Page 98 of Phoenix Falling
I had images of great palaces with massive chairs decorated with jewels and gold and plush cushions dancing in my head—because who the hell had athrone roomnowadays—but I waved them away along with Lyris and began the trek to the other end of the passageway. Only as I drew closer did I realize that one of the doors was cracked and I could hear voices inside.
“…harm your mate.”
That drew me up short. I didn’t recognize the voice—a male, no one I’d heard before, I didn’t think—but whose mate were they discussing harming?
“Stop reading my mind.”
That was Sun. Were they talking about me? Harming me or not harming me? If it was in Sun’s mind, could be either one.
I snugged up to the crack in the door to listen, unashamedly eavesdropping.
“I wasn’t truly reading it. Sometimes thoughts just find their way to me. You should be more worried about your mate cutting your balls off for locking her in a cell.”
Whoever this male was, he was smart; I had to give him that.
“She’s an unknown.”
“She’s the one who led you to the females you now hold.”
Guess Sun knew now, didn’t he?
“What?”
Sun’s shock did weird things to my insides. Did he not believe I would help the females? Why not? Or did he simply not believe I was capable? Yet he knew “Risk” was sought after for intel; the Archai had even sought me out. Why the skepticism?
And why did it hurt me so much?
“She tipped Arik off to Maddox’s location,” the stranger was saying. “She knew you were located somewhere nearby thanks to Cale— That warrior isn’t as careful with his tongue as he should be.”
Males tended to be less careful when they were getting their appetites satisfied. Not that I would explain that to Sun. He didn’t need another reminder of my “duplicity.”
“You didn’t know this?”
Of course he hadn’t. Why bother trying to know me when he could jail me instead?
“No.”
The shifter chuckled. “Keep working on her. She’ll take you back in time. Risk is all bark and no bite when it comes to those she cares about.”
How the hell would he know that? And no, I wasn’t taking Sun back, fuck you very much. Why did everyone keep assuming that?
“Not that I know her firsthand. I’ve simply observed.”
Great. A stalker.
“Why are you here?” Sun again. “And give me a name, because I am sure as hell not calling you ‘the Source.’”
My stomach tightened. Sun didn’t seem to understand the significance of what he’d said, but I did. Or thought I did. In the underground, the Source had been a rumor for the past few years, a shadowy figure no one could quite pin down, dropping hints here and there about major events before they happened. He—or she, I’d always qualified, though I guess now I knew otherwise—had been the one to drop enough intel that I’d put two and two together and figured out the city Sun’s clan was located in. Right on the doorstep of a major Anigma contingent, no less.
If this male was the Source, what was he doing here, in person? And why Sun? Because he was king?
“What if your people don’t care about you?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you might have a problem in your midst.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
