Page 64 of Songs of Vice


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“I was hoping to ask for a favor.”

His features tightened. He’d already given me money and an escape route at the expense of upsetting his father. Was that not enough? He’d offered those things, however, I hadn’t asked for them, and this was the only plan I could come up with.

“That is?”

“I wondered if you could accompany me to the jail.”

“The jail?” He rose to his full posture. He was slim but tall with broad shoulders and as his expression tensed, he seemed more intimidating than he’d felt before. But I had to stick with my plan.

“There’s a woman who’s a part of Prince Sai’s group. Her name is Elisa. She was… very kind to me. I just wanted to thank her.”

Lennox hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Very well. Give me a moment to alert my guard.”

Shit. He’d have his guard with him, of course. Plus, more would man the jail. That made things trickier. Luz’s words pulsed through me like a heartbeat.You’re smart and resourceful.

Well, Luz, we’re about to find out if that’s even remotely true.

Lennox returned a few minutes later and led me deeper into the palace and down through halls that lacked the rugs, statues, and paintings adorning the sections I’d seen. Instead, we walked across bare gray stone floors that matched the ceilings and sat in the dim light of torches the guards carried. I shivered and crossed my arms, but it wasn’t the temperature that had me trembling.

“Forgive me for my manners,” Lennox said, “but I must ask, you didn’t know Sai before this, did you?”

We made another turn as I shook my head. “I only met him recently.”

The shameful feelings bloomed again. A few weeks and I was ready to change my whole life for him. What a fool.

“There’s nothing between you two, is there?”

I raised my eyes to meet Lennox’s skeptical gaze. “As I said, I’ve only known him for a short time.”

“I’ve found that love can take you swiftly, almost violently,” he said, his voice growing deep and low like he shared a secret.

We turned a corner into a shadowy knave, and Lennox nodded at the door. One of his guards pulled out a key and unlatched it. “Do you think I’d run away if I was in love with him?”

Lennox’s jaw shifted. “I don’t find that entirely impossible to believe.” He marched down a dark, spiral staircase ahead of me before I could respond.

Lennox saw far too much. I hadn’t thought to ask what his magic was, but he couldn’t have the same powers as Luz, could he? It didn’t seem likely. He’d see right through my ruse if so. He must just be attentive. It made me nervous as I lifted my skirt and stepped down the gritty stone steps behind him.

When we made it to the bottom, Lennox spoke with some guards stationed at the front. A few keys hung on the wall, but one stood out. It was larger than the others and shimmered the way Sai’s eyes had when he’d unleashed his magic. It had to be that one.

Lennox turned to walk down the path while I lingered behind him.

Now or never.

I tripped and let out a belt of a note, a ripple of my magic that sounded more like a scream. The guards all froze. Relief flooded through me as they listened for my directions, and I slammed into the wall with a clatter, yanked the key off its hook, and slid it up my sleeve.

“Nothing happened here, and you’ll notice nothing missing,” I whisper sang as Lennox turned around.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry… clumsy… I tripped.”

Lennox scowled at me, his eyes tightening. My heart picked up, buzzing into my throat. God, this was it. He’d realize I was helping the group, that I’d slept with Sai and—like a fool—still had feelings for him. Though much of those were resentment now, they were feelings, nonetheless.

Lennox walked over to me and grasped my fingers. The key slid down my sleeve to my elbow and I stopped breathing. He twisted my hands into the limited light so that it showed a rash of scratches over my palm and clicked his tongue. “The floor is uneven down here. It’s centuries old.”

“Right.” The word came shaky, and Lennox pressed his fingertips against the injury and a cool breath of magic whispered over my flesh, easing the sting out of it.

I stared at the scrape that no longer ached. I thought the Seelie’s magic was glamour. “How did you do that?”

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