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“Ysa,” I said, looking at her as she waited by the door. “Get Katie’s phone. Anything she carries. I want it all.”
Markus shook his head, his ear back to normal. “You won’t find anything.”
“Then how is she contacting your father?”
“Carefully,” he said simply. “Under the floorboard in her room. Beneath a rug, six planks over from the reading desk, under the chair. Inside, you’ll find a phone. It has one number in it.”
“You looked?”
“I waited until I knew she was managing business with the High Court. I wasn’t coming to you until I could give you the location.”
“How’d you find it?”
He pointed to his nose, shifting his face, and a large, wolf snout took its place. He shifted back. “Sniffed it out. Smells like her shampoo.”
I didn’t think my mood could have darkened any further, but I was wrong. So wrong. My blood boiled. The betrayal. One of my own. Danni was still in danger, right under my own roof. “Anything else?”
“I’m pretty sure Katie’s going to kill me,” he added. “That would seem to be her plan. It’ll be an accident, of course, but my time is coming to an end.”
“Is that what this is? You want to protect yourself? Save your own skin?” I asked bitterly.
He shook his head, his lower lip pursing slightly. “Nope.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Are you going to kill my father?” he asked, never answering my question. Bold move.
I tilted my head, watching his features. Looking for signs of lying. Retaliation. Anger. I saw none. “What would you do if I said yes?”
“I’d say I want to be there when you do.” There was no hesitation. He answered quickly, and with assurance.
Ysa grinned at me, her fangs peeking over her lips.
“You want to be there . . . when I kill your father. Hypothetically, of course. You do understand I can’t just go around killing other leaders.” As much as I want to. “Doesn’t look good. Also, it’s kind of against the rules.”
He shrugged. “Then we don’t get caught.”
I barked a laugh. “Well, here I was trying to plan for a House Council meeting so they could vote in favor of dethroning your father. But all I needed to do was kill him and not get caught. That just solves that problem, doesn’t it? I wish I’d thought of that.” The dripping sarcasm had no effect on Markus’s insistence.
“He won’t give up. He never does. Everything he has in this life is because he took it—and believe me when I tell you that taking is something he greatly enjoys doing. The fact that Danni is alive has enraged him. She’s a job left unfinished. He will come for her again.”
The instinctive need to protect my mate flared to life. It was as though Markus was the one making the threat, and the fury inside me was ready to end him for suggesting that she could be taken from me. “I won’t let that happen.”
“Me either,” he said firmly. “She deserves better than what life has given her. I want her to have that.”
“It appears we agree on something,” I said softly, though my voice vibrated with barely contained rage.
Ysa stepped forward, a smirk on her face. She nudged him on the arm. “Go ahead.”
I looked at Markus curiously, realizing there was more to this. In the time they’d been gone, he’d probably filled her in on everything, so she likely knew what was coming. Surprise filtered through me as I understood where it was going. “You have a plan?”
A smile curled up his lips. “My father has many goals. One of which is making sure I end up dead,” he said. I nodded. That much had been made clear. “So use me as bait.”
I did a double take, blinking rapidly. “I’m sorry. What?”
“A trap needs to be set if we want to bring my father to his death. Neither one of us would be willing to risk using Danni as bait, and she won’t allow Adora to be used.” My jaw tightened as I thought of my mate bleeding out, almost dying. “Use me.”
“So you can have Fire and Fluorite when he’s gone?” I suggested.
