Page 16 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Somewhere in the south…

The tension was palpable as the trio walked through a meadow. Lotti had somehow found herself being a buffer between Alasdair and Villette, a position she’d never thought to be in. Yet, here she was.

Alasdair didn’t think Villette had an honest bone in her body. Neither did Lotti. Still, she knew Villette spoke the truth.

Hence the tension building with every moment they didn’t locate Miena.

Things grew worse after Merrill had returned to help trap Derek. To ensure Villette didn’t learn of them, not much had been shared with Alasdair about those plans. It also meant that Lotti didn’t know everything that was going on with the Kings. She didn’t like that, but it was a small price to pay to keep Villette in the dark.

“This was a bloody waste of time,” Alasdair said.

Villette spun to face him, her face tight with exasperation. “Fine. You locate Miena.”

The argument that had been brewing was about to spill over. Lotti stepped between them. “We’re all on edge. Let’s remember that we all want the same thing.”

She looked at Villette, who threw up her hands in aggravation. Lotti then slid her gaze to Alasdair. He ducked his chin. It was the only acquiescence she would get. But it was all she needed. She understood this was difficult for him. It was hard for her, too. Walking next to someone who had tried to kill you multiple times would never be easy. Or enjoyable.

Lotti didn’t know how much longer she could keep the two of them from each other’s throats. Neither seemed to realize she was doing her best to keep her own issues controlled. The only reason she remained calm was because she knew that if she didn’t, no one would.

“Good,” Lotti stated. “We’ve only covered five villages. We keep looking until we find Miena.”

“Or I find you.”

The voice registered behind Lotti. Alasdair’s eyes narrowed, his lips parting, and then he was shouting. But there was no sound. Lotti whirled around to find a tall brunette standing before her.

“Miena,” Villette said dispassionately.

Miena was even more beautiful than Villette. Her dark locks were parted down the middle and fell past her butt. Small sections on either side of her face were gathered at her chin with emerald clasps, the hair fashioned in a loose braid to the end and clinched with gold.

Miena’s eyes were a striking shade of light green that reminded Lotti of the first buds on the trees come spring. A sleeveless gown in a deep emerald conformed to Miena’s ample breasts and small waist before falling in soft folds to the ground.

She might be gorgeous, but the undercurrent of apathy and viciousness couldn’t be missed. Unlike Villette, who attempted to hide her true intentions, Miena put them out there for the world to see. She embraced ambition and ruthlessness as tightly as she did power. Maybe it was the abject display, or perhaps it was Villette’s acknowledgment that Miena was stronger, but whatever it was, Lotti knew it wouldn’t be easy to bring her to heel.

And that wouldn’t be enough for the Kings. It likely wouldn’t be enough for Kora. But there had to come a time when killing wasn’t the answer. Sadly, Lotti didn’t think that would start with Miena.

Lotti looked over at Alasdair. He was pounding on some undetectable barrier that kept him in place and his voice from being heard. Fury darkened his features as he bellowed. The moment their gazes met, she tried to convey that everything was all right. It was far from fine, but she wouldn’t worry if he was calmer. She must have communicated her desire because he lowered his arms to his sides and stopped yelling. Though his gaze, locked on Miena, told a different story. It was likely as calm as he was going to get. Lotti winked at him before turning her attention to the new arrival.

“He’s a fine specimen,” Miena said as she eyed Alasdair. “We’ve all had our share of dragons in our beds.”

Lotti lifted her chin. “Alasdair is my mate.”

Miena laughed, then sobered. “You’re serious,” she said in disbelief.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Villette said, changing the subject.

Miena shot her a bored look. “I’m aware.” She snapped her fingers, and three plush, green chairs appeared in a circle. Miena moved to sit in one. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Lotti looked at Villette, who glared daggers at her sister as she took one of the chairs. Lotti supposed they were both her sisters, too. She inwardly winced. It was easier if she considered them distant relations. Very distant.

She walked to the vacant chair and lowered herself into it.

Miena’s smile was cold and calculating. “Now, let’s get down to business. There are two options before you. One, join me. Two, stand against me and die.”

“Still the same Miena,” Villette replied.

Lotti watched the two glower at each other. “I’ve taken my stand.”

“Pity,” Miena replied without looking away from Villette. “And you, sister?”

Villette crossed one leg over the other, her arms resting on the chair’s. “I can’t believe you’re even bothering to ask.”

Miena rolled her eyes and made a sound in the back of her throat. “You’ve not changed. Still so whinny.” She looked at Lotti. “She was the youngest until you. Villette always complained that we left her behind.”

“You excluded me,” Villette interjected indignantly. “On purpose.”

“You were irritating.”

“You were my family.”

Miena shrugged. “You’re the one who couldn’t keep up.”

Lotti didn’t want to feel sorry for Villette, but she did. She knew what it was like to yearn for a family and want to be included. To know that Villette had felt that, too, was disturbing. Villette was the enemy. Relating to Villette put her on a path to understanding—one Alasdair wouldn’t be able to handle.

Frankly, Lotti wasn’t sure she could.

“You. Left. Me.”

Lotti inwardly grimaced at Villette’s words spoken through clenched teeth. The depth of her hurt and resentment could be felt in every syllable.

“Until you became interesting.” Miena smiled. “Your attempt to bring down the Dragon Kings is what caught my attention. I would never have invited you to join me here otherwise.”

Lotti was going to be sick. Could Alasdair hear all of this? She wanted to look at him but thought it better if she didn’t. It wasn’t enough that the dragons had been slaves and gotten free. At least some of the Star People wanted to exact revenge for such an escape.

“Of course, then you betrayed me,” Miena said in a voice laced with venom and ice.

One corner of Villette’s lips curved into a smile. “I saw an opportunity.”

“And you shall pay for it.”

Lotti cleared her throat, drawing both their gazes. “We’ve all stated our intentions.”

“Have we?” Miena asked with a laugh. “You certainly are young. You’ve no idea what you’ve stepped into, have you? You chose a side before you knew your family.”

Lotti laced her fingers over her stomach, her elbows on the arms of the chair. “It seems taking sides is what our kind does best.”

Miena’s grin was anything but pleasant. “You are an infant compared to us. You know nothing.”

“I know who found Zora, and it wasn’t you.” Lotti let that dig sink in. She bit back a smile at the hostility that filled Miena’s eyes. Lotti had done it to see if Miena knew that Erith, leader of the Reapers, had created Zora. By her rage, she didn’t.

“I’ve long thought it was Eurielle,” Villette said.

Lotti didn’t respond. Miena studied her, waiting to see if she’d reply, but there was no way Lotti would confirm or deny anything. There would come a time when Erith made herself known—and the fact that she was a Star Person—but it wasn’t now.

Villette cut a look at Lotti as she told Miena, “Eurielle made herself known to Lotti and Alasdair.”

“She did more than show herself,” Lotti said. “She’s the one who showed me what I am.”

Miena pulled her lips back over her teeth. “She was supposed to kill you. It was punishment for?—”

“For keeping Zora a secret from all of you,” Lotti finished. “I’m aware.”

Miena’s stare was intense and pointed. “Eurielle’s decisions have cut her from the family. I wouldn’t advise following in her footsteps.”

“Who should I follow?” Lotti looked from Miena to Villette and back again with raised brows. “One of you? Because you’ve both been so kind and generous?”

“If you want to be one of us, yes,” Miena stated matter-of-factly. Then she scoffed, her derision clear. “Have you even left the planet? Do you know how to fly among the stars?”

Lotti told herself it didn’t matter, but she felt the pull of the stars even now. “I’ll figure it out as I have everything else.”

“That’s a very unwise choice.”

Lotti shrugged. “You’re not changing my mind.”

“Soon, you’ll beg me to spare your life and that of the dragon you’ve chosen,” Miena replied.

Lotti pushed to her feet. “Since we’re laying out promises, here’s one of mine. Stop. All of it.”

“Or?” Miena asked, one brow raised.

“Or it’ll be you begging for life.”

Miena threw back her head and laughed. “You’ve got courage, I’ll give you that.” She stood. “Nothing will make me stop what I began so long ago. Not you, not the dragons.” She looked at Villette. “Not my sister. Not even the hellhound you’re protecting. I have Derek, and my plan won’t fail.”

She was gone in the next heartbeat.

The chairs vanished. Villette teleported away so she didn’t fall to the ground. Whatever held Alasdair disappeared, as well. He came up beside Lotti and wrapped his arm around her. She leaned against him, her heart thumping wildly.

“I heard everything,” he said before she could ask.

Villette turned to them. “That went about as well as could be expected. Better than I thought it would, actually. There was no bloodshed. Though we had a chance to get her. Why didn’t one of you call for Rhi?”

“Because the Kings have Derek.”

Lotti looked at Alasdair in surprise. “Their plan worked?”

“It appears so.”

“Then we’re finished here,” Villette said. “Let’s get to Derek so we can return his memories.”

Alasdair held out a hand to stop her. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“We’re on the same team now, remember?”

He snorted. “Until you find a way out.”

“There’s no getting out of the vow she and Kora made.” Lotti gave him a stern look. How many times must she tell him that?

Villette shrugged and tried to look indifferent. “I’ll return to Stonemore then.”

“The fuck you will,” Alasdair stated.

Lotti had reached her limit for keeping the peace. “We can’t bring her with us. Which means we stay with her.”

“I doona like this,” Alasdair said under his breath.

Villette turned her head away. “None of us does. At least I’m trying to do my part.”

Lotti sighed when she felt Alasdair stiffen against her. “We found Miena, and we have Derek. That’s two wins.”

“Miena found us,” Alasdair pointed out.

Villette glanced his way and nodded. “If I don’t return to Stonemore, she’ll take over there, too. If she hasn’t already.”

“I can no’ believe I’m saying this, but Villette’s right,” Alasdair admitted.

Villette cupped her hand over her ear. “I didn’t hear you. Can you repeat that?”

“Enough,” Lotti snapped. “We’re in agreement. Stonemore. But on one condition,” she added when Villette began to smile. “You halt all executions of those with magic.”

Villette hesitated.

“What possible excuse can you have to murder children?” Alasdair demanded.

Seemed she wasn’t the only one who’d reached the end of their rope. Lotti crossed her arms over her chest. “Looks like you aren’t going anywhere.”

“She uses them.” Villette’s words came out in a rush as if it physically hurt to say them.

Lotti frowned, afraid she hadn’t heard right. “What?”

“How?” Alasdair asked.

Villette swallowed, briefly closing her eyes as she looked away. “I found out that Miena had a secret. She wasn’t always the strongest. It happened suddenly. I knew it wasn’t natural and tried to figure out what it was. And I wasn’t the only one. But she’s devious. She hid it from me for decades while we were on Zora. It was only by chance that I came upon her with the child.”

“Doing what?” Lotti was sure she didn’t want to know, but there was no going back now.

“She stole the child’s magic.”

Alasdair jerked as if struck. “What the actual fuck?”

“How is that even possible?” Lotti murmured.

Villette shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. It’s always humans, and it’s always children. I figured she’d discovered they didn’t have the means to keep her from getting to it.”

“She kills children for their magic, and you kill them for…what? Fun?” Alasdair was seething, his hands clenched at his sides.

“She didn’t take their lives,” Villette explained. “Just their magic.”

Lotti shook her head in confusion. “Explain to me why you kill them then.”

Villette looked away in aggravation. “When I caught Miena, she swore it was the first time she had ever done it, and it was by accident. I didn’t believe her.”

“I wonder why,” Alasdair said sarcastically.

“It took a few years, but I discovered that in order to keep her secret, she’d learned to enter the kids’ dreams and pull their magic that way. Even locked away as I had her, she could still get to a few of them.”

Lotti swallowed the bile rising into her throat. “You kill them before she can.”

“I didna think I could despise you more,” Alasdair stated with a sneer.

Villette lifted her chin. “I did what I had to do to keep her locked away.”

“We’re not going to Stonemore unless the killings stop,” Lotti announced.

Villette picked something off her skirt. “Fine. She’s out now anyway. She can get all the magic she wants. Can we go now?”

“I hope we doona regret this,” Alasdair whispered.

Lotti hoped so, too.