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Chapter 34
Bree
That night,a scream ripped through the hallway outside of Bree’s quarters. Heart hammering, she jumped up from the bed and flew across the floor. She didn’t even think about what she was doing. She just did it. And when she ripped open the door, a crumpled body tumbled towardher.
She bit back her own scream and jumped back, hand pressed tight to her chest. The body belonged to a fae she recognized. He was one of Prince Taveon’s council members. Seath, she thought was his name. One of the fae who had supported KingMidas.
And he wasdead.
His eyes were vacant and hollow as they stared up at her. His chest was still. And his skin was bone cold. She didn’t need to check his pulse to know his heart was no longerbeating.
He had no wounds, not that she couldsee.
He was justgone.
Footsteps pounded on the floor, and several figures hurtled through the open door. Her guards, she realized, as they quickly surrounded her. They’d been gone again, she numbly thought, as they wrapped her hands tight around her back and dragged her away from thebody.
Prince Taveon strode through the door and stopped short when he spotted the fallen fae. He paled, and then glanced up at where Bree was being held by theguards.
“Why are you holding her?” hebarked.
“My Prince, Lord Seath was found dead inside the girl’s quarters. She was standing overhim.”
Taveon narrowed his eyes, and Bree’s heart jumped. He was going to think she was behind this. He would throw her back in her cell, and she’d never again see the light of day. Or worse. She kept hearing about all the heads that landed on stakes just outside the castle walls. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, terror running through herveins.
She had been set up, she realized. This had been purposeful. The body had been dumped on her door precisely for this reason. Whoever had done this wanted to make Bree pay for thecrime.
“She is innocent. Let her go.” The Prince’s voice cut through her thoughts, sharp as aknife.
Her eyes flew open, surprise flittering through her. “You believe I’minnocent?”
“Of course.” He gestured at the body and winced. “Seath has clearly been poisoned. You have no access to anything that could do this, not to mention that you would use a much different kind of weapon if you wanted to kill someone. I also imagine you would not be stupid enough to do it inside of your own quarters with the door flung openwide.”
Relief poured through her, but it was only short-lived. His belief in her didn’t change the fact that one of Taveon’s council members was dead. Poisoned. And the murderer had tried to pin it onBree.
Rafe appeared in the door, worry creasing his handsome face. Lord Dagen was just behind him. They all stared in at the scene, faces pale, eyes locked on where the guard still held tight to Bree’swrists.
Rafe was across the room in an instant. “Let her go. She did not dothis.”
The guard grunted. “Prince Taveon has already given the order. Otherwise, I would not be letting her go, no matter what you said, you Wildebastard.”
Rafe tensed, and his eyes filled with fire. “Throw my past in my face, Merrow, and I will throw your past inyours.”
Merrow, whose name Bree had not heard until this night, loosened his grip. Bree pulled away, striding halfway across the floor to get away from the sight of thebody.
“You are shaking,” Dagen said as he crossed the room. “Let us get you out of here while the guards take care of the situation. You do not have to stay here tonight, ofcourse.”
Bree shivered at the thought of falling asleep two feet away from where a body had been dumped into herroom.
“And you plan on giving hermoreliving quarters, Lord Dagen?” The Prince’s voice was razor sharp as he strode over to the two of them, his body radiating pure tension. “Or are you finally going to go for what you really want and put her in your own bed thistime?”
Amusement flickered in Dagen’s eyes at the Prince’s clear anger. “Would that be a problem? She is just your servant, after all. Why should it matter to you whose bed sheshares?”
“I have a better idea,” Rafe said as he breezed in between the Lord and the Prince. “There is a spare bed in my living quarters. What if Bree stays there, just for tonight while the guards get this place cleaned up? It is better than sending her back to that dusty cell. Do we not allagree?”
Taveon clenched his jaw, and Dagen let out a low chuckle. Bree thought it seemed as though they might both object to the situation, but neither brought up an argument otherwise. She was tempted to point out that no one had asked her what she wanted to do about the situation, but she was too tired, weary, and upset about Seath’s body tumbling through her door for her toargue.
Instead, she followed Rafe out into the hallway. He quietly took her hand, squeezing tight as he led her to the safety of his quarters. He didn’t say a word the entire way, almost knowing that she needed some time to sort through her thoughts. She’d known it would be dangerous in Underworld, but the realm had turned out to be far different than she’d expected. Even with all of the attacks, it wasn’t the horror-filled, chaos-fuelled orgy of violence she’d imagined in her head. The Dark Fae were...well, they were as normal as Dark Fae could be. They had hopes and dreams and ambitions. They punished murderers. They valued loyalty. And they were driven by lust and power just as much as anyoneelse.
