Page 15 of The Court of Truth

“Sorry about that. They have no patience,” he offers, pointing over his shoulder. The second he steps aside, it all makes sense.

“Addi!” Nora squeals with excitement, barreling toward me, and I brace for impact just in time for her to wrap me in her arms. I squeeze her back just as tightly, a strange sensation washing over me at the knowledge that we’re both back here, where it all began.

Peering over her shoulder, my father enters the room. The grim smile set in a straight line across his face reminds me that Beau left in a hurry, only offering a hint as to why he was leaving, and thathewanted to explain something to me.

My hold on Nora loosens, but our fingers instinctively intertwine as she remains at my side.

“Dad?”

He sighs, stopping a few feet away from me as he acknowledges the whole group first. “Clementine broke into the council building and took the mage.”

She did what?

“My father?” Brody blurts, eyebrows high as he gapes at my father, who nods in return.

“Orenda, yes.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Tingles shoot up my arm as two questions rattle in my mind.

How and why?

The why quickly registers in my mind: because he’s a mage, against us and what we stand for, and comes from a position of power. He’s useful, with an intimate knowledge of the kingdom and all of its players. I don’t like it, but it makes sense. But how?

As if sensing my thoughts, my father clears his throat. “She is believed to have stormed the council building with Fairbourne, using their magic to penetrate through the small defenses that were left after you were declared Queen. I’m assuming it was a matter of negligible power for Fairbourne to get through them. Hewashead of the fae origin during his time at the academy, after all. They didn’t just hand those positions out for no reason.”

“How do you know this?” Raiden asks, and my gaze flashes to his. There’s a tiny part of me that wants to gape at him every time he blurts a question at my father in his vampire-ish way, needing to defend the man who raised me, but there’s an even bigger part of me that appreciates the fact that he doesn’t let anyone’s stature change how he approaches them.

His brashness would probably even be hot if it wasn’t being aimed at my father. That’s the conclusion I come to as my father turns to answer him.

“Fairbourne wanted to make sure I knew,” he offers, making my eyebrows pinch in confusion.

“How?”

My father holds up his cell phone. As old as it is, it can still receive an image, and there it is. Clementine is beaming from ear to ear, her signature deranged expression consuming her entire face as she points at Orenda. Standing side by side, it’s clear they’ve left the council cellar on excellent terms, given the menacing smile on his face.

“Casualties?” I ask, my pulse ringing in my ears as I let the information settle in. They’re making moves, plays I haven’t been anticipating, and now it suddenly feels like they have the upper hand.

“Two,” my father explains, and I nod.

“Send care to their families immediately,” I reply, my gaze latching onto Raiden to confirm it’s him I want to handle this. As the head of defense, I want his first official act to be showing that he cares about those risking their lives for our kingdom.

“That’s never been done before,” Beau murmurs, and I shrug, not tearing my gaze from Raiden.

“I know, but we’re doing things differently this time, remember?”

My vampire saunters toward me, not stopping until we’re toe to toe as he peers deep into my eyes. Nora snickers from beside me, releasing my hand to cover her mouth as she speaks. “Fangs,” she breathes, earning a glare from the man in question.

“I’m going to think of an excellent nickname for you, and it’s going to suck so hard,” he promises, making her snicker launch into a giggle, and it warms my heart. Opting to ignore her before she can reply, his eyes come back to me. “I’ll handle this, Adrianna. It will be good for me to start connecting with our existing defenses and make any necessary adjustments now so we’re locked down tight.”

My chest aches knowing he has to leave, but I nod. It’s what the kingdom needs and exactly what we set out to do. “Thank you.”

He nods in return, eliminating the remaining space between us to press the softest kiss imaginable to the corner of my lips. I hum at the contact, but he’s gone in the next moment. Before I can even catch my breath, Flora steps toward me.

“I’m not going to part ways with an epic moment like that unfortunately,” she muses, winking at me as I shake my head at her. “But I think now is the perfect time for me to reach out to the different origins, begin liaising with everyone so we’re all on the same page. Any aid we can offer to stop Clementine’s power from spreading needs to be taken. The quicker we can eliminate her, the better,” she offers, giving me a half squeeze before heading for the door.

“Be safe,” Arlo hollers after her, but she doesn’t turn, simply waving a hand over her head.

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