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“Is the air clear?” Maeve demands, looking from him to Caz.
Caz doesn’t answer, just turns his back to face the black waters.
“Killian.” She glares at him.
“Fine. Whatever,” her son grumbles.
“Good. Now while you two were having your fight over who’s balls are bigger, I contacted Alora. Willow can ride to Vanora; however, Caz, I’m afraid you can’t go with her.”
“What?” he snaps. “Why the hell not?”
“The Council has been in touch with Alora. She apologizes, but she can’t let you into Vanora until you’ve gone to Luxor to speak to them.”
“There’s no way I’m sending Willow to Beatrix’s place without me. Not after what happened with the Rippies.”
“Yes, well it isbecauseof what happened with the Rippies and Rami that The Council needs to see you. Look, the sooner you get to them and deal with this and the Rami mess, the better. I’m assuming they don’t want you dead, otherwise they’d have come to do it already. Juniper, Rowan, and I will take Willow to Vanora to get to Beatrix. And we will go prepared this time.”
“And what about me?” Killian asks, frowning.
“You’ll be going to Luxor with Caz and making amends with him.” Maeve pulls from her bloom with a satisfied smirk as both men glare at each other.
“Why should I stay here watching after his ass when all he cares about is himself?” Killian counters.
“Oh, just shut the hell up already, Killian!” Rowan snaps. “You’re not making any of our lives easier by complaining about everything, so for once in your life, justshut up, brother.”
Killian squares his shoulders and points a stern finger at Rowan. “Fuck you.” He storms back into the house, but not without purposely bumping into Rowan’s shoulder along the way.
“Great. Now he’s off to throw a tantrum. I need a bloody bloom.” Rowan leaves the deck as well, and Juniper follows, shaking her head. Maeve walks toward Caz and says something I can’t make out, then she’s in the house too.
Only Caz and I are left on the deck, the roaring of the ocean filling the void. His nose is still bloody, and his bottom lip now has a cut on it and is starting to swell. Walking up to him, I wipe some of the blood from his lip and then sigh.
“You know violence doesn’t settle violence,” I tell him.
“No, it doesn’t, but I lost my temper.”
“What did he say to you?”
Caz’s nostrils flare at the edges. “He doesn’t want any part of the Tether. He thinks it’s going to get us all killed.”
“So you were about to choke him to death because of that?”
“No. I was about to choke him to death because he referred to you as abitch. I had to let him know you’re not just some random Vakeeli whore he can talk shit about.”
I blink, stunned to hear that. “Oh. I see.”
“He won’t call you that ever again. I’m sure of it.”
“I guess I should say thanks?”
He side-eyes me before facing the water again, and I step next to him. “I don’t want you going to Vanora without me,” he mutters. “But if they’re telling Alora to keep me away from Vanora, it means they’re close to putting a bounty on my head. If I don’t go willingly, they’ll make a scene. I’m surprised they haven’t already.”
“All of this—a bounty on your head—just for killing that piece of shit, Rami?” I ask incredulously. Because seriously, fuck Rami.
He says nothing to that. Instead, he wipes his nose again, then steps back. “We can’t let too much time pass us by. We don’t know when Mournwrath will return and we need answers, so…though I don’t want you going without me, you’ll have to.” He takes my hand, wrapping his gloved fingers around it. “I can meet you there, after seeing The Council. I’ll take the quickest train back.”
“What if The Council doesn’t let you go so quickly?”
“I’m the Blackwater Monarch. They can’t keep me long without chaos erupting here.” He clasps my hand in his. “You’ll be fine going to Vanora with Maeve, Rowan, and Juniper, but you’ll need weapons once you get to Beatrix—lots of them—so come with me.”
