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Stepping forward, I claimed that we would be late for a meeting if we didn’t leave soon. Del hid her confusion, though she cast questioning glances in my direction as I led her through the exit.
“What was all that about?” She asked once we stepped in-between.
I ignored her question. I couldn’t say that she needed to see her friends in small doses, at least not to her face.
“What is that blonde woman? She’s not fae, but she’s definitely not a human, either.” I looked back as if she were behind me, even though we were hundreds of miles away after stepping through the in-between.
Del lifted her head knowingly. “Violet. She is, according to Cerri, the antichrist.”
“I don’t know what that is.” Though the word sounded important.
Del had to explain human religions to me. I knew that there were demi-gods in Lakesedge, but I’d failed to comprehend just how many. Apparently, Vi was God’sgranddaughter, and there was another who was a descendant of the Norse bitch, Hel.
I shook myself if only to cast off the sheer astonishment. It was no wonder that no one in that room cared about me. I found it refreshing, in a way. Among them, I was just another man. I craved more, but we had a mission.
“Where are we?” Del sized up the house at the end of the long driveway ahead of us.
It was a massive human mansion done in a rococo style that I found particularly gaudy. I couldn’t help but feel like humans had caught a glimpse into the elven realms and this was their best approximation when they tried to recreate it. Sadly, an elven family lived here.
“This is Locke Balefire’s mortal abode.”
Del rocked back on her heels. Her eyes narrowed on me like she was trying to figure out if I was insane or not. She managed to pick her jaw up off the ground and straighten her spine. With a determined gaze fixed on the mansion ahead, she asked me what we were doing here.
I didn’t know how to explain this to her in a way that she would believe. Truth be told, I was still shocked that she was beside me at all now that I understood how the siege of her home looked in her eyes. They’d been flying fake banners in my name. Delphine thought that I’d been the one to destroy her home and her safety.
This was about proving my innocence. While I hadn’t been there for her that day, I was not the one who’d ordered the assault, and I needed her to know that.
While Del kept a curious eye on me as we approached the home, I could see the gears of curiosity turning behind her eyes. To the average onlooker, we appeared to be two visitors, breakfast beverages in hand, approaching a friend’s front door. Del took a surreptitious sip of her coffee, but I could see her gaze flicking back and forth, taking in all the entrances and exits, and what it would cost to get through each of them.
I paused, if only for a heartbeat, to admire the woman she’d become. This wasn’t the meek little girl kept locked inside the Eveningwind estate with no friends. The thought crossed my mind more than it should have, yet I never grew tired of the stark contrast between who she’d been and who she’d become.
“If I could, I would turn back time and be there for you so that you would never have to be alone through all of this.” The words escaped me before I could think twice about the implications.
Del’s upper lip curled in disgust. She rolled her eyes.
After I got my answers here, then Del would understand. She would see that I meant what I said with every bone in my body.
We didn’t bother knocking, but the inhabitants inside knew we were here all the same. Had Locke been here, he would have launched an assault immediately. I knew that he was lying low in an elven realm for the time—my brother had contacted me when his spies caught wind of Locke’s reappearance in the realms.
“I expected to see you sooner than this,” a female voice called out.
11
DELPHINE
Inearly choked on my coffee when we were invited deeper inside the gaudy home. Instead, I spit it out all over what looked to be an imported rug. The woman who appeared in the hall entryway ahead gave me the most unimpressed look, her lips curling as her jaw dropped.
I almost cackled. There was no way in hell that I would be cleaning that up, either. Not after what I’d been through. I knew exactly who this was, and I felt nothing for her.
“Good evening, Myriam Balefire,” Arven said, his tone regal.
Honestly, it was more than the woman deserved. She raised a thin cigarette to her lips and inhaled. The lavender-colored smoke curled through the air and danced in front of her eyes, It created a screen that she watched us through.
Arven sniffed the air and ever so slightly tilted his head. His reaction was enough to tell me that the smoke veil was magical. She’d brought it out on purpose. I wondered if the smoke allowed her to see something that the naked eye could not.
“I have questions for you today, Myriam. I will not ask if you are up to answering them. You will comply today.” Arven’s voice turned firm.
I snuck a quick glance at him because surprise trickled through my blood. There was something that he wanted here, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. Arven played his cards close to his chest when he had a stake in something. Up until now, he’d acted like an open book.
