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I shook my head. "You joke, but if it had been anyone but you on watch that night, they would have leapt at the opportunity to gain favor with the queen by outing Sadavir and Josh. They would probably both be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Or worse," Sadavir said, slow and serious, voicing for Richard's benefit. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Richard said easily. "Feeders have it even worse than dhampirs in that place—especially the queen's menagerie. I wouldn't condemn anyone to that if I could help it."

I tugged on Richard's hand, dragging him over to the couch, ignoring the sea of protective auras around us. "How can we help?" I asked as we sat.

Robin followed, and I could sense her nearby, probably taking up a seat on Richard's other side, the better to intimidate him. "No," she said firmly, her husky voice brooking no argument.

I opened my mouth, but she cut me off. "We are not liberating your dhampir and taking in another stray pet, Ruya. This is my court. Not Ruya's home for wayward souls."

I shook my head. "Don't be ridiculous, Robin. Of course we'll help him get free of Acacia. And he's not my dhampir. He's my friend."

She sighed.

Richard squeezed my hand, then released it. Probably realizing that he didn't want to give off the impression that we were too friendly. "I meant what I said," he insisted, sounding more serious now. "I've got info you might want. And I don't want to be adopted into your little… whatever this is. I've spent far too long stuck in one place surrounded by more powerful overlords. If I ever get free, I'll sure as hell remain free. Alone."

"What do you want, then?" Yukio said, voice cool and deceptively soft. "Clearly this information isn't free."

I sighed, but Richard didn't seem offended. "I just want to disappear. I can leave the cathedral pretty much whenever I want now—thanks to my good behavior and all," he said, voice full of resentment. "But they can always find me. Blood bonds and all. I take it that's how they got your human."

Everyone started to object all at once, but Robin silenced them with a growl. "Let the dhampir finish," she said in a soft, deadly voice. "I'm very interested to see what he has to say."

Richard shifted beside me. "Whatever you did, it at least worked for a time. You hid Josh for quite a while. I would ask you to just kill the bitch. But I know that's a big ask. So… I want whatever you did for Josh. It doesn't have to be permanent. Just long enough for me to get far away from here. The blood bond gets weaker with distance. And she won't go to great lengths to find and retrieve one little Dhampir, the way she has for her pet feeders. Probably won't even notice I'm missing. I've been saving up, scrounging tips and stealing. I have enough money to live a decent life on another continent." He huffed a dry laugh. "One day someone will succeed in assassinating Acacia, then I'll really be free. Until then, all I have to do is stay very, very far away."

"And if we refuse to hide you?" Robin said with a purr. "What makes you think we won't just take the information you supposedly bring us, little leech?"

"Robin," I warned.

But I felt Richard shrug, his shoulder bumping mine. "I'll tell you what you want to know regardless. But Ruya said this was the place to go for help. I don't know her well, but she didn't seem like she'd mislead a guy that badly."

I rolled my eyes. "You're both being needlessly difficult."

"By all means, Ruya dear," Robin drawled, "do that thing you do."

I arched a brow. "That thing?"

I could hear the curl of her lips, that wicked smile. "Rescue the pathetic masses. But whatever this information is, remember, we leave in… hmm… one hour and twenty-three minutes now."

I ignored her and turned toward Richard. "No guarantees, but I'm sure Sanka would be happy to try to ward you from Acacia." Tilting my head, I waited for the sorcerer to object. But he only huffed, the way I knew he would. He would act all put-out, but he actually liked helping people. And flexing his magic. "Now, what is it you think we need to know?"

Richard leaned back against the couch, his knee bumping mine, cluing me into the motion. "Well, for one, I know Acacia isn't at the cathedral. Hasn't been for a few days now. She's supposedly off on some important business."

He was right, that was important. Especially since we were planning on storming the place this afternoon to demand answers.

"None of my intel said she was away," Robin said flatly. She was probably livid that they'd missed that little fact. I shuddered to think what would happen to whoever was supposed to be gathering information.

Dusek spoke up to support Robin. "I flitted around there just this morning. Everyone coming out the gate was talking about a big feeding party. About Acacia being sequestered in her suite."

Richard nodded. "She's made some effort to make it look like she's still there. But I saw her leave, and she hasn't come back. Trust me, I keep a close eye on the Queen of Terror's whereabouts so I can avoid her notice—and her wrath. I also may have accidentally overheard a couple of private conversations, some gossip, and a couple of phone calls…."

I laughed, shaking my head at him. He was really good at pretending to be too stupid to notice. To inconsequential to be of concern. And apparently, he was as sneaky as he was flippant. "Of course you did."

"She's not there," he said again. "But I can tell you exactly where she is. An old hunting cabin outside of town that the higher-ups use for rituals and ceremonies. She's there and so are most of her personal guards. And the shiny new sorcerer she hired. I would suspect the sorcerer was coerced, but she's just as nasty as Acacia, so it's probably voluntary."

"Shit," Sanka muttered.

"That certainly would require changing our plans," Robin said evenly. "If it's true. What makes you think she has Josh?"

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