My phone vibrated, and I pulled it from my pocket as I settled against the wall.
Eleana: Any update? Elion is getting impatient.
Me: Might be a bit longer than we initially said.
Eleana: I told him the two of you couldn’t pull this off without me.
Me: We’re fine.
Eleana: My bad . . . guess the royal guards spotted two other spies in their Quarter.
Axel: We weren’t spotted . . . it’s just footage, and that’s easily erasable. Trust us . . . we’re fine.
“Must she always be so bossy?” Axel grumbled as he pocketed his phone.
“She must have been born that way.”
“Much like you were born without the ability to find humor?” he teased, and the stars-damned fox had the audacity to huff.
“Fuck you, man,” I retorted.
“My point exactly,” he replied and was thankfully cut off from continuing as we heard a loud banging noise in the distance of Raelyna’s apartment.
I ground my teeth, every muscle tightening in my body.
Why on Aurelia had I thought it was a good idea to fucking hide of all things? I was a stars-damned idiot. I was the feared leader of the Shade, Aurelia’s most sought-after spy, and what had I done? I’d left Raelyna to fend off the RSG on her own while I hid in her attic.
“I’ll be back,” I muttered, pushing off the wall as I moved toward the hatch.
“Just where thefuckdo you think you’re going?” Axel moved faster than he should have, stopping directly in my path as he pushed me back from the hatch.
“I’m not leaving her down therealonewith them,” I ground out. “Now get out of my way.”
“No,” he snarled. “We are here now. If you dare go down there, you will only put her at greater risk. Is thatreallywhat you want?”
I stared at my friend, narrowing my eyes at him, a demand for him to move out of my way, only to find his green eyes narrowing back in on me.
“I’m not moving, Blackwood. This is my call. We stay here.”
I scoffed. “You don’t control me, Pierce. I’m not leaving her down there, alone.”
We both froze then, the sound of footsteps reaching our ears as they drew closer to the room below us.
Stars-damn. It was too late.
“King Lucanus mentioned you were close with one of the spies, Ms. Kingsley.” I heard the muffled sound of one of the guard’s voices carrying up toward the rafters.
“Close?” the softer voice carried up. “If by close you mean that he masqueraded as a Solis Guard and stalked me anytime I was in the vicinity of the Solis Court, then yes. I wasquiteclose to the angels you claim to be Aurelian Guild spies.”
I heard more boots stomping than stopping, directly below us. Every muscle in my body tensed, waiting to spring into action. Because of all the things I knew at this moment, Axel was right.
If I dared to move, Raelyna’s life would be in far more danger than I wished.
“I’d rethink your tone,Ms. Kingsley. Lowers don’t have the authority to speak to members of King Lucanus’s Elite RSG in such a manner.”
“Well, I don’t appreciate being accused of colluding with the Aurelian Guild,” she retorted, and I almost smiled, picturing her sea-glass hazel eyes narrowing on the guard in defiance as she spoke to him.
And by the Eternal, I’d love to be there to witness the fury in her eyes.
