Page 71 of Crown of Tides and Fury

The flat facets of the wall stones had been polished since the last time he’d stood beside the throne. Now they reflected the crowd and made the cavernous room seem bigger still.

The would-be king lifted an arm, waved Griffon forward. The sparkle and shine of a dozen shades of gold fabric winked like flowing jewels with each movement. Tiny reflections, like stars, flitted across the Fae’s face and in his golden blond curls. The elaborately carved chair that rose behind his shoulders seemed dull and lifeless in comparison.

Orion. No other would need such opulence. Wickham was right. This Fae was the personification of Ambition, as in the contract.

“Griffon Carew…the professor.”

Griffon stopped ten feet shy of the bottom step and inclined his head.

“I would see your wings.”

He shrugged the jacket from his shoulders and let his wings loose, but he wasn’t fool enough to spread them fully like a peacock, to compete with the imposter’s ego. Instead, he allowed them to droop, willed his feathers to remain limp.

The Fae was content. He smiled lightly. “You were born to protect your king, were you not?”

He weighed his response carefully. “I was. But the king had other plans for me. I was given the honor to protect The Covenant all the days of my life.”

“Ah, yes. The Covenant.Useless,of course, considering what Moire saw…” He watched Griffon for a reaction.

Griffon kept his expression calm. “I know only what was written in The Covenant. I have no knowledge of Moire or what she saw.”

“And what do you do, Protector, without your contract to protect?”

“I await its return, sir.” Sir, not sire.

The Fae ignored the slight. “Even though it is useless?”

“My duty is to its protection. Its use was never my concern.”

The imposter’s eyes sparkled green. “So, you would do anything to have it back again?”

Griffon smiled. “As a fellow Fae, you cannot expect me to bargain. But as I said, I am only concerned with my duty. No Covenant, no duty. I have no feelings on the matter.”

The green darkened slightly. The Fae waved a hand, and an image of Lennon hovered in the air between them. She sat at a metal table, her hands in cuffs. But Griffon remained calm. After all, Lennon was in Oxford, safely hidden from him. And if she was hidden from him, she was hidden from the imposter as well.

“You know this woman.” Not a question, but a statement.

“I knew her, yes.” No doubt the man knew about the disaster at the Corstorphine Police Station, where Griffon showed himself to a building full of policemen. Lying would do him no good.

“You will bring her to me.”

Griffon shook his head. “I cannot. I have sought her mercilessly, but without success.”

“She is a simple human. Easily found.”

“Will another human do well enough?”

The imposter shook his head, shook his hair, impatient now. “It is not her I seek, but a man called Wickham. Of Clan Moire. A witch. Find one, and you find the other.”

“I sought him as well—”

“Seek them again. Find them, and I shall give you back your Covenant.”

“No, sir. I will not pretend I can find them for you. I have already failed. They hide from me. I am no match for Wickham’s witchcraft.”

“What of your brother? Would you find them for him?”

“My brother? He is the reason I sought the pair in the first place.”

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