Page 46 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
A strangled gurgle echoes in from the hallway, and we all barrel outside of the room as Keenan squeezes the life out of a second ninja pretender, the body quickly limp on the stone floor.
Leo stands wide-eyed next to Keenan, both men smelling of sand, salt water, and cheap beer, like they just returned from the beach. “Are you okay?”
I blush a deep shade of red and nod, wondering if he came by my room after we cut the wedding reception short. If he heard us…
Alec rolls the bloody corpse over to its back, and recognition flashes in his eyes as he observes the second dead assassin. “I know him. He was a widow maker, too. A mercenary. One of the best.”
Sebastian rubs down his tired face. “It means whoever hired them is still alive. Widow makers always finish their job, but only as long as the one who called the hit is still inclined to pay.”
“It confirms our theory that Jasper wasn’t working alone,” I whisper under my breath, squeezing Sebastian’s hand as he struggles to breathe through the pain. “But who sent them? Peter or Garrett?”
“Or both.” Keenan offers with a sad smile.
Sebastian slips on his jeans before sitting on the bed. “No… if Garrett, Peter, and Jasper were all working together, there wouldn’t be a need for games and pretenses. The secrecy, the convoluted moves… it means whoever is working against us still needs to keep up appearances.”
“Peter was sleeping with Victor, so I’d say Garrett is the most likely culprit,” I say quickly, hoping he’ll understand the need to air out his father’s secrets.
Alec grits his teeth together. “I agree.”
Leo scratches the back of his neck. “But the assassin seemed to want to spare Sebastian… that’s a vote for Peter.”
I bite my bottom lip, my hands shaking. “We need to gather all the important players together in one room and let me figure out the truth.”
“I’ll call Peter and tell him I have important information concerning Jasper’s death and the Pereiras. Ask him for a private audience with both him and your brother. Then, we can figure out which of them wants us dead. We need to act fast, or another wave of mercenaries will hit us soon, and there are only so many close-calls we can have before they manage to kill us.”
“That’s not a bad idea. We were supposed to leave this evening, but I say we move out now.”
Alec stretches out his healed shoulder, nodding at Sebastian’s suggestion. He meets all our gazes in turn, his dark, commanding stare scattering goosebumps on my neck. “No outsiders. The five of us, only. Until we’ve unmasked our enemy and gotten rid of the hit on the queen, we’re all that we have.”
Chapter23
Homecoming
ALEC
The Delacroix estate is well guarded, so our approach is carefully planned. Arielle wants to control the narrative and get a chance to test her court’s loyalties before making a formal appearance. We certainly won’t give her enemies a chance to stab her in the back, and so we planned to arrive right before sunrise.
Fog licks the ground, the large cluster of trees near the secret entrance to the underground tunnels half hidden in a vaporous gray cloud. The grass swishes under our boots as we enter the silent, wooded area, the unbeaten path hard to follow in the murky dawn.
A blood-red pantsuit hugs the queen’s delicious curves, her dark hair braided to one side, her lipstick a little messy from the unbridled kiss we shared on the plane. A black, hooded cape covers her slender form and matches Sebastian’s. Both royals blend with the shadows a few feet behind me, Leo and Keenan closing the march behind them.
“Dammit, Beaumont. How can you navigate through this fog? I can barely see my feet.”
“I’ve got a good sense of direction. Better instinct.Eyes,” I crack.
He skips forward to fall in step with me. “Are you implying you’re better than me?”
“Yes.”
Our new king consort keeps cracking jokes about returning from his honeymoon, and I’m tempted to laugh at a few of them, his larger than life personality a constant source of entertainment.
My royal guard uniform molds to my body, the significance of our homecoming not lost on me. As we reach the secret door blocking the entrance to the catacombs, I motion for Keenan and Leo to keep watch and approach the door below the rocky face of the hill alone.
“Qui va là?” A voice calls from the other side of the door.
“Alec Beaumont. Open up, soldier.”
The secret entrance to the tunnels cracks open, and obvious relief warms the young guard’s face. “We’re happy to see you, Sir. With Jasper gone and the king dead, we received conflicting orders from the Prime Minister and Master of War. We’re not sure who’s in charge anymore.”
