From my periphery, I spotted Agent Rose at the door.
“Gone,” I told her, dropping the piece onto Hunter’s desk.
“The faerie got what he wanted.”
I nodded ruefully.
“Now what?”
“Clemeny,” Agent Fox called, joining Agent Rose and me in Edwin’s office. “Christ, they tore the place up. What were they looking for?”
“Something that they found,” I said with a sigh.
“Clemeny, Her Majesty wants you to come to Buckingham at once.”
“I’m sure she does.”
Agent Rose raised an eyebrow at me.
“The faerie is reconstructing a device. It contains three pieces. Once he has all three, he can open all the doorways to the dark fey realm.”
“And how many pieces does he have now?” Agent Rose asked.
“Two.”
“And the third?”
I shook my head as I scanned the room. My eyes fell on a painting of Victoria hanging on the wall. I studied it closely then huffed a laugh.
“It’s hanging off our Queen’s neck.”
Chapter 23: What the Queen and King Said
Agent Rose and I followed a palace guard down the winding halls of Buckingham, deeper and deeper into the castle.
“Ever been here before?” I asked Agent Rose.
An odd little smile came to her face. “Yes. Long ago.”
The guard stopped at the door then signaled for Agent Rose and me to wait.
Agent Rose studied me. “You ought to have someone look at that arm.”
“Yeah. Afterward.”
“You know how this goes. There is no afterward.”
The door opened. “Come,” the guard said, motioning for the two of us to come inside.
Her Majesty was sitting at a desk. The room was dimly lit, a fireplace casting the light.
The Queen shuffled some papers. “So, he destroyed my museum and has now destroyed the Red Cape headquarters. I understand you gave the order to call all the agents to the tower, Agent Louvel?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“On whose authority?”
Shite. “Um, I just thought we needed to rally, Your Majesty. Somewhere safe.”
“I see. And you’ve also called the Pellinores and Miss Pendragon to London?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Well, Agent Louvel, seems you’ve placed yourself in charge of the Red Capes…”
“Your Majesty, forgive me, I—”
“No, no,” she interrupted. “I was planning to promote you to director anyway. Edwin is going to take over in India. I simply hadn’t had the opportunity to inform you of the promotion,” she said then rose, coming around the back of her desk.
She gazed at Agent Rose. “Aurora.”
“Your Majesty,” Agent Rose said, curtseying lightly.
Her Majesty rolled her eyes then turned back to me. “I assume this means you have some semblance of a plan in the works.”
“I’m getting there, but I have a complicated problem,” I said.
“And that is?”
“That,” I said, pointing to the faerie gemstone hanging from the Queen’s neck.
“Has he found the other pieces?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suppose he’ll be after my neck now,” she said. “Quite literally.”
“Why don’t you give it to Louvel?” Agent Rose suggested.
“The faerie jewel?”
Agent Rose shrugged. “Put it on Louvel. Let them see she has it, and they’ll leave you alone.”
“If Melwas realizes you have the stone, he’ll come for you. But if I have it…” I said.
“Putting the stone on you and sending you after Melwas brings two things together that should be kept far, far apart,” Queen Victoria said.
“True,” Agent Rose interjected. “But it will save your life.”
“Unless Louvel dies,” the Queen replied.
“Are you planning on dying?” Agent Rose asked me pertly.
“Not today. I just got promoted,” I said with a grin.
Queen Victoria looked from Agent Rose to me. With a sigh, she pulled off the massive blue-green gem then handed it to me. When the stone touched my open palm, it glowed bright blue.
I stared at the gem. Not only did it glow blue, but I could have sworn it was beating like a heart. I felt a strange thumping in my hand. The blue light emanating from the stone lit the room.
“Curious,” Queen Victoria said. “Who is your family, Agent Louvel?”
“The answer to that is rather complicated,” I replied. I slipped the necklace on. The light dimmed when it lay on my breastplate but didn’t entirely extinguish.
“Well, that should get Melwas’s attention,” Agent Rose said.
“I think it would be best if Your Majesty moved to a safe location,” I told Victoria.
“I’m sure you think so, Agent, but I’m not going anywhere. You aren’t the only one who is willful and stubborn.”
“You’re the Queen. You may be as willful and stubborn as you like.”
At that, Victoria chuckled lightly. “So I shall. The wounded agents are in the west wing of the palace. I understand Agent Harper is there.”
“She should be, Your Majesty.”
“Send her along. She will see to the security detail for myself and my family. Once you rendezvous with the Red Capes at the tower, dispatch additional agents here.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
“And I hope you have an excellent reason for calling in Miss Pendragon. You don’t hope to depose me in the midst of all of this, do you, Louvel?”
“Your Majesty, I am loyal to—”
Her Majesty laughed lightly. “Of course. But why have you asked for Miss Pendragon?”
“Who is Miss Pendr—” Agent Rose began, but Queen Victoria raised a hand to silence her.
“I don’t know why, exactly. Just…instinct,” I said.
Queen Victoria cocked her head as she thought it over. “Instinct. Very well. Now, go kill this bloody faerie so I can get back to business. And don’t lose my necklace,” the Queen said then waved us away.
I nodded to Agent Rose, and we headed out of the chamber.
Agent Rose and I turned and headed toward the west wing of the castle.
“So, who is Miss Pendragon?”
“A dragon blood. No, that’s not right, a dragon caller.”
Agent Rose scrunched up her forehead as she considered my words. To my surprise, she made no jests about the Pellinores. “Pendragon?”
“Descendant of King Arthur.”
“A real heir?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder Vikki has her knickers in a twist,” Agent Rose said with a laugh.
I stared at her. What in the world had transpired between the two of them that had led to such…tension?
“Sorry, Louvel. I forgot you were such a royalist.”
“And you aren’t?”
“Depends on the monarch.”
We wound down the narrow stairs until we reached the chamber in which at least a dozen Red Capes were receiving medical care. Agent Greystock lay in her bed, a massive bandage on her forehead, her arm wrapped. Harper was sitting at Edwin’s bedside.
Agent Rose glanced at me. “Shall I go give Harper the news?”
I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” Whenever Harper and I did have a chance to talk, it was going to be awkward, and right now, I had no time for awkward.
Crossing the room, I went to Agent Greystock. I pulled up a chair beside her. She opened her eyes a crack and looked at me.
“Well, he didn’t get you yet,” she said with a half-smile. “Too tough to kill, I suppose.”
“That makes two of us,” I replied.
She looked me over, eyeing the pendant hanging on my neck. “She gave it to you.”