Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“Is there anywhere else he would keep his things?” Kerrigan asked.
“I don’t know,” Darby admitted. “I took this key out of his room while he was occupied in a meeting downstairs. I was going to end it after that.”
“What kind of meeting?” Fordham asked.
Darby shrugged. “Same kind that he normally is in.”
Kerrigan froze. There was a Red Mask meeting happening downstairs at this very moment. That could mean the Collector was still in play. He could have taken it out of the vault to use for the meeting.
“Can you take us to the meeting?” Kerrigan asked. “Somewhere we could listen without being seen?”
“Whatever for?” Darby gasped.
“Wait, you believe her?” Fordham asked.
Kerrigan gestured to Darby. “She is literally trembling. I saw her hands sweat as she unlocked the vault. She was terrified when she found it empty. I didn’t see it for what it was. But her story makes perfect sense.”
“Wait, do you think I’m with him?” Darby asked in alarm. “I would never! I hate him. He’s a horrible person. He’s been sleeping around. And he has despicable loyalties.”
“Worse than that,” Kerrigan said, “he’s a Red Mask.”
“A Red Mask.” Darby shivered. “I’ve never said that out loud.”
“See,” Kerrigan said to Fordham, and he nodded. “He’s actually one of the head Red Masks, I wager. It’s a good thing you’re ending it.”
“I will take you to listen to the meeting. Just … be very quiet. Actually, can you make yourself disappear again?” Darby asked.
Fordham shot her a look. “Disappear?”
“Oh yeah, I got my illusions to work finally,” she told him.
He smirked. “Life-threatening situations only.”
“From what I’ve gathered. But no, I don’t think I could hold it up that long unless I’m in real danger. It’s exhausting.”
Darby nodded. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”
Kerrigan pulled her friend into a hug. “I love you. Go somewhere safe afterward.”
“I will.”
Then, Darby lifted her chin, prepared to go into danger. Kerrigan loved her friend all the more for it.
Kerrigan slipped off her ring again, so she’d have a quick escape if need be, and then followed her into the servant quarters. Kerrigan shot Darby a confused look. “Why do you know about this?”
“It’s a lady’s duty,” she said simply. “I was to run this house. I wanted to know its intricacies. Staff included.”
“You would have made a wonderful mistress,” Kerrigan said.
Darby swallowed and nodded. “I know.”
They meandered through the back corridors of the house until they reached an empty hallway.
“Here,” Darby whispered. She put her finger to her lips and pointed at the doorway from which the help could enter the sitting room. “I’ll keep any servants from this corridor. Good luck.”
Kerrigan pulled her in for a swift hug and then put her eyes to the opening in the doorway. She almost gasped at what she saw inside. She clutched Fordham, and her body went rigid.
Ashby March sat across from Trask.
“Well, March, I can’t say I’m surprised to see you,” Trask said with a laugh, passing him a cigar.
March took it and lit it with a bit of his fire magic. He took a long puff. “Why is that?”
“You know why.”
March’s gaze hardened. “Perhaps you should tell me.”
“You were humiliated by that leatha bitch you’d insisted on marrying,” Trask said with a laugh.
March did not seem amused. His eyes narrowed to slits. Though Kerrigan doubted had less to do with Trask calling her a leatha bitch and more to do with his own humiliation.
“Kerrigan and I were betrothed,” March said darkly.
“And she ran off with a House of Shadows traitor.”
“She was going to help me secure my throne,” he said instead of addressing the rest. “That was all that mattered.”
“I’m glad to hear that. For a second there, I thought you actually cared about her,” Trask said with a full-bellied laugh. As if he couldn’t imagine caring for anyone. Let alone a half-Fae.
It was good that he didn’t see the look that crossed March’s face. Kerrigan despised him with every fiber of her being. Getting out of their engagement was one of the best things she had ever done, but it was blatantly obvious that in his own way, he had cared for her.
Not enough for it to make a difference. Not enough for Kerrigan to feel anything for him back. Not enough for any of it.
He could bluster all he wanted in front of his friend, but his affection for her was obvious.
Fordham’s arm tightened around her possessively. He must have noticed too.
“So, have you changed your mind?” Trask asked.
“What is the benefit of me joining you?”
“You know what is coming. The world is going to be born anew in blood and sacrifice. Those who partner with the Father are going to be the ones on top. You want the throne of Bryonica? He can give that to you. Not some leatha. You won’t have to debase yourself for what is already yours for the taking.”