Page 26 of Court of Evil

“Why? Then I can kick his dead ass,” she mutters, but she puts the iron away after one more warning look at my friend and follows me.

The fae chuckles as he watches the entire thing. “You are vicious, human. I like it,” he remarks casually.

“Okay, that’s it,” she snaps and pulls a blade, slamming the fae into the wall as she holds the dagger to his throat. We all know he allowed it. With one flick of his finger, she would be dead, but he leans back into the wall, his eyes heavy-lidded in hunger as he watches her.

“First and last warning, fae. I am not somebody for you to fuck with. I do not know why you decided to follow me, but if you get in my way, I will gut you from neck to balls.”

“I would survive,” he says calmly.

“Yes, but it would fucking hurt, and when you healed, I would do it again for as many times as it takes for me to find a way to kill you. Understand?”

“Has anyone ever told you that your bloodthirsty nature is very attractive?” the fae says.

The sigh Tate lets out has his lips twitching, and she presses the blade harder against his skin for a moment. “Remember my warning, fae.”

“I shall not forget it, nor the taste of your blade anytime soon. When I do, feel free to remind me.”

Leaning down, he licks the blade, and she steps away, sliding it into her pocket as I point at both of them.

“We don’t have time for this,” I say, “but once we are upstairs, I will happily watch you flay the annoyance open.”

Turning, I head back down through the tunnel, trusting them to follow. The fae will be a problem, but if she can tame him, then she might have some of the power she needs to take care of what will happen next, but only time will tell.

At the end of the curved tunnel, I hit the button for the elevator. It appears instantly, and we climb inside and shoot upwards to the highest point in Stalkers’ Rest. My ears pop since we are going so fast, but when we appear on my secure level, I lock the normal elevator and leave a message saying I am not to be disturbed.

Tate and the fae glare at each other in the hallway, so I pour myself a drink in the living room and peer out of the glass window to the world below.

The hunters surround us. Only a fool would surround themselves with enemies.

“So now what?” Tate asks, and I glance over to find Ronan sitting on the chandelier, kicking his feet, while the fae stretches out on one of my sofas. Tate lingers between us, staring at me.

“Now you need to rest. Everything else can wait for tomorrow,” I murmur.

“Black—”

“Is far from here. You need all your strength to go after him,” I tell her as I turn, sipping the amber liquid. “Rest, heal, and eat, and when it is time, I will help you get your revenge. Remember, Tate, we are not enemies. We are fighting the same war. You simply didn’t know it.”

“What does that even mean?” she snarls. “I am sick of your word games, commander.”

“I swear I will tell you, but for now, you need to rest,” I order.

“Rest? I was betrayed, tortured, brought back by some weird fae magic, and forced to feed his evil highness over there, and now you’re telling me to rest?” she snaps.

“Yes,” I respond. “Despite it all, you are human, so yes, I am telling you to rest. Revenge will still be there tomorrow, as will answers.” Looking to Ronan, I nod. “Show her to the spare room.” I glance at the fae. “You will be in another.”

“I go where she goes.” He shrugs. “You could try to stop me, but it would be pointless.” He climbs to his feet, rising elegantly. “Shall we?”

“Fuck all of you. One of these days, you’re going to piss me off too much and I’m going to murder you,” she hisses as she heads to the door.

Smirking, I turn back to the window. “Goodnight to you too, and Ronan, make sure the fae doesn’t get any ideas.”

When they are gone, my shoulders slump and exhaustion fills me, pain still assaulting my body. I would have endured worse for breaking the treaty, but it does leave me weak. The body hosting this soul is not as strong as I wish. Stumbling to the sofa, I wait for Ronan to return.

He can help me clean and dress the wounds so I can rest, but I refuse to be weak in front of Tate or the fae.

They will never know how close I truly was to dying tonight.

CHAPTER 12

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