Page 63 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

“No.”

She pursed her lips, then leaned forward and whispered, “If you need help, blink three times.”

Wilde leaned in, keeping one possessive hand on me, and stared deeply into her eyes without blinking.

After several seconds, she lost their staring contest. “Fine, I believe you’re not a hostage in this relationship. You just have horrible taste.”

I flipped her off.

“See?” she exclaimed, pointing at me. “He’s awful, crude, and a miserable human to spend time with. Whatdoyou see in him?”

Wilde gazed back at her with a serene expression. “That’s all part of the appeal.”

“It is?” Angelica and I said at the same time.

Wilde winked at me.

Fitz tucked his book under his arm and held his hand out to Wilde. “I’m Fitz. Nice to meet you. Glad to have a mage along.” His brow furrowed as he frowned at me. “I thought you didn’t know any mages, Trey?”

Before I could think of an excuse or a lie, Wilde corrected him. “I’m an apprentice, not technically a mage yet.”

“It’ll still be useful to have you, for as long as you’ll stick around.”

Maximus silently approached and took Fitz’s place shaking Wilde’s hand. “Maximus.” From the way the veins on his forearm bulged, he had poured all his strength into the friendly gesture. Wilde flinched in response but didn’t pull away until Maximus released him. He shrank into my side slightly and rubbed his skin, red from the interaction.

I frowned, both at Maximus’ force and Wilde’s reaction. He didn’t seem like the type willing to show weakness in front of anyone, especially not over something as simple as a handshake. Was it all for show? Pretending to be weak and vulnerable to reduce anyone’s suspicion?

Delilah finally pushed her way through the others, arms thrown wide for a hug. I stepped in her path, blocking Wilde from the assault, and her full weight slammed into me.

Wilde’s hand against my back was the only reason I didn’t fall over.

“Hello! I’m Delilah!” She wriggled out of my arms, her shirt coming untucked from her pants as she slid to the ground. I released her before she became indecent, and she immediately sprang back up to her feet. Thistime, she didn’t try to hug Wilde, only grabbed both of his hands in hers. “It’ssonice to meet you! Trey has told us absolutely nothing about you, and you should punish him for that.”

A dangerous glimmer entered Wilde’s eyes as he looked over her head at me. “Since I have your permission …”

I grabbed Delilah by the collar of her shirt and yanked her away from him, dropping her back on the ground. “Don’t give him any ideas.”

Wilde pursed his lips and murmured, “Spoilsport.”

“Speaking of ideas,” Fitz said, coming to my rescue. “How do we escape the spatial loop? I’ve been researching them, trying to see if I could identify the trap, but it sounds like anything can become a trigger with the right magical symbols.”

“Ah, I already broke it,” Wilde explained. He pulled two pieces of a twig out of his pocket and dropped them into Fitz’s hands.

Fitz’s shoulders deflated as he looked at the simple stick. “Already? I had hoped to watch you … is this all?” He shoved the book at Angelica and held the stick up to his eyes. “It does have the glyph, broken right down the middle of course. I wish I could have examined it better.”

“Why would someone carve such a spell onto a twig?” Maximus asked, eyes locked accusingly on Wilde. “Unless they wanted to waste our time.”

Wilde ignored the bait and gave him a genuine answer. “The Lord of Grimnight’s lair is at the center of the forest. Evil mages often use these traps to deter adventurers and other trespassers. They’re cheap and easy to make, so they don’t expend too many resources. You’re lucky you realized the problem before one of the patrols found you first.”

“Patrols?” I asked, brow furrowing.

He glanced at me from the side of his eye. “You didn’t expect an evil mage to allow you to walk into his lair unchallenged, did you?”

Kind of?The old man didn’t usually retain a lot of minions. He kept a few imps around, along with servants like my nannies, but he’d mostly relied on magic and the environment to protect him. Since hewantedthe royal champions to find him, I had assumed he’d clear a path for us.

What else has he not prepared me for? And is Wilde delivering a discreet message on his orders, or is he warning me against his master’s wishes?

That was a stupid. Of course Wilde wouldn’t go against his master, and there was no reason for the old man to hide his defenses from me, since we were on the same side. It’d probably slipped his mind—wouldn’t be the first time.