Page 23 of A Heart of Midnight (Dark Fae Academy 2)

“I understand that, Rafe, but he’s the one who came to me.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him back toward her. “I know he’s not to be trusted, but we cannot ignore what he’s told me. If there truly is an attack here tonight, it would be on us if we did not do our best to get everyone tosafety.”

Rafe’s lips pressed together into a thin line. “You are right, even if I do not like it. Did he say anything else? Any other information that can help us know what might be about to hitus?”

“No.” Bree held her breath, certain that Rafe would react just like Conlan and Branok had. But instead of laughing and handing her a wine glass, Rafe pulled her through the crowd, away from the dancing and singingfae.

“We need to find Dagen,” Rafe said. “He is a council member and the previous Hand of the King. The crowd will listen to him, and he has experience in this type of situation. In our recent history, there was more than one occasion when an angry, violent fae decided that he wanted to stage an assassination attempt on King Midas. If it wasn’t for Dagen, King Midas might not have survived as long as hedid.”

Bree raised her eyebrows. “I thought that Midas was supposed to be the most powerful fae alive. Well, until he died, thatis.”

“Yes, well.” Rafe lifted his eyebrows. “Even the strongest fae cannot survive everything, as was seen when Midas tried to go up against your old friend, Norah. Now, when was the last time you sawDagen?”

Bree pursed her lips and glanced around. “Not since the celebration began. I ran into Eurig, and he took that half of the hall while I searched overhere.”

“You told Eurig about this?” Rafe placed his hand on the sword hanging from his belt, curling his fingers tight around the goldenhilt.

“I ran into him when I was looking for you. I didn’t really have much of a choice. Besides, maybe he can help us. He might be an ass, but he’s strong as hell, and most fae would not want to get in his way.” And that was putting it mildly. As much as Bree hated to admit it, Eurig was an impressive fighter. Hell, he didn’t even needtraining.

Rafe’s expression turned hard as he stared over Bree’s shoulder. Every single muscle in his body looked tense, as if he were on the verge of whipping his sword out at any moment. Bree stepped toward him, pressing a hand to his chest. She knew how he felt about the outposter, and she understood why. Eurig had questioned his authority from day one, and he probably would have let Rafe bleed out on the ground if it’d been up to him. But despite all that, Bree did not believe Eurig was against them. Nottruly.

“Rafe, please don’t be angry at me for telling Eurig about this. We need all the help we can get.” She tried to catch his gaze, but his eyes were too focused on whatever stood behind her. Was he glaring at Eurig? Had they locked eyes across the room? Was this some strange show of masculinity? And how could she stop it? “Come on, Rafe. Right now, we have far more important things to worry about than what an outposter is upto.”

“Which is why that is not what I am concerned about.” Rafe slowly reached out and wrapped his hands around Bree’s wrists. He yanked hard, throwing her behind him in one fluid motion, just as he drew hissword.

“What’s wrong?” Bree whispered, whirling to face the oncoming attackers. But when she spun on her feet, nothing was there. A few fae had fallen to the ground near the double doors, and several others were clustered around them, faces dimmed withconcern.

Bree’s heart thumped. Had some unseen attacker somehow snuck in and out without being spotted? Had they lost the chance to see who it was? And what had he done to those fae? They didn’t look as though they werewounded...

The fae who had gathered around the fallen suddenly collapsed to the floor, their eyes going wide and vacant in an instant. Bree clutched Rafe’s hand and hovered close to his side. She didn’t want him to charge into the fight, but he was out of her grasp before she could stop him. He raised his sword high in the air just as the crowd descended intochaos.

All around her, members of the Court fell to the ground. Fae after fae collapsed like mindless zombies. They didn’t cry out. They didn’t scream in fear. They merely fell without a sound until not a single fae was leftstanding.

The only one left wasBree.

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