Page 15 of The Lord of Whispers

I subconsciously matched his smile with one of my own. I normally wasn’t a very smiley person, but when Luke flashed me one of his smiles, I didn’t think anyone could resist matching it.

“Look, here’s the deal,” Luke whispered, dropping the lord act and leaning into me.

He placed his large hand on my lower back and pulled me into a hug, pretending like we were still exchanging pleasantries.

“If I would’ve known Jay was bringing you, we could’ve pre-gamed. But this room of prim and proper lords and ladies is quickly going to devolve into a pit of flirtatious vipers. So, like we’ve discussed, flirt and imply and suggest and use the information we have been feeding you, butnevergive up anything useful. And if you find yourself in a tight spot, catch my eye and I’ll come save you.”

Pulling out of the hug, Luke hovered his mouth near my ear. His warm breath on my neck caused a shiver to run down my spine.

“But, Al, most of all, have some fun. Iknowyou’re going to fucking kill at this,” he whispered.

And with that last comment, Luke broke apart from our seemingly friendly embrace and laughed like I’d said something funny. He discreetly raised his eyebrows at me as if to say, “Here we go,” before moving into the throng of the High Council’s elites.

I took in a deep breath, trying to gather myself in the absence of his smile, his laugh, and his unshakable confidence. The other men looked at Luke with thinly veiled envy, and the ladies stared at me, also envious, no doubt wondering why I deserved the attention of the suffocatingly charming young lord.

I returned my mind to the task before me. This was a situation I felt perfectly comfortable in. It turned out that high fae lords and ladies were no different from the lesser fae I grew up with in Harborview in this regard. I knew how to use the eyes of the lords that lingered on me to my advantage, and I knew every lady in there would hate me for it. I approached the crowd with a self-assured smirk.

“Where are you from, love?” my first prospect asked.

By High Court standards, he was an ordinary man in looks, especially when compared to the likes of Jay or Luke or Rhett. But I could tell from the way he swaggered toward me that he was oblivious to his unremarkable nature. As he reached my side, I gifted with him a coy smile.

“I’m from Harborview,love,” I imitated. I caught a few sneers out of the corner of my eye in response to my admission that I was from somewhere as provincial as my small, beachy hometown. “And who might you be?” I asked.

“Jeremiah Thierry, but you can call me Jer,” he said with a grin.

Thierry, I ran through the encyclopedia in my head, developed from my recent lessons from Luke and the high lord. A distant cousin to the Crown, but one in the King’s good graces. That explained the overconfidence. But it also explained why he was the first person to approach me. I was wearing the blue of House Vitruvian, and House Thierry was friendly with House Vitruvian as well.

“Jer, who’s your new friend?” another man asked, moving to stand next to Jer.

No matter how different things were at the High Court from Harborview, some things would always remain the same. It was a universal truth that, as the new girl at Court, I was going to be more interesting than a known commodity.

Luke walked up to me about an hour later.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

I looked at him, unsure that I should leave before the high lord.

“There’s nothing to be gained here at this point. And they’re going to take forever in there.” Luke jerked his head toward the room where the King and his High Council were still holed up.

“We’ve gotten everything we’re going to get out of this lot”—he nodded his head toward the other lords and ladies still in the room—“and Jay will be in there with the King hours more.”

I tended to agree with Luke’s assessment. I’d accomplished little more that evening than establishing with the other House agents that I would not be bulldozed, like some may have believed, just because of my humbler origins. I’d also confirmed that Luke was a man among knaves and everyone, even his own House agents, thought Cole Tragon was a petulant twat.

“Yeah, ok. Let’s go, Luke,” I replied.

As we walked out of the King’s manor, Luke playfully nudged me with his elbow.

“Come on, Al, you had fun in there, didn’t you?”

I gave him a thoughtful look out of the corner of my eye before breaking into a crooked smile.

“It did feel pretty damn easy,” I confided in him.

“Of course, it did,” he said, giving me a wide smile. “You’re a natural, just like me,” he bragged. “But let’s talk about Jay,” he continued in a more serious tone, wrapping one arm around my shoulders as we continued to walk.

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Jay’s name, and I internally reprimanded myself. It was beyond time for me to accept that Jay was never going to think of me in that way.

“He can be very particular about his briefings. Don’t try to give him just the high-level details. You get into the nitty-gritty with him. If someone gave you a look, and you thought it seemed off, you tell him. And don’t,under any circumstances, sayanythingnice about House Tragon,” Luke warned.

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