Illusion: Book Four of the Grimoire Saga (10 page)

Evelyn frowned in what Kara had grown accustomed to thinking of as the queen’s annoyance with vagabonds in general. The Ayavelian Blood sat at the far end of the table, her back to the open door.

Aurora smiled at Kara, while Frine simply nodded. Both sat a short ways off around the massive table.

“Why did you call us here?” Evelyn asked.

Aurora clicked her tongue. “Now, now. Let’s wait for Blood Gavin.”

As if on cue, Gavin rounded the corner into the room. He paused, eyes darting over the occupants. He cleared his throat and turned to shut the doors. “I apologize. I’m not accustomed to being the last to a meeting.”

“That honor is usually reserved for me,” Braeden said.

Braeden and Gavin laughed. Kara managed a chuckle, but her stomach churned with nerves. She hoped Stone’s idea went over well.

“Let’s get on with it,” Evelyn said.

Kara took a deep breath. “We have bad news and good news. I’ll start with the bad news.”

“I prefer good news first,” Evelyn interrupted.

Too bad. Kara had practiced by telling the bad news first and continued as if the queen hadn’t spoken. “The bad news is Niccoli is dead.”

“That sounds like great news to me,” Gavin said.

She nodded. “I thought so, too, until it became clear the other isen in his guild are fighting for control. Among them is Deidre, Carden’s pawn.”

Frine cursed.

Kara flinched. She’d never heard the old king curse before.

“This war keeps getting better,” Aurora muttered.

At least they were on board thus far. Kara continued. “If Deidre convinces the remaining isen to join her—to join Carden—there’s no telling how many will add to Carden’s army. The estimate is in the tens of thousands.”

This time, Aurora cursed under her breath.

“You’d better have amazing good news,” Gavin said.

Kara frowned. “In a way, yes.”

“Well, out with it,” Evelyn said.

“I can go to the guild and convince them to join us instead.”

All four Bloods began shouting at once. Kara couldn’t make any sense of what they said, but everyone frowned—Gavin worst of all.

“—insanity—”

“—murderous leeches—”

“—lost your mind—”

“—and absolutely not!” Gavin shouted over the rest.

“Stop!” Braeden roared.

The room hushed as quickly as it erupted. The Bloods sat back in their chairs, almost all of them looking at something other than Kara.

Only Evelyn held her gaze. “You would go to them because you’re an isen, too? How is that enough?”

Kara lifted her chin in defiance. “I have connections that will help me.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t quite a lie, either. Her maternal connections to Agneon’s heritage would, in fact, help the isen of Niccoli’s guild see her as a leader rather than a common newborn isen. And Stone was probably something of a legend among them—one of few to ever escape his master’s command. If she could avoid it, she wouldn’t tell the Bloods of her heritage. The royals of Ourea still hated Agneon for his murder sprees, even if he had only been following orders.

A pang of guilt rocked her core. She cleared her throat. She had to focus.

“We need more information on these connections,” Evelyn answered.

Gavin slammed his fist on the table. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t fight beside isen.”

“You already are,” Braeden snapped, nodding toward Kara.

“That—she—no, she doesn’t count,” Gavin said.

Kara leaned back in her chair, frowning. “Of course I count.”

“That’s not what I mean. I won’t have a horde of isen in my armies. They could turn on us!”

Like you all turned on me?
Kara bit her tongue, suppressing the impulse to snap at the people she needed to agree with her. She snuck a glance toward Evelyn, her gut churning with how much she looked like her aunt.

Under the table, Braeden’s grip tightened around Kara’s hand. She sat up straighter.

Braeden shrugged. “We’ll establish terms of the alliance. No isen will turn on you.”

“Isen can’t be trusted,” Gavin snapped.

“Enough!” Kara shouted.

Gavin flinched and looked at his hands. “That’s not—”

Kara interrupted. “It’s exactly what you meant. But look at what we did today! A wedding reception between an isen and an Heir. That’s—”

“What’s a wedding?” Evelyn interrupted.

Kara suppressed the impulse to roll her eyes. “Sorry, a bonding ceremony between an isen and an Heir. It’s never happened before. This is a time of firsts and overcoming prejudice, of change and growth. I figured everyone would have learned that by now.”

“You ask too much,” Frine said.

Kara shook her head. “I’m not making a request. It would be a mistake not to go. Yes, we can sit this out and let Niccoli’s isen do what they will, but we can’t risk Deidre controlling them. It would ruin everything. More of your soldiers will die if Carden gets those numbers on his side.”

Many eyes in the room glossed over as the Bloods lost themselves to thought. Only Evelyn, now surprisingly quiet, continued to watch Kara.

“If we want to win, we need all the help we can get,” Kara added, trying not to look at Evelyn.

“I need assurance they won’t hurt my men,” Frine said.

Aurora nodded. “I second Blood Frine. How can we defend against that many isen within our own ranks?”

Kara tensed her jaw as she regrouped her thoughts. “Like Braeden already mentioned, we need to outline terms, rules they have to follow. In exchange, we need to offer them a compromise as well, something they want, something powerful enough to convince them not to turn on us. We’ll create an enforceable contract with them and mark those who agree.”

“What should the terms be?” Aurora asked.

“There aren’t any terms I’d agree to,” Gavin said.

Kara sighed. “Gavin, we need them.”

“They’ll kill us the first chance they get,” he snapped.

“No, they won’t. We’ll still outnumber them, and if any violate the terms, they’ll be killed. They’ll know from the start this agreement is binding.”

He crossed his arms. “Who’s going to enforce the contract if we’re all in the middle of a battle?”

“My contacts,” Kara said.

The lie slipped out before she could stop it, but she withheld the desire to cringe at her own comment.

“And these contacts are whom, exactly?” Frine asked.

Kara shook her head. “I need you to trust me on this. I need you to trust everything I’ve done for you thus far, all of the sacrifices I’ve made for you thus far, and trust that I want what’s best for your people. I don’t want them to die, and if we don’t do something, that’s going to happen. The Stele is already a force to reckon with, but it will get worse if Deidre steals away those isen. We won’t get every isen in Niccoli’s guild. Not all of them will want to join us. But I need to try to get as many isen families on our side as possible.”

Frine grumbled. Aurora stretched her good wing in her chair, eyes out of focus as she stared into the wall. Gavin hunched over the table, eyes on his hands as he slowly shook his head. Only Evelyn continued to stare at Kara.

“Evelyn, you’re awfully quiet,” Braeden said with a frown.

The Ayavelian queen laughed. “I’m amazed, that’s all. Once more, the Vagabond is actively convincing everyone to side with another of Ourea’s monsters. First drenowith, now isen. It’s proof to me she’s trying to kill you all, and yet no one else sees it. I gave up trying to make the rest of you see reason long ago.”

The hair on Kara’s neck stood on end. Evelyn smirked, her eyes locked on Kara’s. That had deeper meaning, but Kara couldn’t figure it out. Her grip tightened on Braeden’s hand. He flinched in her periphery. She glanced over and released her grip with an apology pat on his arm.

“I trust you, Vagabond,” Aurora said softly.

Frine nodded. “If we can come to agreeable terms, I will consider this peace treaty.”

“I’m in,” Braeden said.

Kara turned to Gavin. The Blood paused, now still as a stone and glaring at his hands. He finally sighed and leaned his forehead into his fists. “I second Blood Frine.”

Evelyn laughed. “Fools.”

Kara frowned. Her gut tensed again, concern rippling through her chest like a bad cough. Something was not right with the young queen.

The Ayavelian Blood stood. “I want no part in this, but yet again, I am outvoted. Enjoy your debate, and send word when you have something of interest to share.”

Evelyn ripped open the door and stepped into the hall. The door slammed shut behind her, the bang shaking the windowpane.

Kara clenched her hands into fists and suppressed the urge to run out into the hall and shake the girl until her head spun. Evelyn had changed, soured in some way. Something happened after Kara returned to the Bloods as an isen—something in Evelyn snapped. Kara didn’t have proof. She had only her intuition, which screamed bloody murder, trying to warn her about something she didn’t fully understand.

Kara and Frine stood in unison. The Blood’s blue mouth open as if he was about to yell something similar to what ran through Kara’s mind.

“Let her go,” Gavin interrupted.

Frine grimaced and hesitated but ultimately sat down with a huff.

Kara waited a second longer, her body tense as she glared at the door. She cleared her throat and sat as well.

“Now to outline the terms of the isen agreement,” Aurora said.

Kara nodded, her mind still on Evelyn. This would be a long night.

Hours later, Kara walked to her bedroom, Braeden at her side. They strolled through the empty halls, passing sconces and rain-drenched windows.

He wrapped a hand around hers. She squeezed it.

They had their terms. They had their agreement, and Kara would leave in the morning. Stone would grumble over the delay, most likely, but she didn’t care. She wanted one more night of peace with Braeden before all hell broke loose.

Chapter 6

Reckless

Kara rolled over, eyes fluttering as she drifted toward consciousness. Folds of warm linen pressed into her cheek. Her hand trailed along the sheets and met a lump of cotton. She pulled it closer, snuggling the pillow as she drifted awake.

A hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her across the mattress. Her eyes snapped open.

An olive hand pressed into her side, the fabric of her shirt denting under the weight of its fingers. Her mind stuttered, clearing. She looked over her shoulder and into the open eyes of the man she married.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said.

She smiled and rubbed her face. She needed to relax.

He brushed his fingers along her tummy, tickling her. She giggled and squirmed, trying to wriggle out of his reach, but he moved too quickly. He tortured her for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back into him.

She laughed, shaking off the tension. “Jerk.”

“You looked so serious. I had to do something.” He kissed her neck.

She smiled and leaned back into the pillow, just far enough to examine his face. His bright eyes shined, his face lit with laughter. Despite the joy, dark lines cast a shadow beneath his eyes.

She ran a hand through his hair, brushing her nails over the scalp. He closed his eyes and hummed. She wanted to savor this moment, to live in it forever and forget everything outside, but a pressure built in the back of her mind. She needed to wake up. She needed to get ready. She and Stone should have left for the isen guild yesterday, but she’d wanted one more night with Braeden. The joy had to end eventually, and she had one more task before she left for Niccoli’s guild.

“Guess I’d better get ready to go,” she said softly.

He frowned. “Mood killer.”

She forced a smile and rolled out of bed. The grimoire pendant hummed on her chest, the blue stone casting a dim light on her skin. She rubbed it, summoning the book with a silent wish. Dust blew from the stone, swirling about her and forming on the desk nearby. It condensed into the solid pages of the book with a
poof.
Flick yawned from his pillow on the bedside table. He chirped in welcome. Kara scratched his ears.