Page 34 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

“So,” I began slowly, carefully thinking about which words to use. “You want to . . . be my friend?” Weird to bring a friend to your bedroom, but okay. I’d roll with it.

“I think it’s a decent place to start.”

“By your reasoning, friends also don’t kidnap each other and hold them captive,” I pointed out.

“Not generally, though our situation is rather unorthodox. You kidnapped the prince.” My entire body stiffened, and I looked away. “I have to ask about that. Where is my nephew?”

I shook my head, speaking softly. “I don’t know.”

“Meera—”

“Really.” I met his gaze, trying to show him that I wasn’t giving lip service. “I genuinely don’t know. Compel me if you want. None of this was supposed to happen.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I told you, I took a contract for a job. I don’t know who hired me. I didn’t know it was for a person. I thought it would be for an object. You know, like a map or a compass or a stone? I’m good at finding things.” I glanced down, playing with the gray fur that lined the blanket. “Once I accept the contract, I’m bound to it. I don’t know the details as to why, and I can’t tell you where I took him or who hired me. Magic prevents it.”

Vareck scrubbed his hands down his face, exhaling deeply while thinking about what I’d just told him. “If you’re telling the truth, Eleanor is going to lose her shit,” he muttered, rubbing his hands over his beard.

“I am telling the truth.”

“Have you tried to use persuasion since you woke up?”

“No.” The lie slipped out effortlessly before I had time to consider the question.

“You think I didn’t feel it earlier when you tried?” He grabbed a goblet, taking a slow, deliberate drink, his smirk practically daring me to try again. My jaw dropped as he called me out, and I attempted to defend myself, but ajumbled mess of incoherent words came out before I barely managed to speak.

“I—” Sighing deeply, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know why I lied. Self-preservation, I suppose. Yes, I tried to use it. I can’t, okay? It makes me nauseous right now. That’s the truth, and so is what I said about Prince Damon.” I paused, thinking more about the emotional side of things. “I don’t blame Eleanor, you know. My mom would be beside herself too, and she’d put someone’s head on a pike. Is Eleanor your sister?”

Vareck recoiled with a quick, curt shake of his head. “Gods, no. She’s my late brother’s wife. My sister was. . . she died a long time ago.” There was a great deal of sorrow in his voice, but he did his best to mask it.

I apologized softly, looking away at the fireplace. The flames twisted and turned, hypnotizing me while I thought about how much I should tell him. “I don’t kidnap people. If I’d known, I never would have taken the contract. I had planned to get him back.” Even if it meant beating Lou with a stick. Crafty shit. If I ever got myself out of this, he was a dead man. I’d never take a job from him again.

“What was your plan?”

“I hadn’t entirely formed one yet. Step one was going to a safe place. Step two was laying out the plan for his rescue. I never even crossed step one off my list. You know, because you showed up.”

“He does have impeccable timing, doesn’t he?” The cat pushed the door open somehow, slipping in through the small crack. His tail brushed against the door, curling around it as he walked by. “Vareck, I mean. Not the nephew.”

The king groaned. “Go away, Corvo.”

He sat, looking between us as he ignored the dismissal. “So tell me. What’d I miss?”

“It sounds like you were listening in on us already,” I said as my stomach rumbled obnoxiously.

The king huffed a quiet laugh. “You’re probably starving. I wanted to have food ready for you earlier. I just didn’t know when you were going to wake up. Corvo, will you see to it that the attendants bring lunch for her?”

“Seriously? I just got back, V.”

“Yes, seriously.”

Corvo let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “All right. But not for you. For the girl. She's crazy; I like her.” I watched as Corvo waddled lazily toward the door.

Vareck turned to me, a teasing glint in his ice-blue eyes. “Well, he hardly likes anyone. It seems you have a fan.”

“Can’t be too fond of me. He practically pushed me out the window,” I said flatly.

“I can’t push someone out the window, Meera.”

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