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“You think we’re all children who can’t think for ourselves yet?”
“Your mental backflips and cartwheels are almost impressive, Arden.” Jagger ran his fingers along his beard. “But they’re mostly draining the last of my patience.”
“She ran through mine a long time ago,” Flint said, a hint of weariness that only Jagger and I would pick up in his tone. He was stubborn as hell sometimes, but apparently, he’d met his match. “Do you want to know what happens when I deal with fae like you? I could shift into my wolf form and get it out of you with my teeth. Or I could use my element.”
Arden didn’t respond, only stiffening when Flint pulled water from the air.
I stood up, approaching Arden so quickly that she flinched. I put both of my hands on either side of her on the back of the couch, so she felt crowded. She smelled like roses and female in a way that made me want to lean even closer. Her lips parted, almost as if she wasn’t aware she was doing it.
“Listen to me. This isn’t a game. We need the artifact, and we’ll gladly use force to make you get it. We’re stronger than you could ever dream of being in every way,” I said. “I could suck the air out of your lungs until you black out. Flint can drown you on dry land. And Jagger is very creative with his fire, though you don’t want to find out how.”
She swallowed and licked her bottom lip, drawing my eye to her plush mouth. She didn’t intend for the gesture to be seductive, but it impacted my body as if she had. I easily imagined her lips around my cock, her cheeks flushed.
Someone tapped on the door, and I reeled back, shaking off that very unnecessary thought.
“What?” I barked.
The door opened, and Lucas peered in.
“Sirs, we have a situation,” he said, glancing at Arden. “Unfortunately, it’s urgent, and I should tell you about it on the way.”
“Shit.” I looked at Jagger and Flint, then back at Arden.
“We’ll have to take her with us.” Flint stood. “I’m not letting her out of our sight. Lucas, cuff her and put her in the back.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Arden asked.
“Not your concern.” Jagger got up, too. “You’re just along for the ride.”
Chapter10
Arden
Their top aide, whose name I didn’t catch, dragged me to my feet, gripping my arm above the elbow. Once I was surrounded on both sides by their enforcers, their top aide went up to the front of the group to speak with the Royals. Whatever was happening, it was serious. I dealt with dangerous situations all the time, but usually, I was able to get myself out of them. Now I was trapped.
My stomach twisted in knots as I strained to hear what they were discussing. Something about kidnapping?
As if he felt my eyes on him, Lex looked back at me and created a sound-blocking spell around them. I glared at the back of his head, even as something in my chest fluttered. He looked the nicest of the three, with his soft curls, brown eyes, and big smile, but I got chills when he boxed me into my seat.
All of them were capable of destroying me, especially if I didn’t help them find the artifact. Capableofhurtingme. Their patience was running extremely thin, and I didn’t know how much time I had left to string them along.
But my gut still told me not to help them find the artifact or tell them the Moon Oracle had it. Trusting my gut had gotten me places, so I wasn’t going to stop trusting it now. Fae didn’t maintain power like this by playing by the rules. They’d probably kill me the moment I let my guard down.
The enforcers led us all outside to several black cars and a white van. The Royals got into one, while I was placed in the white van, sandwiched between two muscular assholes who refused to give me space. The van had four rows and plenty of room.
“Can you tell me where we’re going?” I asked the enforcer, who looked less likely to rip my head off.
“No,” was all he said. “And he won’t tell you, either.”
I slumped in my seat for a moment before I sat up again to look out the window as subtly as possible. The windows were tinted when looking at the vehicle from the outside, but the view through them was perfectly clear from my vantage point.
Neither enforcer noticed the slip-up—now I could see every detail of how we got in and out of the palace grounds. As I suspected, other enforcers stood at different checkpoints, maintaining spells to keep out those who weren’t supposed to come in. Spells like that were easy to slip past with the right magic, not that I had mine. An enforcer cloaked most of the vehicles except for one filled with enforcers as we crossed through the final gate and onto the streets.
Once we were out of the palace grounds, I memorized the route we were taking. The farther we went, the less affluent the neighborhoods were. We even passed by my apartment building.
Ten minutes later, we slowed to a stop. Where were we? I’d grown up near this neighborhood my entire life, but I’d never been in this part of town. Most areas with warehouses had some residential properties close by, but we’d passed by block after block of industrial buildings before we got here. The layout of the roads was strange, too, as if someone were trying to make them as confusing as possible.
The only visible vehicle filled with enforcers kept moving but stopped down the block. My heart pounded in my chest despite the silence. If this was so urgent, where was the situation?
