For the last three years, I’ve been quiet but not passive.
And don’t even get me started on how many times Jeriko hasaccidentallytried to end my life.
At least this is normal. As normal as I can get, I suppose.
4
Violence
The cool afternoondoes little to calm my racing heart. My cheeks feel flushed, my palms sweaty at my sides, and I gulp in air as if I didn’t take a single breath through that entire meeting. I wipe my hand against my shirt. The feeling of my body under the material is the smallest reminder that I’m still alive.
I’ve thought myself dead about a thousand times over during the course of my life and meetings with my father.
“What are we supposed to do with her?” Carver asks, his shoulder skimming mine as he passes to look out into the courtyard.
The sun hides behind a cloud overhead, casting everything into a shadow; even so, the bushes carved into perfect spheres and the beds of flowers that run along the sides of the road that curve up to the steps at our feet remain vibrant.
The flowers had been mother’s idea. “Something to brighten up the place,” she always said with a smile. I’d thought it comical to have something so delicate and beautiful in a court shrouded in so much cruelty. Then again, the red hue of the blossoms always did remind me of blood.
I pause and follow his gaze out to the green grasses. Cameron trails behind me, and I watch her as she empties her pockets on the steps of the Dark Palace. A guard at the door quietly monitors the scene, holding the door open for us.
Coins clatter to the ground. A ruby necklace clinks hard next to the money. A few skeleton keys fall as well. Folded documents drift through the night air as she tosses them down. Deeper she digs until two golden forks tumble out of her jeans. A dagger engraved with swooping letters hits hard against the pavement. Three watches, an encrusted goblet, my mother’s favorite pearls, and a serving saucer roll down the street.
“Guess that’s all of it,” she says with a nod.
I pause to gawk, my gaze drifting down to her jeans. They’re tight. Where was she hiding everything?
The guard’s face is also slackened as he bends down and begins gathering all the items. A piece of paper is caught in the wind, threatening to be swept away. It’s caught at the last minute as the Fae shoots out an arm, his tight hold crinkling its end.
“Are you sure? Nothing else you forgot to return?” Jeriko steps into Cameron’s personal space, breathing down on her with a hostile demeanor. It’ssoJeriko, I roll my eyes.
“Well, now that you mention it.” Cameron pushes her hand into her pocket, and all three of us peer around Jeriko to see what else the thief is hiding. She struggles with it for a moment, seeming to wrestle whatever it is out.
She finally pulls her hand back out of her pocket and raises her middle finger to Jeriko’s brooding face.
“There, that’s the last of it.”
My lips part with a short laugh that ends as Jeriko slams her fist into Cameron’s face.
With a change of the wind, I swirl in between the two. It takes less than a second for the magic to filter me into a solid form. I catch Jeriko’s next punch in my palm, aware of Cameron nursing her jaw behind me.
Jeriko’s fuming gaze falls on me as I push her hand away. The tension in her body settles, and confusion falls across her face. Cameron’s chest rises in shaking breaths against my back.
“That’s enough.” My voice is steady as I glare up into the Fae’s eyes. “My mother expects manners at her table tonight. She is not used to shit-bag Fae like I am.”
Jeriko’s jaw tics.
That’s right, I’m calling you a shit-bag.
“For three fucking years you don’t talk, and then when you do, I feel like you haven’t shut up for an eternity.” Jeriko shifts her weight, waiting.
It takes all my willpower not to sucker-punch her like she just did Cameron.
“Don’t.” I point a finger in her face, watching her eyes narrow till they go crossed. “Insult my mother tonight by being an asshole.”
I breathe out a sigh and storm down the stairs. I just need a minute to think.
A ray of sun pokes out to shine against the wet brick, and it takes a second for me to realize that Cameron is walking silently behind me. With my arms folded tightly across my chest, I look back at her, her pale eyes meeting mine.
