Page 102 of Magic Claimed

They burned with the unquenchable fire of retribution.

Out of all of us gathered there, Kes was the first one to speak.

“Raine, you know I would…”

“No.” Callum came to stand in front of me, his gaze firmly fixed on mine. “Never. I don’t care if he’s telling the truth. A life purchased at that cost isn’t worth living.”

“I know,” I said calmly. “And I would never negotiate such a deal with him ordinarily. But we still need to locate his base. Still need to find the kids he’s taken. This is our only chance, as long as we’re crazy enough to take it and twist it for our own purposes.”

“He’s confirmed his intent to attack the march,” Deverin put in thoughtfully. “Which I didn’t expect.”

“That’s because he doesn’t truly trust anyone other than himself, so he assumes I wouldn’t either.” He might not even have considered that Kes and Callum and everyone else I cared about would be listening to the entire call.

“And because he knew you would need that motivation,” Kira added. She’d been angry all day, which meant that scales dappled her skin and claws repeatedly appeared at the tips of her fingers. “He had to make the offer too good for you to refuse.”

“He’s still going to attack the march,” Ryker insisted. “There’s no way he intends to keep his promises.”

“I agree.” I nodded. “But this doesn’t change the fact that there’s only one way to win. Only one way to triple his double-cross and end up where we need to be.” I looked around at the people I considered family and told them the inescapable truth. “We have to give him Kes.”

The room went dead. Everyone was left staring at me in stunned silence before erupting in shouts and denials.

“Wait!” Faris’s deep-throated bellow silenced the uproar. “Raine, I know you better than that, but you’d best explain what you meant before Isaacson decides to slit your throat and be done with it.”

I glanced at the goblin and found him staring at me through narrowed golden eyes.

“Oh, stop fussing,” I said wearily. “Do you see Kes freaking out? She knows what I meant. I’m going to find a way to disguise myself as her.”

Kira was the first to point out the biggest flaw in my plan. “Your hair won’t take dye,” she said thoughtfully. “So your disguise wouldn’t last long. What if I?—”

“Sorry,” I interrupted. “But no. You’re at least four inches shorter than Kes, and Blake would definitely notice.”

She huffed in annoyance.

If only my fae magic had come with the ability to use glamour. I could have altered my appearance flawlessly, and none of Blake’s people would have been able to detect the difference. Except maybe Heather, but…

“I have an idea,” Shane said coolly. “That is, if you all would be willing to trust me that far.”

The room went tense and silent until Faris spoke up. “I never had a problem with you, Isaacson,” he grumbled. “So hurry up and spit it out. What’s your plan?”

Shane stepped towards me and grinned, with a flash of fangs that radiated malevolence and somehow told me everything I needed to know.

I was going to love this plan.

And if we were insanely lucky?

Blake was going to hate it.

TWENTY-FOUR

And that washow I found myself shivering in the dark, standing beside a slender, hunched figure in a hooded cardigan as we waited for Blake’s minions to make an appearance.

We’d agreed to make the exchange just after midnight in a parking lot right off the Northwest Expressway. The strip mall connected to the lot was mostly empty, so there were no eyes or security cameras to watch and be appalled at the proceedings. Especially behind the building where there was little but weeds and dumpsters and empty loading docks, plus one abandoned semi-trailer with a faded trucking company logo on the side.

No one else had been exactly happy with the plan we’d come up with, but given that we already knew Blake was unlikely to keep his word, Shane and I had finally managed to convince them.

But now it was five minutes after midnight, and Blake’s people were nowhere in sight.

“I really hoped they’d be waiting for us in some kind ofwindowless creeper van,” I muttered. “Either that or a procession of bulletproof black SUVs driven by beefy guys wearing suits and sunglasses.”