Page 150 of The Queen’s Shadow

This must be Zayne, Prince of The Court of Greed. I eyed the large scar that cut down his face and couldn’t help but feel like he was every bit as nasty as everyone had made him seem.

“Where is the Queen?” The prince demanded; his tone irritable. I took a sip of my coffee and narrowed my eyes at him.

“Why yuh ask?” I shot back, and he glanced over at me, giving me a once over before turning to Dossidian as if I hadn’t spoken.

“Tell her that the males her bonded asked for have been apprehended and are awaiting their fates in her dungeons. This deal we made is chafing and I won’t have any peace until she knows I have held up my end.”

Anger nipped at the edges of my vision. He was reminding me of Trenton, and I did not have the patience to put up with it this morning. After everything I had lost and everything that had happened, something in me just… snapped.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I dropped my coffee with a smash. The water I had filled my armor with snaked around me, and I blasted Zayne in the chest with the power of a fire hose. I cranked my wrist to the right as I worked my magick, signalling the water to dial up the heat until it steamed and boiled against him as he crashed into the wall.

In a moment, I was before him, the tip of my rapier pressed up against his Adam’s apple, and I met his shocked gaze.

“Yuh don’t give di orders here. Yuh will treat mi and di rest of dis court with respect, or mi throw yuh inna di dungeons wid di rest of dem. Yuh hear?” I threatened.

A look of fury crossed Zayne’s face and I felt him build his power. Something strange began to happen, and I felt as if something was gripping my bones beneath my flesh. Just as soon as the sensation came, it receded as I suddenly heard the snap and crackle of electricity from behind me.

The daemon tore his angry gaze away from me, to look over my shoulder, where I could feel Cerenah humming with power.

“Careful, Zayne. You’re soaking wet. All it would take is one spark.” Cerenah said from behind me. I could have sworn I saw a look of pride flash through Zayne’s hazel eyes before his expression hardened into a look of disgust. He held up both hands in surrender and sighed.

“Fine.” He turned his gaze back to me, looking down at the rapier I still had pressed against his throat. “You going to back off, Obeah Man? You’ve made your point.”

I stepped back, slightly surprised by my own outburst. I turned to find that Rycon had entered the room. He raised an eyebrow at me as he took in the scene before him, but the corner of his mouth was tilted up in an amused smirk.

“I see you met Prince Boner.” He grinned at me. Dossidian barked out a laugh.

“Why are your nicknames for the prince’s always so…phallic?” He asked, sounding genuinely curious. I couldn’t resist a smirk at that. It was true. He always called Prince Amon the Prince of Pricks.

Rycon shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably because they’re always such huge dicks.”

My grin turned into a chuckle, and to my utter astonishment, the puss held a fist up to me, clearly expecting me to bump it. I did so hesitantly, half expecting him to pull his hand away and leave me hanging. But he didn’t. He followed through with the fist bump and clapped me on the shoulder, shooting Prince Zayne a glare.

“See? The Obeah Man agrees.”

I nodded. “Yeah. He about as much of a bumboclaat as yuh say.” I muttered, joining Rycon in giving The Bone Prince a steely look.

“Never thought we would be so aligned. Did I hear right though?” Rycon asked, cocking his head to the side. “Did you bring me some presents?” He directed the question at Zayne.

The Prince of Greed waved a hand and suddenly he was dry. He looked extremely pissed off, but between me, Rycon, Cerenah and Dossidian, he smartly decided against retaliating. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black moleskin notebook and tossed it to Rycon.

“Yeah. All one hundred and forty-nine of them are waiting for you in your dungeons.”

Dossidian nodded. “I had a sentry bring them down a few minutes ago.”

Rycon’s entire face lit up like Christmas had come early, as he caught the notebook.

“Nice. Maybe you’re not a completely useless piece of shit after all.” He winked at Zayne before turning to me.

“I’m going to go deal with some stuff. If Kasha wakes up, can you come get me?” He asked. I almost glanced over my shoulder to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else before responding.

We had never been friends, but he suddenly was acting as if we were. I considered telling him to gwey for a minute, then thought better of it. It would be a lot easier on the group if we got along, and if he was willing to stop acting like a complete ass to me, the least I could do was return the favor.

I nodded firmly. “Yeah. Me’ll come get yuh if she ‘wake.” I agreed, and he gave me a real smile, his pointed canines on full display.

“Great, thanks man.” He said, before heading up the stairs that led to the West Wing.

As he left, Raven entered, and the entire energy in the room immediately shifted. My heart skipped a beat as I took her in.