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Lorelei rolled her eyes. Could no one else see the truth? “The high priestess is Otto’s sister.”
“And yet…” Gerard’s brows compressed. “I’ve never heard any ill of her.”
“Have you heard any good?” Lorelei demanded. “What does she actually say in those private meetings?”
“Nothing,” he admitted. “She maintained an unceasing silence in the only meeting we shared before my departure for Kitvaria. But before her recent elevation, I only ever heard of her in combination with charitable activities and good causes.”
“She used to care about justice and what was right.” Ailana’s voice was low and strained. “But that was a long time ago.”
Eyebrows arching, Lorelei exchanged a quick, baffled look with Saskia … who shook her head with equal confusion.
At any other time, Lorelei would have pounced on the opportunity to delve into their tight-lipped friend’s most intriguing secrets, but there was no time to discuss years-old gossip. She had a consort to save from his own noble intentions and very little time left to do it.
So she crossed her arms, raised all of her power in readiness, and smiled with ferocious sweetness at all the friends ranked around her. “Gerard is not walking into that trap without protection. I won’t let him.”
It was the moment of truth for all of them, now—the moment she’d been dreading.
Perhaps he would never forgive her for this high-handed decision. If he closed his heart against her now, the pain would be indescribable … but she would far rather risk his hatred than his life. There was no doubt left in her.
Across the room, Saskia’s eyes narrowed, but she sat back in her seat, clearly withdrawing herself from the debate; she, at least, knew what it was to have a partner to protect. Ailana’s brown eyes iced over with dangerous silver, though, and a perilous cold chilled the room as the ice queen’s powers mantled in return, the first thin layer of transparent ice forming on the floor around her feet. “Lorelei, this is no time for one of your sudden whims. The fate of the entire continent is at stake! You cannot risk everyone and everything we care about for a personal distraction, no matter how compelling he may be.”
“Can I not?” Setting her teeth together, Lorelei called on the grace given to her by Sylvana. Summer heat swept through the air, melting the ice into puddles.
She raised her arm in preparation for battle …
But Gerard closed one hand around it and gently turned her. “Lorelei,” he murmured, “love of my life, look at me.”
Mulishly, she set her jaw, refusing to raise her eyes. She couldn’t afford to weaken now, no matter how hurt or furious he was. But …
With his free hand, he gently tilted her head—and the unhidden gratitude, love, and wonder in his gaze trapped her in place like a butterfly caught in amber. She had been fighting for so many years to break through his stone-hard shell. And now—!
“No one in my entire life has ever tried to shield me as you do,” he murmured huskily. “I cannot even express to you how much it means to me.”
“You. Are. Mine.” Her words were a bare whisper, but she knew he could hear every word. “I am a queen. I know the stakes. But I will not let you sacrifice yourself and become a martyr.”
Once again, that terrible vision of Jovar’s hall of heroes rose to chill the blood in her veins more effectively than Ailana could ever manage. Gerard had worn this same grass-stained uniform coat in that vision, hadn’t he? If Sylvana had mercy, Lorelei might have already averted that prophesied fate by rescuing him from Oberon’s ruse in Efaelen today …
But she wouldn’t take that chance. She couldn’t.
“My mother gave me up for the sake of a greater cause,” Lorelei said softly, “and it nearly broke me. I will never do the same to you.”
“You won’t have to.” Ailana spoke, breaking their spell of intimacy, but this time, there was no ice in her tone, only regret. “Forgive me, Lorelei. I didn’t realize how deeply you truly felt.”
Gerard released her chin, and Lorelei turned slowly to face her longest-standing political ally. Ailana’s eyes were shadowed but no longer silvered, and her expression was grave.
They had been friends for years. And yet … “I told you he was my consort,” Lorelei said. “How did you think I felt about him?”
“I heard you. And yet…” Sighing, Ailana made a graceful, flowing gesture that spoke without words of all the years Lorelei had spent painting a picture of herself to the world as a heartless rake.
She’d always assumed that her two closest allies must know her better than to believe in that self-presentation … but as she met Ailana’s gaze now, she realized that they had all been keeping far too many secrets from one another, despite their binding vows of alliance.
If the Queens of Villainy were to take on the Serafin Empire—and survive—they couldn’t afford to keep any self-protective shields raised within their private meetings any longer.
With a sigh, Lorelei released the illusion that had held her hair neatly in place to their vision until now. Dirt and grass stains reappeared on her skin and clothes. Wholly imperfect, smudged, and real, she looked from one ally to another and spoke the plain, unvarnished truth. “He has my whole heart in his keeping.”
“I see.” Ailana drew a deep breath and then released it as Saskia nodded in silent acceptance. “In that case, we will all have to make certain that you do not lose him.”
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