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I cut him off with a sharp look. I didn't think I could put up with the needling for another day, much less a century or two. Something strange happened, and we needed to figure out what the fuck was.
They’d have to bury their animosity, not their blades in each other.
12
Khala
Cavan led us into a sitting room and nodded for the guards to stay outside. Either he wasn't worried about an attack from Ryze or one of the others, or he didn't want what was going to be said to be overheard.
I managed to plop down into one of the armchairs before anyone suggested I sit beside them. The situation was tense enough already.
"Let's start with what you're still doing in the city," Cavan said to Ryze.
Ryze sat back and crossed his legs at his knees. "I think you know."
Cavan sighed. "You're absolutely convinced I'm up to something. And you don't trust that Khala is safe here."
"I know she's not," Ryze said. "Why did you ask if you already knew the answer?"
"I was hoping for some honesty for once in your life," Cavan told him. "Without the jester act."
"Who says it's an act?" Ryze shrugged. "You know the truth. That's all there is to it. We went to the barracks to get some answers and found more questions. Including the fact you didn't look surprised at what happened. Have you been training omegas to melt stone?"
Cavan stared at him for a hard minute. Then he burst out laughing. "If that was even possible, why would I have them do it to my own building?"
"Because it wasn't aimed at the building," Tavian said softly.
All of us turned and looked at him.
He explained how Illaria met up with him in the street and delayed him.
I remembered her from outside the barracks at the Winter Court. She was making eyes at Zared at the time. Thinking about him gave me a pang of longing. I felt for him down the bond and found he was alert and confused but not alarmed. Alive, thank the gods.
"You think whatever that was, was aimed at Ryze?" Vayne asked.
"Or you or Wornar," Tavian said. "Or all three."
Ryze raised an eyebrow at Cavan. "That's not suspicious at all, is it? You could take all of us out with one hit."
"While I'm as disappointed as you are that it didn't happen," Cavan said, "I wasn't behind any of it. You can ask Khala. I was with her when that light flashed."
"Yes, he was," I said softly.
"That doesn't discount the possibility it didn't happen on his order," Ryze said. "With a convenient alibi all of us would believe."
"Why would I send anyone to distract Tavian?" Cavan asked.
"You like omegas," Ryze said dryly.
"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead," Cavan told him. "Much more quietly. You've known me long enough to know I wouldn't have my city in an uproar to take care of a couple of problems."
"That may be true, but I'm not naïve enough to think you don't want me dead," Ryze said frankly. “However, you didn’t bring us here to make death threats or go over bullshit we've gone over a million times before. You have a theory about what happened. Let's hear it." He made a, 'give it to me,' gesture with his fingers.
Cavan glanced at me.
His look didn't go unnoticed. Ryze and Vayne's bodies both stiffened. Tavian made a sound in the back of his throat. If there was anything between Cavan and me, they might rip him apart yet.
I caught Ryze's eye and held it. "He thinks the Court of Shadows and the Court of Dreams are about to reawaken."
