“What is your name?” My father nods to the Fae who’s glaring daggers at me.
“Jeriko.”
“Jeriko, I admire your power. If you learned to harness it, you’d be a woman to be feared.”
If she learned to think before she leapt, she’d be a real threat. If she used her brain sometimes instead of her brawn, she’d be a real warrior. If she was smarter than the average mound of shit, she might be a decent person.
This world is full of possibilities.
“If I asked you to join me, would you?” The king’s question leaves a lingering silence behind it.
I turn to him. My father stands with one fucking arm and a hole in his abdomen, asking for allies in a game I wasn’t aware we were playing.
“Of course, my king.” Jeriko’s voice holds more respect than I’ve ever heard from her. “I am a woman of loyalty.”
My sword slices through the air, and before I can bring it down on Jeriko, Nollix is there in front of me. I stagger back just slightly. Anger rips through me.
Is he protecting her?
They’re old friends. They’d been in the Hunt long before Carver or I showed up.
“Jeriko.” Nollix strides toward her. “You're fucking serious right now? If you join him, there’s no coming back.” Nollix is seething. His anger shakes right into Jeriko’s face.
And Jeriko’s expression is one of disregard.
“You are too weak to see the silver lining. Too,” she pauses as her attention shifts to where I stand just behind Nollix, “too distracted to see what our future holds. If you were smart and not lovestruck, you’d want to be on the winning side too.”
My father’s voice cuts off Nollix’s response.
“That’s the spirit.”
Carver points the fuming tip of his sword toward my father. With the room’s attention on Jeriko, Cameron quietly picks up the Book of Severed Souls. She holds it tightly in her hand.
This is what we came for. We came here for that book.
We got exactly what we came for. But not how we wanted.
“I’m happy you chose to join me, Jeriko.” My father doesn’t move an inch under Carver’s close watch. “Your first assignment is to capture my daughter.”
At the sound of his instruction, Nollix takes a step closer, his fingers lacing tightly through mine.
“Ah, just as I had hoped. Snatch up the daring man as well, and let’s be on our way, shall we?”
Confusion circles my mind.
Jeriko grips Nollix by the throat. Nollix raises his fuming sword, but before either can deliver a blow, we’re swept away.
Strange magic falls across the room. It envelops me. Suffocates me. It blacks out the world until there’s nothing left.
I know it all too well.
It’s my father’s magic.
16
Merrick
I handed off my letter,approved by the king, to be sent. The paper left my grasp, and my father’s grip wrapped around my wrist, squeezing tighter than he needed to. The world swayed at my feet, spinning into chaos while time and space folded around me. In a blink, I left behind my court. Everything familiar was suddenly replaced with something new. I could feel how far underground we were after only a second. Somehow, it weighed down on me like I was the only one holding up the thousands of pounds of dirt and clay over our heads.I was still trying to pull myself back together when Fathersaid he had something to deal with and darted away with the promise that he would explain soon enough.
