Page 35 of Night Fae

She had to be Lady Morvena. The Matriarch of Zev's family.

The door slammed shut behind Malik. A lock clicked.

"Good morning," Lady Morvena said, her voice musical and pleasant despite the early hour. "I trust you slept well?"

Malik remained standing, unwilling to sit next to either of them. "Why am I here?"

The woman's lips curved in a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She raised a silver goblet to her lips, and Malik noticed with revulsion that the liquid inside was too dark, too thick to be wine.

"Please, sit," she said. "We've much to discuss."

"I prefer to stand."

Darius flicked his fingers. Shadow magic pulsed through the carriage, and Malik found himself shoved onto the seat beside Lady Morvena. The carriage lurched into motion.

"Where are we going?" Malik tried to keep his voice steady.

"Curious little thing," Lady Morvena observed, addressing Darius rather than Malik. "I see why he's intrigued."

Darius leaned forward, his violet eyes boring into Malik. "Where has my son been all these years?"

The abrupt question caught Malik off guard. "I can't tell you what I don't know."

"You're lying." Darius didn't raise his voice, but coldness radiated from him. "My son nearly killed a guard over you. He surrendered himself for you. What are you to him?"

Zev had nearly killed a guard for him?

That was news.

Malik didn't know what to make of that, but he didn't have time to think about it either.

"I'm his friend," he said.

"Zevran doesn't have friends," Lady Morvena said mildly. "He has uses for people. Tools. Temporary fascinations."

"Like Rhys," Darius added, watching Malik's face closely.

Malik couldn't keep the disgust from showing on his face, knowing what these people had done to the man Zev had loved.

"He told you about him, then." Darius nodded, satisfaction creeping into his expression. "Did he tell you how it ended?"

Malik said nothing. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction. He well knew that Zev and Rhys had planned to flee the Night Court territory together, but thanks to the fae lord before him, Rhys had never made it to their meeting place that night.

"My grandson has always been drawn to distractions," Lady Morvena said, placing her goblet on a small shelf built into the carriage wall. "Fun things he can play with for a while. The wolf was merely the most extreme example."

"Zev isn't like that," Malik said before he could stop himself.

Lady Morvena's eyes gleamed. "Oh? And what is he like, then? Please, enlighten us about the assassin we raised."

The carriage wheels rattled over uneven ground. Through the small window, Malik glimpsed dense forest replacing the manicured palace grounds.

"You didn't raise him," Malik said quietly. "You made him into a weapon."

Darius laughed, the sound sharp and humorless. "Is that what he told you? Poor misunderstood Zevran, forced to kill against his gentle nature?"

"My grandson was born to serve the Court," Lady Morvena said. "It's in his blood. His nature. No matter how he tries to deny it."

She leaned closer to Malik, her perfume like crushed flowers and something metallic. "He will kill for us again. That's inevitable. And when his body obeys before his mind can fight, when he no longer hesitates, we will order him to kill you."