And Angie had a piece of it.
In what might have been considered a jocular tone in almost anyone else, Walter said, “I have quite a few centuries on the upstart Karson Marrazzo. And whilst wearing the colors of the queen’s personal guard, Marrazzo would be a fool to attack. But I can hope he is a fool.”
“And if your former master and owner happens to be with Marrazzo?” EJ asked
Walter touched his brand. His fangs snapped down, serrated on the back side, thick as tiger fangs. “I can hope.”
EJ stayed silent. This was a Walter he didn’t know.
“Willim Danil Yorath IV is an unspeakably cruel coward. He hid from me for over a century, living on one seagoing yacht or another. I located him once. And then the war happened. He vanished like the smoke of a snuffed candle. I signed with the queen to be your bodyguard for ten years. The only time in the last two centuries when I have been close enough to challenge and kill him, was the queen’s soirée.”
“And you didn’t go,” EJ said.
“The invitation to attend did not come with a letter permitting me to challenge him. And such a challenge—without royal approval—would have been unwise.”
“What?” EJ said, the word carrying overtones of,Are you nuts?“Did it ever occur to you that the invitation from Aunt Jane was the queen giving youpermissionto challenge him? That maybe she was planning for that?”
Walter pivoted on one toe, like a dancer, lethal and swift. “Did I—” He frowned. “With contracts there are always loopholes. Was the invitation such a loophole? An opportunity nowmissed? If I had been at the emperor’s reception, would Londyn and Cennet still be alive?”
“Hell if I know, but if Willim is at Marrazzo’s clan home tonight, do me a favor, Walter. Challenge and kill him. Because if you don’t, I will.”
“You will do no such thing.”
“I will. So, to fulfill your vow and contract with the queen to keep me safe, you have no choice but to challenge him and kill him first so I don’t spill my blood on Asshat’s marble floors.”
Walter’s fangs snapped back into the roof of his mouth. “You are a little devil, aren’t you. You leave me no choice.”
“Right,” EJ said. “You can’t let me be injured. The queen would be pissed.”
Walter laughed, the tones vicious and joyful all at once. “Child, if this comes to pass, I will, how do you say it? Owe you big.”
“Yeah. You can pay me back by never calling me a child again.”
“Impossible. But I will give you a boon. Be wise how you use it.”
EJ knocked and they entered Angie’s apartment when the light flashed on the security unit. He stepped in and stopped, taken aback.
“You aren’t in the queen’s colors,” he stated. Like Walter, Angie was dressed in armor, but Walter wore the colors of the queen’s personal guard. As princess, Angie should have been armored in the queen’s colors as well. Angie wasn’t. That was unexpected, and therefore important. The kind of important that got people killed.
Angie’s smile was not her sweet, sisterly smile. This was thatodd “something else” he’d been seeing. Her magic sang at him, a concert of power. Her head lifted a hint, and it was as though she stared down her nose at him. EJ resisted stepping out of her apartment into the relative safety of the hallway. He had fought demons in the war, and so there was little that made him retreat. But his sister’s magic clanged at him like battle cymbals.Beware.
Her words stilted and formal as anything spoken at the queen’s court, this new Angie said, “I have been Jane Yellowrock’s godchild since I was a toddler. I have been a member of Clan Yellowrock since the night she formed it. I have been a member of the Dark Queen’s court for decades. I am the ward of the Emperor of Europe. Everything I do while wearingherblue-black and gold armor reflects upon her. This?” She gestured along her body. “This is mypersonal armor. This ismyfight.Mybattle.”
She settled her gaze on Walter, who didn’t seem surprised.
“Any mistakes I make while wearingthisarmor will reflect solely upon me. Any challenges that I offer will be in my name only; any that I accept, in my name only, reflect solely upon me.”
“And any offenses that are made to the queen’s godchild, the queen’s family, and the queen’s court will be answered by me,” Walter said from where he had sat, straddling a kitchen chair, leaning forward on the chair’s back.
It sounded rehearsed. As if…“You two have done this before,” EJ said, the realization coming slow. “Before I joined The Firm.”
“Once, Evan Everhart-Trueblood Jr.,” Walter said. “Angelina is acting upon her own purposes tonight, at least at first. However, if there is a Rus witch in the Marrazzo Clan Home, it will be a declaration of war against the queen. Should that happen, Angelina can be shielded and enfolded by the queen’s standardand crestaftershe appears. But once so declared, she cannot step away from it. Once she herself calls upon the protection of the queen, once she dons the armor of the queen’s colors or claims the royal banner, every footstep taken, every gesture, every word spoken, will reflect upon the Dark Queen.”
“Until then, I’m a free agent,” Angie said, still wearing the strange smile from earlier.
“Anyone going to tell me about this previous time?”
“No,” they both said.
