playing chess with his cranky friend Zenith. The king smiled at us, smoothing his hands down his blue embroidered coat. He looked a little older today, more tired, and I wondered if it was just worry over his daughter, or something more. We were about to find out.

Sebastian bowed slightly. “King Francis, I appreciate you allowing me into your lands.”

The king’s red brows rose. “Do not thank me yet. I hope you have a fine excuse for returning my daughter to me in such a condition.”

I glanced back, realizing Crispin had remained by the door, clearly not part of the conversation. I watched him for a heartbeat longer, but he didn’t meet my eyes.

“As you well know,” Sebastian was saying, “Princess Millelena makes her own decisions.”

The king chuckled, breaking some of the tension, and that only seemed to make his buddy Zenith crankier. He glared at me from beneath heavy blond brows, as if I were the true problem.

“May we speak in private?” Sebastian asked.

Zenith seethed at his words, but when the king gestured for him to step outside, he did so without complaint.

I felt a flash of Sebastian’s dark magic, recognizing the sensation of him creating a bubble to keep out eavesdroppers.

The king narrowed his eyes for moment, glancing over to Crispin, who nodded that it was okay.

“We know you were shown the Realm Breaker,” Sebastian stated. “We know you were offered a chance at the bounty.”

The king didn’t react. He simply stared at Sebastian, calculating . “And what of it?” he finally asked.

“Do you not wish to be reunited with your true queen?”

The king’s eyes flared. “Friend of my daughter’s or not, I would warn you to choose your words wisely.”

“An elf with powerful magic, glamoured to look like one of the fae, tried to kill Eva last night.”

My pulse sped at his words, though he had already told me the truth. After I had taken off with Gabriel, Sebastian retreated to see if he could learn anything from the dead fae who had almost slit my throat. Only, he had been a fairy no longer. His death had dissolved the glamour.

The king’s mouth fell open in genuine surprise.

I let out a heavy breath. He didn’t know. He might have lied to his daughter about the blade, but he hadn’t sent someone to kill me.

“Who? Who would disobey my direct orders?”

Sebastian pulled a printed photo out of his shirt pocket.

I caught a glimpse of it, and bile climbed up my throat. “You went back and took a picture of him?”

Sebastian’s eyebrow twitched. “Would you rather I had brought the corpse for identification?”

At least now I knew Sebastian had been telling the truth. The corpse was an elf, looking vaguely like the man who’d tried to kill me.

The king’s mouth formed a grim line as he studied the photo. He looked at it for a long while, then slowly shook his head. “That is Zenith’s younger brother.”

I inhaled sharply.

“And was Zenith present when you were shown the sword?” Sebastian asked.

“He was.” The king’s shoulders slumped. “But I cannot believe he would go so far.” He pinched his brow and shook his head. “If I knew, I could have stopped this. I could have spared Kai’s life.”

Kai . The elf who’d tried to kill me. The king’s grief was palpable. So intense that I almost felt bad about my would-be murderer’s death.

“He said he wanted the pathways to remain closed,” I said softly. “And I think you want the same.”

He looked at me, reddish brows furrowed over tired eyes. “I thought in offering you my protection, and allowing you to be close to my daughter, I could keep an eye on things. I could keep anyone else from using you, and if you got too close on your own, I could then interfere.”

“But why?” I asked. “Your daughter believes you would give anything to reunite with the one you love. Why would you want to prevent that from happening?”

“Because it is not safe. Even if we could reopen the pathways, the elves would stay far away from them. Not for what would happen to us, but for what would happen to our home. Our true home.”

Crispin finally stepped forward. “What are you talking about?”

The king wilted further, like an invisible weight was crushing him. “I know why the pathways were destroyed. I know, because I helped make it happen.”