Page 22 of Hunted
Chapter 8
Robin
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The workroom whereSanka crafted his magical inventions usually smelled faintly of smoke, and spicy demon magic.Tonight, however, it also reeked of ward ink, metal, and sour desperation.All this nonsense with Acacia was really stinking up my beautiful nest.
Ruya, Cicely, Dusek, and Sadavir weren’t here.Judging by the lurid sounds coming from behind Ruya’s bedroom door when I passed by, my omega was currently spending some quality time with her faun.I didn’t begrudge them their moment of revelry—their pleased moans and soft laughter were the best thing I’d heard in weeks, if I was being honest.
I had no clue where Sadavir was.I hadn’t sensed his aura in Ruya’s room.ThatI might have been less glad about.He was probably off hovering over his vampire pet, or pulverizing every punching bag in the gym.More power to him.
I refused to think about the parallels of our struggles.Ugh.Never.
And Dusek was taking his turn monitoring the security cameras and wards that protected the entire Fox Theater.And probably brooding all the while.
I sighed.I really needed to do more to draw the bubak out of his self-imposed isolation and finally convince him to fuck one of us—me, Ruya, Cicely...anyone, really.I had a feeling the whole court—aside from Martina, of course—would welcome him to their bed, if he could just get over his fear of causing fear.And his idiotic belief that he was a monster incapable of garnering attraction or affection.
I rubbed my forehead.Focus dragon.I had better things to do that worry about everyone else’s love affairs or my long-standing, glacially slow seduction of one stubborn bubak.
When I entered the workroom, Sanka was muttering to himself as he toiled over some new trinket—probably yet another experimental charm for Josh.Yukio and Martina were seated at opposite ends of the ironwood table, both absorbed in grim calculation.Lines and circles scrawled across sheets of paper and one poor, abused whiteboard, each marking a supply cache, an allied contact, all the potential resources and fallback plans we had amassed over the years.
I had contacts and connections working on quietly sussing out where the emperor had hidden himself away after our last failed attempt on his life.But they had to be careful not to draw attention, and so far, they weren’t turning up much.All we could do for now was plan the general outlines of an attack and bide our time.Ihatedit.
I stood in the doorway longer than I should have, just watching.An unaccustomed sort of nervous anticipation had lodged itself in my chest, alongside all the other—far less convenient—emotions I struggled with these days. This was it.We were getting close to the end.The day I would finally kill the man who had murdered my family and destroyed my entire dragon clan.I knew it was very likely that I wouldn’t walk away unharmed—or even walk away at all—once my revenge was complete.But that was a price I had long ago accepted to avenge my people.I was growing weary of this whole game.I just wanted to get it over with.
Martina looked up first, no doubt able to sense my weary brooding.
“Robin,” she said.Her tone was neutral.Measured.As if she knew what I was thinking, and disapproved.But she would be fine.They all would.And better off, safer, once my great revenge plans were concluded—with or without me to lord over them as alpha.
Yukio didn’t glance up.“You're late,” he muttered, wings snapping in agitation as he crossed out something he had just written, glaring down at the paper in front of him.
“I can hardly belateto a meeting I didn’t know was happening,” I said, stepping inside.Ruya’s ridiculous cat followed me.She had been hounding my footsteps for days now, trailing just ahintof Ruya’s magic along with her, but I ignored the beast.“Have I missed something earth-shaking?”
Sanka strode over and pressed his fingers to a few runes on the spell-table, and I recognized the wash of magic he had activated, a spell he’d invented and carved into the surface to rejuvenate and energize anyone working there.The three of them all took a deep breath in unison, then sighed in relief.
“No,” Martina said in answer to my question.“Nothing important.Just a massive headache.How the hell do you keep track of all these moving parts in yourhead?And what were you even planning todowith all of them?I’ve got lists and diagrams and I’m still losing the thread.”
I shrugged, smirking a little.“Mmm...perhaps I was simply born with a superior mind.The perks of royal blood.”
Sanka snorted.“More like a superior knack for becoming stupidly obsessed and not sleeping or eating when you’re focused.Which makes you look like you’re way smarter than you are—you just spend hours memorizing everything, while the rest of us are off doing more important shit.”
I ignored him and his annoyingly accurate assessment, and took the seat nearest the wall.The old chair creaked a little—one of the original pieces from before I had taken possession of The Fox and restored it to its former glory.I leaned back and folded my arms.This place was a family heirloom.And one I had shed much blood, sweat, and tears in remaking.For some reason, that knowledge weighed heavy today.
A bittersweet sense of impending loss wedged its way under my chest.I would hate to leave my nest and my hoard behind, when it was time.
