I frown down at Lena’s leg. It’s mostly hidden beneath her cloak. How he can tell she’s not putting weight on it, I don’t know.
“Lena,” Aren scolds as he crosses the room.
“It’s barely a scratch.”
“A scratch deep enough that you feel the need to hide it,” Kyol says.
Aren takes her cloak off. Her left hip is stained red, and when he lifts the bottom of her shirt, the cut he reveals is definitely not just a scratch. It’s a gash that runs from just above her hip bone to her lower back. Her very low back.
Aren shakes his head. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“She didn’t want you touching her ass,” I mumble under my breath.
Under my breath is, apparently, loud and clear enough for the fae to understand. Their heads whip my way. Lena looks annoyed, Aren lets out a laugh, and even Trev has a small smile on his face.
Not Kyol, though. His expression is still stony, but the tension I feel in him abates some.
“It’s not life-threatening,” Lena says, giving me a glare before she turns her attention back to Aren. “Someone else’s injury might be, and you’re exhausting yourself.”
“My magic is fine,” he says.
“You’re not fine,” she counters. “When was the last time you slept?”
His expression hardens. “When was the last time you did?”
Her silence makes his point for him. No one’s getting enough rest. Well, except me. I had three weeks to recover from the invasion of the palace and the fight to retain it.
Aren moves closer to press his palm against her hip. She stares over his shoulder as he heals her. Looking at Trev maybe? He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He lifts an eyebrow, but I’m not sure she’s really seeing him.
Aren slides his hand under the waistband of her pants, all but cupping her ass. Am I jealous of her injury when he does that? Yep. Maybe I should have let myself get pushed around more.
“Trev,” Lena says. His other eyebrow goes up. “I want you to speak to the commanders of each of the wall watches. They’re to reassign three swordsmen from each rotation to you. I’m placing you in charge of guarding the provincial gates. They need to be regulated again. Now. You’ll have those swordsmen and half my guard under your command.”
Aren’s gaze locks on her as he slides his hand out of her pants. I look at Kyol, whose fury has suddenly and explosively rekindled. He’s staring at Lena and standing so rigidly still, I’m afraid he might shatter if someone so much as sneezes.
Even Trev looks surprised at her command, but he nods in acknowledgment and starts for the staircase.
“Disregard that order,” Kyol says.
Lena stiffens. She focuses on her lord general, her chin jutting out half a millimeter, and says, “Go now, Trev.”
“No.” The word rumbles out of Kyol.
Trev’s boot is on the first step that leads out of the room. He looks at me as if I can give him guidance. Guidance on whose order to follow or guidance on whether or not he should be worried about Kyol killing her, I don’t know. I can’t help him anyway, so I just shrug.
Aren steps to Lena’s side. He seems relaxed, but his hand is resting a little too casually on his sword hilt. He’s not exactly happy about Lena’s plan, but he’ll back her up on it.
“You’re exhausted,” Kyol says. “Jorreb is exhausted. Every fae who serves under you is exhausted, and yet, you want to further thin our forces in Corrist? Are you determined to lose the palace, my queen?”
“I’m determined to officially become ‘your queen,’” she says. “And I’m determined to reinstate order. The merchants have been begging me to send swordsmen to the provincial gates. They’ll support me in this decision.”
“It can’t be done. Not now.”
“It will be done, now,” she says.
Kyol paces away from her, his hand rising to rub his forehead. His control on his emotions is slipping. That almost never happens. Even if we didn’t have a life-bond, I wouldn’t want to be nearby when he goes off. With the life-bond . . . My headache is going to get so much worse.
Kyol drops his hand as he turns back to Lena. “Do you have any idea what the palace guard is doing now? They’re searching every corner, corridor, and closet looking for anyone who’s not supposed to be here. The southern doors were open six minutes, Lena. Six minutes. My men fought off the crowd while we tried to get those doors shut. Some fae made it inside, and while my men think we found them all, they’re not certain. So they search. They search when they could be resting, and you want me to tell them they must work longer hours now? That they must command and control the same amount of ground with fewer swords at their sides?”
“You will make this work, Taltrayn,” she says, and in that moment, I want to tell her to back off. She’s giving Kyol an impossible task, and he already has so much responsibility on his shoulders. But I can feel his resistance bending.
“Go on, Trev,” Aren says quietly.
“You support this decision?” Kyol’s voice is tightly controlled, but his words sound more like an accusation than a question.
“I support her completely,” he says with a cavalier shrug. He’s relaxed and confident, standing there by Lena’s side. The consummate rebel.
Kyol’s hands tighten into fists. One second passes. Then another. Finally, he gives Lena a single nod.
When he turns to leave, I close my eyes. He’s going to take on this responsibility for her. She knew he would. I guess I did, too. I just hope this decision of hers doesn’t cost him his life. I hope it doesn’t cost all our lives.
FIFTEEN
WITHIN THE HOUR, I conscript a fae to fissure me back to Vegas. I need to get in touch with Lee and Paige. It’s been almost five days since I heard from Lee, and I left Paige a dozen messages a little over forty-eight hours ago. Surely, one of them has called me back by now.
But that’s not the only reason I leave the Realm. I have to go. Kyol is so exhausted and frustrated, he’s not able to keep his mental wall in place. I’m trying to keep my emotions from him, too, and the constant concentration is wearing me down. My head is absolutely killing me.
The throbbing abates as soon as I return to my world.
“Thank you!” I practically yell to the night sky. My fae escort’s eyes widen as he slowly nods. He murmurs a “you’re welcome” before he disappears.
My reaction might have been a little much, but it’s a relief, being able to think again.
Sliding my keys out of my pocket, I walk to my car. A TOW AWAY sticker has been slapped on my driver’s side window. My car has been parked on the side of the road near the gate for two days. I’m actually surprised it hasn’t been towed yet. I tear the sticker off, then grab my cell phone out of the central console as I slide behind the wheel.
The phone is dead, so I don’t get a ding telling me I have messages until after I start the car and the phone has charged for a few minutes. I put it on speaker and hit PLAY.
The first eight voice mails are from Paige. She’s just returning my call at first, but she sounds more and more agitated with each message. By the time I reach message number seven, she’s moved past being annoyed and is verging on worried. I’m pulling into my apartment when I get to Paige’s last message. Her voice takes on a completely different tone. She tells me we need to talk in person, and it’s about Caelar and the false-blood.
The voice mail ends abruptly, and I slam on my brakes, barely stopping before I hit the bumper of the car parked in the spot in front of me.
Shit, shit, shit.
I feel Kyol focus on me, but I can’t help my reaction. This is so not what I wanted to hear. If “Caelar” and “false-blood” are used in the same sentence, I want it to be because Caelar has killed or captured the other fae. Or because he’s discovered the false-blood’s identity. Or his hideout. Or something that will help us get rid of him.