Page 69 of Furever Loyal
Throwing himself to the side, he avoided a decapitation swing from one of Kvoss’ lackeys. He rolled into a crouch at the foot of another. The gun went off and two bullets took out the legs. The shifter went backward, rebounded off the wall and then fell on top of Kincaid as the man writhed in pain.
Grunting, he tried to extricate himself, but Kvoss was there, yanking the gun from his hand and sending it spinning down the hallway. Kincaid slipped out from under the still writhing shifter a split second before Kvoss’ foot occupied the space his head had been in, connecting instead with the ribs of his man.
Scrambling to his feet, Kincaid faced off against the remaining guards. It was now four on one. Still not great odds.
Okay, terrible odds.
Nearby, Krawll was picking himself up, dusting himself off with a grin—a grin that faded as his eyes focused on something farther down the Grand Hallway. Kincaid turned to look, and he couldn’t help himself. He smiled broadly.
“You’re fucked now,” he said, still smiling.
Exiting the Throne Room at the far end of the Hallway was the Queen and half a dozen of her guards, all of whom were armed with uranium-infused weapons, both ranged and close quarters and all of whom were pointing them at the commotion ahead of them.
“Stand down,” Kaelyn commanded as she strode forward. “What in the hell is going on here?”
“This traitor is trying to break in!” Kvoss spat, pointing at Kincaid.
“I drove up to the main entrance you log-head.Thinkfor once in your life. Use your brain, if you still can.”
“Enough.” Kaelyn’s voice sliced between the two of them. “Kincaid, explain yourself. Why did you break out? Why are you back?”
“I broke out because I was innocent. Because I was being framed,” he said, staring daggers at Kvoss.
“Where is your proof?” the Queen asked imperiously. “You must have proof.”
“It’s right there,” he snarled, pointing at Krawll. “This traitor was paid off by House Canis to kill me during his Challenge to my nomination. Afterward, when all my accounts were shut down, the money that Canis transferred in would be exposed, and I would be branded as a traitor. If I had to guess, Krawll and his ilk would accuse me of being the leader of the coup as well, though I doubt they’d thought that far ahead yet.”
Kaelyn turned to Krawll and gestured. Two of her warriors closed swiftly. One held a rifle aimed at his heart, the other swiftly drawing a sword and holding it inches from his throat. Even from that distance, the uranium-edged blade caused the skin to ripple and turn black.
“Is this true?” Kaelyn hissed, barely able to speak because of her fury.
Krawll tried to resist, to stay silent, but as the blade came nearer his throat and the skin began to part, his resistance caved. “Yes,” he said, slumping. “It’s true.”
Inhaling deeply at his vindication, Kincaid stood a little straighter, his shoulders no longer burdened by false accusations against his loyalty. “Tell them where I found you,” he snarled. “How I caught you red handed in a meeting with Laurent Canis.”
The name of High House Canis’ Reaver caused a stir of surprise from everyone but Kaelyn and Krawll. The Queen just stared darkly, and Kincaid smiled to himself. It was over now, he had the proof he needed, and a dozen witnesses who had heard it all. He was free.
Until Krawll began to laugh.
“Caught me? You didn’t catch me,” he sneered. “That meeting was planned. We needed to draw you out of whatever hidey hole you disappeared into after you escaped from here. It was obvious your only lead was the restaurant, so we decided to meet there, where you could see us.”
Kincaid’s blood was going cold. “Why would you voluntarily give yourself up? Expose yourself like this?”
“Admittedly, I expected you to go after Laurent.” Krawll frowned. “That’s what I was told would happen. That I would be able to escape successfully.”
Now it was Kincaid’s turn to laugh. “They set you up. You idiot. That was Laurent’s way of cutting ties with you, and you walked right into it. What an idiot.”
Krawll shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. You’re still missing something important. Which I believe makesyouthe idiot.”
“Like what?” Kincaid snapped, glaring at Krawll while the others just listened, soaking in all of the details of the plot as it was exposed to them.
“When our plan was first hatched, to strike back at you for what you did, we could only hurt you. Now, however, you are vulnerable. Remember, we expected you to come to the restaurant. We had the entire area under surveillance. Do you really think we would miss your pretty little accountant friend when she—”
Whatever else Krawll was going to say was lost as Kincaid leaped at him.
“Where is she?” he roared, slamming into the traitor and taking him to the ground. He hammered a fist into Krawll’s chest, then picked his head up off the ground and slammed it back. “Tell me where she is!”
Strong hands slipped around his flailing arms and yanked him upright as two of the Queen’s Guard pulled him free. Kincaid continued to struggle, but it was useless, they had him dead to rights.
