Page 165 of His Ruthless Match

I couldn’t stop myself. “Theincident?” I barked, my fists clenching at my sides.

The Shadow’s lips curled into a sneer. “You mean when you kidnapped my wife and almost made her murder me?”

Izo paled, his arrogance faltering for a moment. “Yes,” he said weakly. “Thatincident.”

“Go on,” The Shadow said coldly, leaning back against his desk, his arms crossed.

“The magistrate came to me,” Izo continued, his voice steadier now, “and told me they needed my help with something. They said they had reasons to bring you down a few notches, but when I asked for specifics, they told me it wasn’t my business. Instead, they gave me a job.”

“What job?” The Shadow’s voice was sharp enough to cut glass.

“They’d recently found out you have a sister hidden away in the human world,” Izo said. “They wanted me to exploit that. To research her, find her vulnerabilities, and then make her an easy target. Indirectly, of course.”

I felt my control slipping. My hand twitched toward my dagger, but I forced myself to stay put.

The Shadow’s expression darkened. “And how the hell did you manage that, considering I put my mark on you and took away your siren abilities?”

Izo hesitated, his gaze darting between us before he answered. “The magistrate backed me financially. With their resources, I found workarounds. The blood magic in the Crimson Dominion allowed me to manipulate Genevieve, and I transported that magic using a mutant.”

My stomach twisted as the realization hit. “That fucking rat.”

Izo gave me a wary look but continued. “I orchestrated it all. The magistrate insisted I procure a high-profile client for Eva to pressure her from every angle. At the same time, they wanted me to stir up rebellions in the Crimson Dominion and use my position with you to undermine your efforts.”

“And the faceless creatures?” The Shadow asked, his voice eerily calm.

“They’re the magistrate’s,” Izo admitted. “They never said so directly, but it was obvious. They want to distract you and weaken your hold on the Crimson Dominion. They don’t want you gone or dead. Not yet. Just… off balance.”

“And what exactly did you get out of this arrangement?” The Shadow demanded.

Izo’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Protection. If I didn’t cooperate, they were going to kill me and destroy the Ashen territory.” He paused, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think the bastard was getting choked up. “The plan was to use Genvieve to indirectly target Eva, but I swear to all the fucking gods that I had nothing to do with the bounty on Eva’s head.”

The room went quiet, the tension so thick it was suffocating. The Shadow stood perfectly still, his expression unreadable, but I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You spineless piece of shit,” I roared, lunging at Izo before anyone could stop me. I slammed my fist into his face, sending him staggering backward.

“Jareth,” The Shadow barked, but I didn’t stop.

I grabbed Izo by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The pain you’ve caused? You made Eva a fucking target! For what? To save your own miserable skin?”

Izo tried to speak, but I didn’t give him the chance. I slammed my fist into his face again and again, the rage boiling over as I let it all out. He groaned in pain, his hands flailing weakly in an attempt to push me off.

“Where is she?” I snarled. “Where the fuck is Eva?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea,” he gasped, blood dripping from his nose. “I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with the target on her. And I feel guilty as hell for the way this has played out. Genevieve is fucking broken, and I was involved. I’m here to admit my wrongdoing.”

“Liar!” I slammed him harder into the wall.

“Enough!” The Shadow’s voice cut through the haze, sharp and commanding. “Stand down, Jareth.”

It took everything I had to pull back, my chest heaving as I released Izo and stepped away. I rounded on The Shadow. “You’re just going to let him get away with this?”

He ignored me, his gaze locked on Izo. “You did the right thing coming to me,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “But you should have come sooner.”

Izo wiped the blood from his face, his hands trembling. “I think the magistrate is about to use me as a scapegoat. My protection is running out. I had no choice but to come to you and bare my soul, in hopes you’d have mercy on me.”

The Shadow’s expression didn’t change as he took a step closer to Izo. “My sister, Eva, is gone. Any idea where she might be?”

Izo shifted nervously from one foot to the other like the spineless fucking water serpent he was. “I don’t know anything for sure, but if I had to guess, the magistrate must have her.”