“I…” I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry you didn’t find out from me.”
“Me too.”
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you, Ar.”
He was silent for a minute, then exhaled heavily. “I want something for my cooperation.”
I waited, knowing this was coming. Arcane was predictable to a fault. I also knew my brother wasn’t one to linger. He rarelyever opened up, and if he wanted to keep talking about why I kept it from him, he would.
Guilt coursed through me. I should have known. He was meticulous with details and missed nothing. Of course, he would have put it together.
And then more guilt ran through me. Arcane had a relationship with him, and then was forced to watch him die on the stage during the broadcast.
“What do you want?” I asked, letting him change the subject. We didn’t have the luxury of time to dwell on family drama. And knowing my brother, he wasn’t going to open up any more than that.
“Firstly, I want these off.” He rattled his chains. “And I want a bed instead of having to sleep on the ground. And books. And it would be nice to not have people outside my tent at all hours of the night. They don’t know how to keep quiet.”
“The chains can go,” I said. They weren’t infused with Alluse anyway. It was the reason for the Advenians outside his tent. Ever since Dravenburg found out, he removed the magical ones and had Alluse users rotating on a schedule, keeping his and Kole’s powers down. “The guards are staying, but I can get you any book you want and a bed.”
“Fine. I want decent food and wine too. The stuff they’ve been feeding me is horrendous. And it better be good wine. I won’t drink anything less. I’ll also take a daily shower to clean myself and will require fresh clothes every morning.”
“Are you done yet?” I asked. My brother was more of a pampered princess than Dovelyn, and I was prepared for him to list off about fifty more demands. When he wanted to, he knew how to negotiate.
His silver eyes slid from the three of us as he shrugged. “I guess.”
“Great. Then let’s go.”
SIXTY
SCOTLIND
We had exactlytwenty minutes to eat dinner before the meeting with Dravenburg and the entire camp was going to be there. Wells, Tezya, and I had been working with Arcane over the past hour. Well, that wasn’t true. The three of us stared at him as he studied the ring in silence for the entire hour. At one point, he announced he needed access to his powers, but beyond that, he worked in complete silence. It was infuriating.
Wells wouldn’t stop fidgeting, and I swore he was going to break one of his fingers. The only time Arcane spoke was to tell us to bring him to the meeting. He said he’d only disclose what he discovered in front of everyone. He also refused to admit if he was successful in creating the compulsion serum, so basically we weren’t any closer to getting answers.
He was using it as leverage. We all knew it. He wanted in on the meeting tonight, and if that was the only way we’d get him to talk, he knew he held the power. He was back in his tent—for now—with the promise that we’d come get him before the meeting started.
“Let’s skip dinner,” I said to Tezya. “I’m not hungry.” There was no way I’d be able to eat with the nerves racking throughmy body right now, and twenty minutes was more than enough time to—
“You don’t want to miss dinner tonight. Trust me.”
“Why?” I asked.
He smiled. “Because I might have told the cooks what to make tonight and it’s not something that’s normally on the menu.”
My intrigue had me walking to the dining tent with him. The smell hit me way before I saw it.
“This is what we had when…” I inhaled deeply, at a loss for words, not remembering what the food was called, but I remembered loving it. Tezya had ordered two of them from a mortal food truck when he took me to his condo for the first time.
“Tacos,” he finished for me. I dropped his hand and rushed into the tent. My mouth was already salivating thinking about them. Everyone else had the same idea as me because the dining tent was completely packed.
We found our usual seats. Besides Wells and Vallie, Tezya and I were the last to join. I had no idea where the mortal boy went after we dropped Arcane off, and I already knew Vallie wouldn’t show up until dinner was officially over and the dining tent was transformed for the meeting. I was slightly disappointed because Vallie would have absolutely loved tacos. Freaking loved them, but I knew from Peter she was still barely eating. I tried not to think about it, tried to not let it stop me from enjoying them, because I was pretty certain tacos were my new favorite food.
I moaned loudly as I took my first bite. I stuffed mine with avocado, salsa, beans, beef, cheese—literally as much as I could pack into the small tortilla thing as I could.
Kallon laughed. “Slow down, babes. The food isn’t going anywhere.” I barely paid attention and just kept shoveling bite after bite of the taco into my mouth.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Kallon smirked. “I totally forgot Ifound something out earlier today.” That got everyone’s attention. Whatever side conversations anyone was having at the dinner table ceased. Even Sie looked away from Peter to give Kallon his attention. She grinned broadly, satisfied that everyone was listening. “I found out that the noises Scottie makes when she’s eating food is actually nothing, and I meannothing,compared to what she sounds like when she’s having sex.”
