I held her angry stare for a long moment before saying, “Honestly, I think I do believe you. About all of it.” I reached forward to touch her talisman, noting the icy texture of it. “Melek is playing a game that involves us both. I just have to figure out if I want to remain a player on his wicked little chessboard.”
“What about Az?” Her voice lowered an octave with her words, causing my focus to lift away from her necklace to her lips and farther up to her stunning irises. They were flickering with power as her pupils dilated, making me wonder what the talisman was doing to her right now.
Or is that hint of magic just her?
“What about Az?” I repeated back to her. “Are you asking if he’s a pawn, too?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I just… You two seem close. And he obviously knows Melek well. Can you talk to him about all this?’
“I likely will, yes.”
“And will he tell you about the Virtuous magic?” she pressed. “About what he and Melek were talking about, I mean?”
That… I wasn’t so sure. “It depends on if I need to know.”
“Why wouldn’t you need to know?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes secrets, even between friends, are a necessary evil.”
I’d learned that lesson from Shade years ago. There were things he’d done to save the Midnight Fae Realm that I would never know anything about, and I was okay with that. Mostly. I had to believe that if he’d known what had been about to happen to my parents and Emelyn, he would have done something. Warned me.Anything. Because to believe otherwise…
I swallowed.
To believe otherwise would ruin a lifelong friendship.
Pushing the thought from my mind, I focused on Camillia and distracted myself by asking, “Did you hear them say anything else?” I probably shouldn’t be inquiring, as she’d essentially eavesdropped on a private conversation. But I couldn’t help the curiosity brewing inside me.
She shook her head. “They said something about talking to King Onyx and, uh, Hades, about other clues, but I didn’t really hear the rest because you slammed into me like a maniac.”
I smirked, amused by her descriptive term. “I suppose I did. Sorry for tackling youlike a maniac,Camillia.”
Her lips parted. “What?” She blinked. “Did you… just apologize?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I’m capable of owning up to my mistakes. Don’t act so surprised. But while we’re on the subject, I’m also sorry for shoving you up against the wall. I didn’t expect you tofreeze.”
She flinched. “Neither did I.” Her fingers went to her talisman again. “I don’t trust this thing, but I also can’t afford to take it off. It’s clearly trying to protect me.”
“So it seems,” I agreed. “So how about we do something to take your mind off it for a little while? Take your mind off of all this?”
She studied me with open skepticism. “What did you have in mind?”
I canted my head toward the pizza oven. “A tutorial on how the hell we use that.”
Her gaze followed the angle of my head, a sweet little smile gracing her features. “It’s pretty simple—you put a pizza together and set it on the fire.”
“Then how about you help me make a pizza and I’ll man the fire?” Because I needed a distraction from the hunger growing in my groin, as well as the chaos brewing in my mind. And I suspected she needed the same—particularly in regard to the latter.
“I would suggest you just magic-wand us some pizza, but cooking actually does sound like fun,” she admitted. “It almost sounds normal.” She flicked her eyes at the walls. “You know, apart from being in a hellish castle and staying in a room down the hall from the Hell Fae King himself.”
“Let’s do our best to forget that part. At least until we finish eating,” I offered. “Deal?” I couldn’t help the phrasing, aware that it was a direct play on her situation.
Fortunately, her smile only strengthened in response. “Deal,” she echoed, holding out her hand for a proper shake.
I accepted and helped her up off the couch.
Then I followed her into the kitchen and pretended like we were just two normal fae about to share dinner.
Afterward, I’d become her Warden again.
