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Stavros bares his teeth. “If those assholes—”
“The dress barely matters,” I interrupt. “And it wasn’t—it wasn’t exactly all the scourge sorcerers.”
“What do you mean?”
“Stavros,” Alek says, sounding as if he’s keeping his usual even tone through sheer force of will, “why don’t you give Ivy room to breathe so she can explain exactly what she’s been through?”
The larger man stares at me as if it hadn’t occurred to me that his presence might be just slightly imposing. He lets out a strangled sound and dips his head so low his forehead comes to rest against mine.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I thought—I thought they’d murdered you.”
A lump fills my throat. I’m even more overwhelmed with him leaning so close. His smoky scent floods my lungs dizzyingly.
I can’t claim the heady thump of my heart is only anxiety.
Was he really so worried aboutme? How much was he simply afraid that our plans to ensure his king’s safety would fall apart?
Despite the questions whirling in my mind, I find myself resting my hand on the front of his shirt as if to give him additional confirmation of my words. “I’m here. Not murdered. Not even really hurt.”
Stavros lets out a huff and places his hand over mine. He tips his head to the side, and I’m struck by the impression as I have once before that he might kiss me.
My heart lurches, torn between apprehension and a longing that’s never quite died.
Like before, he doesn’t follow through. He squeezes my fingers and steps back, his jaw flexing with continued agitation. “Go ahead. Tell us what happened.”
From his tone, he might as well be saying,Tell me who I need to kill.
“Wait,” I say. “Let me just—”
I stalk around the edges of the room, confirming that I can’t sense any magically enhanced creatures lurking in the walls. By the time I return to my original spot, I feel a little steadier but no happier about the conversation ahead.
I drag in a breath to start. “The summons came around three in the morning…”
I give them the full account, from walking into the woods to being accused to my first suspicions of who my accuser was. When I say Benedikt’s name, Alek’s stance goes rigid.
Stavros outright bares his teeth. “What? What wretched game did the royal bastard think he was playing at?”
I swallow thickly. “I don’t think he saw it as a game. He talked to me a little later—he’d been feeling like we were shutting him out, which we were, because we were hiding my magic from him—he thought he’d prove himself by getting information from the scourge sorcerers on his own, but they ended up swaying his loyalties. Convincing him that what they’re doing is right.”
Alek’s jaw drops. “He’s siding withthem?”
His shock echoes my own. “I guess they’re more persuasive than we gave them credit for.”
Stavros slams his hand against his thigh. “The blasted idiot. He treated our mission like a joke half the time, and then he— I’ll wring his fucking neck.”
The former general shoves himself away from the table, but I hold up my hand to stop him. “I don’t think you can do anything at all to him. I—I don’t think you’d need to. The scourge sorcerers will be taking care of that now that they’ve decided they can’t trust him.”
The ominous silence that follows my statement tells me all three men know exactly what I’m implying.
Stavros’s jaw works. “And he blathered about our entire investigation?”
I shake my head. “He hadn’t given away anything about the rest of you. Well, other than trying to claim that he’d overheard me making plans with you, but I’d imagine the conspirators will dismiss that idea now that they’ve assumed it was all a lie. He didn’t mention Casimir and Alek at all.”
“That’s the least of our concerns right now.” Casimir shakes his head. “I suppose none of us were all that close with him. Meetings were all business, and we couldn’t spend time together outside of them. But I still wouldn’t have thought…”
“Neither would I,” Alek says hoarsely. “It’s his ownfamilythey’re encouraging people to turn against.”
I remember Benedikt’s remarks over the past few weeks—and the way he looked when his half-uncle chided him. “I think that might have become a benefit rather than a problem.”
