Page 41 of A Deception of Courts

“If you don’t care about me, then why are you here, Kayne? Nothing was stopping you from leaving. You could have turned your back on all of this, but you helped. Is it to boost your ego or make yourself feel better for the terrible things your time as a Hunter has caused?”

Kayne spun on me. All of his humour melted from his face. I rocked back a step. “Do you truly need me to spell it out to you?”

“Well, it might help me understand you.”

Kayne’s chest rose and fell with each breath. His eyes bulged, veins protruding from the temples of his head. For a moment, I thought he was going to expose all his truths, but then his chin dropped to his chest, and he took a shuddering inhale.

When he looked back again, he was in control. “I’m sorry, Robin. It’s been a long couple of weeks and… I shouldn’t take it out on you. I’ve never been good at controlling my tongue like Duncan.”

I searched his tone for insincerity but came away empty-handed. “If there is something you wish to get off your chest…”

Kayne shook his head and continued before I could prod again. “There is no excuse for my behaviour. Duncan would tell you, I’m a prick. Born and bred. Ignore me. And maybe don’t tell Duncan. He’d tear my throat out if he heard how I spoke to you, and I am rather fond of it, so please, you know, maybe keep my sudden, unfair outburst between us.”

I zipped my finger across my lips and threw it over my shoulder in a gesture. “Not a word.”At least not yet, I thought.

Kayne sighed, genuinely relieved. “Great.”

“Great,” I echoed.

Kayne whistled for Lucari to return to him. “Best be off. I find the best time to sleep on the ship is when everyone else is awake. Less snoring to keep me up. A bit more rest might even improve my mood.”

He went to move past me, but this time I stopped him. My hand pressed against his chest. “I need to ask something of you before you leave.”

Kayne glanced sideways at me, then down to my hand, before he stepped back to remove my touch. There was no ignoring the grimace that lifted his lip into a snarl. “Should I be worried?”

“Maybe. It’s about Jesibel,” I said, repeating her name as though everyone else was as familiar with it as I was. Which, in this case, Kayne was. After he had taken the census of the fey names, he knew who it was I longed to find among the lists. “You’re a Tracker. You have more skills when it comes to locating someone, especially a fey, than anyone else I can think of. Lucari has helped you find hundreds of fey in the past, and all for the wrong reasons. What if I asked you to help me find one, but for the right reasons?”

Kayne paused, digesting my words as though they were something hard to swallow. He chewed on the insides of his lower lip, stare tracing every inch of my face as he conjured his response. “I can’t do that.”

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach like a stone in a river of anxiety. “Would you rather I beg you?” I said with urgency. “Because I will.”

Kayne shook his head gently. “It’s not safe for Lucari to travel such long distances without me. There’s no saying that she will find Jesibel alive alongside Aldrick. But doing so will only allow Aldrick to use Lucari like a beacon as she guides him back to us. Toyou.”

He almost seemed pleased with his excuse. A flash of pride passed across his eyes, if only for a moment. It was soon replaced with an emotion more empathetic, like forced relief. He wasn’t quick enough or slick enough for me not to notice.

“I’m worried about her, Kayne,” I forced out, almost ready to tell him how she invaded every dream I’d had in the days past. If only to free myself from her haunting presence, I longed to do something, anything, to help find her. “How is it that even the fey we saved have no idea if Aldrick took her. They can name other fey, but not Jesi. She can’t have just vanished.”

“Have you ever contemplated that she doesn’t want to be found?” Kayne asked, and I felt the blood in my veins chill.

Unable to formulate a reply, Kayne took my silence as a means to end the conversation. “Are we done here?”

I swallowed hard. “Very much.”

Before I would actually get on my knees and beg, I turned my back on Kayne, feeling the pressure of another’s attention on me. As I looked skyward, Rafaela was looking in our direction as though she had heard the entire interaction.

“Robin,” Kayne called out a final time. “Iamsorry for, you know… earlier.”

I had to stop myself from turning around and shouting at Kayne. His refusal to even consider helping me had encouraged a lump of frustration to fill my throat. If I had unclamped my closed lips, what I had to say would not have been so kind.

I flashed Kayne a fake smile to complete our conversation just as a noise sounded from the sky above us. When I glanced up at Rafaela, she was no longer looking at me. Instead, she glanced toward a dark mass in the distance, one that flew above the line of clouds with incredible speed.

My blood thrummed with ice as the shadow grew larger the closer it became. Although I couldn’t make sense of it, I knew it was a threat as my magic naturally rose to the surface. Beast or not, I’d protect this ship with everything in me.

The mass moved with speed, slicing above the cover of the cloud.

Rafaela had stopped flying. She hovered in place with the hammer gripped in her hands. She unleashed a throaty noise which carried across the sky, much like the sound she’d made to call off the attack on the fey ships days ago. The purpose behind it soon became clear as more winged Nephilim shot skyward from their ships to join her. This time, it was a rallying cry.

Each held weapons that caught the light of dawn and winked with the kiss of illuminated gold.

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