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The look on Arden’s face was just as good as I’d expected.
Spots of red appeared on her fair cheeks, and her brows furrowed, one of her hands clenching into a fist. Her mouth popped open like she was going to say something, but she closed it. Her mouth flattened into a line as she took a deep breath.
“I’m not sitting down,” she finally said, backing up.
“Yes, you are.” I created a gust behind her, pushing her into the room, then used another one to slam the door shut.
“Hey!” She caught herself before she fell and glared at me.
“Sit down, Arden,” I said.
“No.” The stubborn little thing actually tried to go back and leave again. I had to hold back a smile.
Jagger sighed, standing up and crossing the room in a few quick steps. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, holding her wiggling body with a firm hand. “Come on.”
She tried slamming her fists against his back and kicking, but it was useless. Jagger was the biggest of us, both in height and bulk, so she might as well have been a kitten trying to fight a lion. Not that she could have hurt me or Flint at her size, either. Jagger smirked as he brought her over to her chair.
Jagger unceremoniously dropped her down on the couch. She crossed her arms just under her breasts, her mouth tight. My eyes flicked down to them for a moment. Her frame was long and slender, but her tits were surprisingly full for her body. I shouldn’t have been looking, but when I was attracted to a woman, I couldn’t easily shake it, no matter who she was.
“Assholes,” Arden murmured.
“Listen,” Flint said, resting his elbows on his knees. “We’ve been more than fair, so you will listen and give us what we need.”
Arden looked out the window and sighed. That was enough of an answer for Flint—not that he needed one—because he continued.
“I know you said you don’t know where the artifact is after you dropped it off, but we can’t accept that as an answer,” he said. “It’s extraordinarily important to us—something that we absolutely cannot let go. Or worse, give to someone with bad intentions.”
Arden lifted an eyebrow. “What’s it for? Why is it so important?”
“We can’t tell you that,” I said.
Evenweweren’t entirely sure of what it did. All we knew was that it was enchanted with powerful magic that strengthened one’s powers, and that it was part of a prophecy that claimed it would unite all fae. Prophecies were trouble like that—she could interpret it however she wanted. If we told her its true value, she could try to get it again, thinking she was the chosen one behind the prophecy.
I doubted she was. If anyone was going to unite the fae, it would be us.
Arden crossed one leg over the other. “You can’t tell me what it’s for, but you can tell me that you need it?”
“You can tell it’s valuable,” Jagger said. “Besides, it belongs to us. That should be enough.”
She glared at him, but he just smirked in return.
“You might have handed it off to someone, but we need you to get it back,” I said. “Retrace your steps. Ask questions and do whatever it takes. Isn’t that what you do?”
A crack in her tough armor appeared. “You dug into my past?”
“No, we just arrested you and decided to let you sit there.” I snorted. “Of course we did. So, we know you’re more than capable of getting the artifact back.”
She shifted in her seat, focusing on her lap. For a moment, she seemed close to relenting. But then she scanned us over and looked each one of us in the eye. “No.”
Flint dug his hand into his hair as if he were trying to hold on to his control. “You’re going to do it, Arden. We’ve given you more than enough chances. What’s the problem?”
“You three are acting like you’re trustworthy,” Arden said, laughing. “As if me giving you this thing that’s apparently extremely valuable would be a good thing. But you aren’t. I don’t know what you’re going to do with it. It could be much worse than what someone else would do with it.”
“We’ve barely spoken, but we’ve kept our word so far,” I said. “How are we not trustworthy to you?”
“Do I have to remind you that I’m one of your subjects?” She looked me right in the eye. “You’re not exactly popular, despite what kiss-asses might tell you.”
“We know how we’re perceived, Kitten,” I said. She scowled at the nickname, even though I was already fond of it. A kitten among lions. “Being popular isn’t at the top of the priority list. We make the decisions that we have to make, whether or not the population agrees with our choices. It’s what’s best for them.”
