Page 1 of Seducing Jenny
CHAPTER 1
Jenny
The moment the back door shut behind the palace guards, the terrace felt hollow. As if the air had been sucked out of the room along with Malice.
He was just…gone.
One second we were sipping coffee and enjoying our breakfast, and the next Justice’s guards had barged into Mal’s home and had him manacled. They’d yanked a black bag over his head and dragged him off while I’d stood there frozen, my mind struggling to catch up with what was happening.
Tiger stood beside me, fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight with rage. Discord looked ready to murder someone. Surge was composed, but his concern was obvious. And Longshot, Mal’s oldest friend, practically vibrated with anger.
None of us knew why Mal had been taken, since the guards refused to say what he was being arrested for.
Finally, I dragged air into my lungs and shattered the silence. “What the fuck was that?”
“They just fucking took Malice!” Discord shouted furiously.
No shit. I was still staring at the empty space where he’d been only moments before.
Surge, always the voice of calm and reason, held up a hand. “Everyone, let’s take a minute before we—Longshot, where are you going?”
Mal’s best friend didn’t pause as he headed toward the terrace doors. “The palace.”
“You can’t—”
He spun around, eyes sharp and narrowed on the tiny man as he growled, “They put a serenity bag on his head. You know what that means as well as I do!”
That didn’t sound good, and my stomach dropped. “What does it mean?”
Longshot shifted his gaze to me, and for once, the grim lines of his face gave away real fear. “A serenity bag blocks all sight and sound. We can’t hear him, and he can’t hear us. They’re only used when Justice intends to disappear someone. Permanently. I am leaving to find out what the fuck is going on.”
An ice cold chill ran through me. “I’m going with you,” I said, starting to follow. Tiger moved with me.
Longshot blocked our path. “No. You two stay here.”
“The fuck we are,” Tiger shot back, trying to brush past him.
Longshot snatched his arm and locked eyes with him, the tension between them palpable. “You cannot simply storm the palace and demand they give Malice back. So tell me, what is your plan?”
I knew Tiger didn’t have one. Neither did I. Rage and panic had filled the space where rational thought should have been.
I glared at Longshot as my mind raced. Pale beige skin with a green tinge, and hard brown eyes, Longshot Griel was someoneI had counted on. He’d trained me before Illiapol. He was Mal’s mentor and friend and someone I trusted. But now? His words cut like a knife.
I jutted my chin out stubbornly. “I’m the Palace Prima, as of last night. That has to mean something, doesn’t it?”
“You may be the Palace Prima, but no one knows what that actually means. There is no precedent, since you are the first. You have influence with the people, money, and public favor but that doesn’t mean you have any kind of standing at court. If you barge into the palace making demands then your life is at risk, too. Same with Tiger, and I will not lose either of you. Not when Mal is depending on us to keep you safe in his absence.”
I stiffened. “I am not a child—”
“We cheated at Illiapol to keep you safe,” he snapped at me. “We risked our standing, our wealth, and our lives to do that. What makes you think I’m going to let you make a mockery of what we did for you by getting yourself killed now?” He pointed to one of the chairs out on the terrace. “Sit and stay.” Then, he stormed into the mansion, presumably to cut through to the front and leave for the palace.
“Did he really just tell me to sit and stay like a dog?” I hissed. “Well fuck that guy—”
“He has a point,” Discord said, cutting off my tirade.
Practically Mal’s sister, Discord Scrylock was long, lean, and lethal. She tended to wear formal gowns, even at brunch. I had never asked why. Her tan skin shimmered pink in the sunslight, and she kept her long black hair braided down her back, like many Ladrians, but hers was always perfect, never a strand out of place. Even her makeup was always flawless, highlighting her violet eyes, the intensity of which reminded me so much of Mal’s
I stared at her, feeling betrayed. “You’re onhisside?”
