“I had cause!” Kiagehul shouted back. “I got rid of that meddlesome Phoenix, who’d eavesdropped on Vampire gossip; got rid of her friend, too.” Wild-eyed, he looked at Baron Montague, pointing at him. “Had you not been gossiping, she would not have heard about the dark magick-so you killed her, not me! It was so easy for my Leopard sorceress to go to her, unseen, as pure spirit, and claw the foreign sigil that would make her flame right into her creamy flesh.” He released a pleased sigh and then returned his attention to Sir Rodney. “Milord, you should have seen them burn. It was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as executing Ethan’s bartender.”
“The man is mad,” Shogun said, stepping back. “I have never seen a viler creature in my life.”
“Put the sick bastard out of his misery,” Hunter muttered. “I don’t need to hear any more.”
Kiagehul blinked furiously, beginning to laugh in madness, his mind breaking under the pressure and the toxic effect of the rowan. “My Leopard taught me things of pleasure from ancient texts that I had never known… and had access to your father’s hair-which holds your combined DNA… And it was so easy to pilfer those items from the rest who’d stayed in my cousin’s establishment,” he added, glancing at both Shogun and Hunter. “With bits of this and bits of that, it was so easy to deliver personalized spells against all of you… just like it was so easy to stay one step ahead of you, one step ahead of the bungling idiot, Thompson. A blinder spell, a blocker spell, so easy when lain within the same castle where you live.”
Hunter and Shogun shared a look as the deadly silent court gave Kiagehul its full attention.
“My love knew your weaknesses from your sister, Lei, before she died, Shogun. Lady Jung Suk, as you recall, was shunned by your self-righteous lineage. Don’t pretend to be shocked. She told me the whole story of how, just because her own Snow Leopard father never stuck around to legitimize her lineage in the clan, leaving your grandmother temporarily disgraced until the baby could be sent back to the mountains as a stillbirth and an acceptable royal marriage could be arranged, your people acted as though Lady Jung Suk didn’t exist. They called her a stillbirth, but she is very much alive. Southeast Asian Were politics are always complex, I suppose… but please do not act as if you are a sudden stranger to political expediency and mitigating scandals.”
“We will find her and bring her to justice, too,” Shogun said, his voice containing a low, threatening promise. “She was given a lineage allowance-but that was obviously not enough for the twisted and ambitious evil thing she’s become.”
“She, like me, was a hybrid,” Kiagehul said with a satisfied smile, “a being caught between worlds, and she knew what it was to live in shunned duality-it was easy to trick Sir Rodney; he, like Shogun, is arrogant. Who would suspect Kennan MacDougall, the faithful, the overlooked, on errands to do the king’s bidding? I was a step ahead of you at every turn, because, as your investigation progressed, I received full reports and knew how best to hide, and when to increase my magick to turn up the maddening heat. Even Sir Rodney’s top advisors were blind to the malcontent within your own court! It was no different than Shogun’s blindness, thinking he could shun his aunt, thinking there’d be no consequences, sharing nothing but the crumbs from his table with her… She is perfect…”
Kiagehul’s gaze roved over the stunned courtroom before it returned to his queen’s rigid back. “I, alone, would have broken Sir Rodney’s court, as well as the Wolf Federations. My Lady Jung Suk would have had her body restored into whatever nubile young one she chose-perhaps Sasha Trudeau’s… Yes, yes, I would have accomplished that for her, once it was all complete… And I would have been able to support her, since I would have been wealthier than my wildest dreams-Vampires would have owed us, my queen. Had this unfortunate turn of events not occurred, I would have also had revenge on the baron for killing my family member… Dugan.”
Rubbing his hands together with insane glee, Kiagehul turned to the Vampire box, mocking Elder Vlad. “I would have set Baron Geoff Montague up to take the fall-his arrogance also made him blind enough to discount me… What Vampire would think that a small Unseelie, low in the court, would craft such a plan to hang him out to dry? I was almost successful, that counts for something-I still got his lair breached, ha! The she-Shadow still firebombed his Oasis!”
Kiagehul laughed a shrill, mad laugh and stared at the shocked baron. “You think that Vampires are the only ones to carry a grudge? We, the Unseelie, are remarkably known to redress an offense!” Kiagehul wiped his oily face. “What say you, Queen? Do you see my plan, how it could have helped your empire, as well as built one for me? It was all so perfect, had the wolves not been involved. Who knew Sir Rodney, a monarch, would break with Fae secrecy-he is the heretic, the blasphemer of our culture, not me!”
Queen Blatand turned and blew Kiagehul a kiss that immediately formed blades of ice in the air. The second she lowered her hand, the blades took off after him like heat-seeking missiles, severing his head from his shoulders. She looked at her advisors with the coldest blue eyes Sasha had ever seen.
“Sometimes, in the interest of alliances, there are sacrifices.” The queen turned to Elder Vlad and lifted her chin. “All of this jockeying for position was done without my express knowledge or consent, therefore I sacrifice the fool from my court. Outright war is costly.”
“Indeed,” Elder Vlad murmured, instantly sending a black lightning bolt toward a stunned Baron Montague to fry his black heart inside his chest cavity. “A new alliance, Your Majesty, requires that both parties put in equal weight. Consider the Vampire Cartel’s portion… several pounds of worthless, resource-squandering flesh. I am glad that we are of the same accord.”
“Good… We will hunt down this disembodied Snow Leopard together then, to clean up this unfortunate mess.” The queen smiled as the Elder Vampire gave her a gentlemanly nod.
No one moved or spoke for several minutes as the new alliance was clearly forged. Sasha looked at Hunter, then Shogun, her gaze finally locking with Sir Rodney’s. This wasn’t over by a long shot. Sasha shivered, feeling the chill in her bones left in the icy queen’s wake.
If anything, the Unseelie forging a power bloc with the Vampires-and both having lost face as well as key men-was going to mean they could all expect revenge to be served ice cold. That fact was as plain as day and written all over Sir Rodney’s worried face.
“I know,” Hunter murmured and squeezed her hand. “I’m bracing for winter.”
Finally, the gavel came out of hiding and timidly tapped on the bench.
“Court adjourned.”
Clarissa sat up with a gasp and began choking. Hospital staff immediately rushed to help Doc begin removing tubes from her throat while the rest of the team held Bradley up as he sobbed into the folds of her sheets.
“The general wants to have a meeting, ASAP,” Doc said with a smile.
“Yeah, I know… This was really, really bad.”
Sasha sprawled out in a chair in the lounge. The whole team was gathered around, except Bradley and Clarissa. Doc had insisted on them running a battery of tests and another series of CAT scans and MRIs before she could go home; Bradley wasn’t leaving her side for a minute.
But at one in the morning, Sasha was so tired that she could barely lift her head and was glad that Hunter’s quiet, solid presence remained just behind her. All the Shadows were in the room; she didn’t even have to open her eyes to feel them.