Page 76 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

Vareck

A favor now for a favor later.

The price I’d paid echoed in my head as I traveled across the barren winter to find her. Images of her suffering had burned into my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, the fear of what could have happened to her haunted me.

Making a deal with a blood witch and throwing myself into an unknown portal, all for the chance to find her and bring her home. Back to me, where she belonged.

And here she was.

In a brothel.

Jealousy coiled through me. I could see the way men were looking at her, licking their lips and practically salivating, though I doubt she even noticed.

The moment I entered Warwick, I felt her presence again. Now that I’d entered the tavern, it buzzed stronger. With her in front of me, my soul felt content that she was near again, but restless for a reason unknown.

Corvo had already filled me in on the current situation, and while I scanned thepremises, I noticed several bouncers and bodyguards. We didn’t have the upper hand. Nowhere close to it. This was a problem.

Meera glanced at me, a cute smirk on her face, but I couldn’t match it. She had no idea what was about to happen. She was so focused on my arrival, she didn’t realize a crucial detail.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” the leprechaun asked, giving me a full appraisal head to toe. She bit her bottom lip and raised an eyebrow. “This is your boyfriend, princess? Well done.”

“Irene, I presume,” I greeted, inclining my chin. Standing behind Meera with a hand on her shoulder, I squeezed it lightly. It was partial reassurance to her, and partial for myself, feeling the warmth of her beneath my palm, knowing she was real, and unharmed.

“My boyfriend,” Meera said, her tone filled with snark. She had her arms crossed when she added, “King Vareck.”

I exhaled, waiting for the inevitable. Irene’s brows rose, and she looked at her bodyguard next to her. He chortled, lifting the brim of his hat to take a look. After a moment’s pause, they both laughed. Meera’s face filled with confusion, and she shifted in her seat.

“Sure. And I’m the Faerie Queen,” Irene said, snickering. She tossed back a glass of liquor, audibly sighing after she’d swallowed.

“I don’t understand,” Meera said, looking between Irene and me.

“You think that’s the king?” she asked, shaking her head. “Child, please. He bears no royal seal, no crown”—she made an effort to look behind me, then searched the room dramatically before holding her hands out, palm up—”and walks into a tavern and brothel with no royalguard? I don’t know who he is, but King Vareck wouldn’t come to the likes of Warwick, and he certainly wouldn’t be here alone.”

“But heisthe king,” she argued, sitting up straight, and putting her hands on the table. “And we’re leaving.”

The bouncers in the room had taken note of our interactions, having heard the exchange. In my periphery, I assessed their positions. Their stance. The way the tension in their shoulders intensified. The danger had increased substantially.

“Meera,” I said softly, and when she looked at me, I shook my head ever so slightly. Her hazel eyes searched my chest, my arms, my hands, looking for some sign, only to find I had standard riding leathers and gloves. They were high quality, but all that could mean any number of things in Faerie. A noble. A thief. But not a king. When she understood, her features dropped.

Corvo reached over the edge of the table, stretching his paw and aiming for a piece of sausage. “Don’t mind me,” he purred. “I just came for the food.”

“Have a seat next to your princess, ‘your majesty’,” Irene said mockingly. “Ale or liquor?”

“Neither,” I replied flatly, ignoring her offer and choosing to stand while we stared at each other. “You have a penchant for spiking drinks, so I’m told.”

“On occasion. When it suits me.” She narrowed her eyes, quickly glancing at Meera and wondering why her tricks hadn’t worked. Meera was none the wiser, but Corvo knew the dangers from the moment she’d arrived.

“Of course I knew the danger. You owe me.”His eyes flashed at me while he gnawed on a piece ofmeat he’d taken from the tray.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Owed” him for protecting Meera from being drugged?“Consider us even.”

“For what, pray tell?”

“She was drugged on your watch once already.”

His whiskers twitched, and he licked his paw while his tail flicked.“Agree to disagree.”

“Well, it doesn’t suit me,” I said to Irene, resuming our conversation.

---