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Flint didn’t speak for several moments, a muscle in his jaw tensing.
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll keep her around. But I still say we torture her if this doesn’t work out.”
Despite the brave face she put on, Arden’s entire body sank further into the chaise.
“Come on, then.” Flint yanked her to her feet.
“Hey! You don’t need to drag me there.” Arden tried to yank herself out of his grip but failed. “Asshole.”
“Be grateful, Little Flower,” I said, grabbing her other arm tighter. “I just saved your ass.”
For some fucking reason. I didn’t understand it, but the knot that had been pulled tighter and tighter during the conversation was loose again.
Chapter6
Lex
“You’re not to let this fae out under any circumstances, understood? Not unless one of the three of us comes to get her.” I looked between the enforcers who were going to watch Arden’s cell. “And trust me, she’ll drive you nuts. It’s a talent of hers.”
I trusted them, even after the artifact had been stolen. As powerful as all of us were, our enforcers were our first line of defense. Besides, we barely knew anything about who Arden was. Maybe she was more powerful than any fae we’d encountered before. The enforcers trained extensively, but some threats weren’t easy to anticipate. Although she looked harmless, looks and reality were two very different things.
“Yes, sir,” they murmured.
“Good. We’ll be back whenever we need her.”
I gave Arden one more glance. Her green eyes were filled with defiance, even as she sat in the corner of the cell. It was almost impressive. I’d never met anyone, much less a female, who was so willing to stay quiet. Then again, we usually leaped to pulling the information out of them with force. We didn’t take kindly to thieves, especially ones that tried to steal from the palace.
For whatever reason, Jagger wanted to save her. Of the three of us, he was the least likely to pull something like that. He was a demon shifter, and that gave him a darker edge, even in his fae form. Torture was his favorite game.
Was it because of her looks? Her beauty almost made me overlook what she’d done. Everything about her made me want to look at her. Something about the unusual mix of her elegant features with her feisty attitude did it for me. But I knew better than getting tricked by a pretty face.
Our aides were already hard at work digging up information on her. Whoever she was, she had to be exceptional to get past our security. I tried to focus on other matters for the rest of the evening, taking dinner in my office before going to bed early.
* * *
The next morning,I arrived in the central area of the palace and went to the office that all three of us shared from time to time. Each of us had our own wings, essentially separate palaces extending from the central section like spokes on a wheel. All of the sections were our own, decorated to our personal taste, while also taking our family crests into account. The central section was a combination of all of our styles.
Jagger and Flint were already there. As he often was, Flint was frowning at a book, and Jagger had his feet up on his desk, making a small ball of fire dance between his fingers.
“Was she still defiant last night?” Flint asked, not looking up.
“Of course she was.” I sat down behind my desk, leaning back and putting my feet up. “She probably still is. It’s like she’s tapped into an endless supply of feistiness. I’m almost impressed.”
“Was she giving the enforcers any trouble?” Flint closed his book and went over to the large, floor-to-ceiling bookcase alongside one wall. He guided the book up through the air, tucking it back where it was supposed to go on a high shelf.
“Not that I could tell.” I shrugged. “Any news on the report?”
Jagger leaned back in his chair to look at the clock. “Any minute now.”
I sighed. I handled a few tasks before one of our top aides, Lucas, knocked on our door. Flint told him to enter.
“Hello, Your Highnesses,” he said, bowing his head. “I’m ready to show you the report on Arden Mills, if you’re ready.”
“We’re more than ready.” I gestured for him to sit at the long table where we usually had meetings.
We gathered around it, and Lucas handed us each a dossier.
“It’s pretty thin, isn’t it?” I asked, thumbing through it in a matter of seconds.
