Page 36 of Fallen Court

“Should we get him something for the pain?” Roark asked.

But Ciara shook her head. “The venom will take care of that.”

My penumbra and I shared a look over her head, but neither of us asked how she knew that particular fact.

Channing gasped, body arching as his eyes flew open. Ciara grabbed my arm, but I wrenched free, lunging for him.

“Where is she?” I demanded, panic rising in my chest. “Who has Cate?”

“Whoa, Lach, give him a minute,” Shaw called, ducking back into the room.

Roark moved behind me, grasping my shoulders, but I shook free of him.

“Tell me! She’s gone because of you. Your sister is in danger, and so help me gods, if anything happens to her, I will end you.” I leaned closer to Cate’s brother, letting the truth of my threat show. “Who shot you?”

Channing swallowed hard, his tongue gliding over dry lips. His confused eyes darted around the room like he was searching for someone.

“Channing, please,” I said in a harsh whisper. “She isn’t safe. I need to find her.”

His gaze settled on me, his mouth moving.

“He needs water,” Ciara suggested, heading toward the door.

But Channing’s hand shot toward my wrist. “Ob…” He worked his mouth, trying to get the word out. “Ob…er…”

“Oberon,” I finished for him. My knees gave out as realization hit me. Bain had been more than an easy scapegoat. But he had only been a distraction, a sleight of hand to keep me from seeing my true enemy.

I’d fallen for the trick and made a terrible mistake.

Roark seized me around the waist. Not to keep me from crumbling—to keep me from making another one.

“Let me go,” I growled, struggling against him. The pain I’d felt before drove itself deeper until my blood burned with the need to go after her. Oberon would pay for what he had done. Then his sister would pay. And if anything had happened to Cate, there would be nothing left of the Hallow Court when I was finished.

But Roark tightened his grip. “That is what Oberon wants. Think about it.” When I continued to thrash, he added, “If he wanted her dead, he would have killed her instead of attacking Channing. She’s alive. For now. But if you go after her without a plan, he will kill you and she will be in real danger.”

Each word doused the anger blazing inside me until finally the flames of my rage dwindled into smoldering resolve. Roark was right. Oberon had started this game, expecting me to act without thinking.

I stopped fighting Roark and held up my hands. “I surrender.”

But he didn’t release me. Fair enough.

Ciara moved into my line of sight. “Let’s get one thing straight. If he lets you go and you nip to the Hallow Court, we are all coming with you.”

I sucked at the air, still fighting the urge to defy them. My heart pounded against my rib cage so hard that I half expected it to tear free to seek her.

And that would drag the Nether Court into war. I’d given up my throne and my signet to my sister before my attack on Bain. That placed his license for retribution into a gray area. But if we all wound up in Oberon’s court, it would be akin to declaring war.

I suspected that was his intention.

You didn’t steal a fellow heir’s lover if you wanted things to stay peaceful.

“We can reach out,” Ciara suggested.

“Reach out? This isn’t the UN. We’re not going to engage in negotiations,” I snarled.

“We don’t know why Oberon took her—”

But it was Roark who cut her off. “Yes, we do,” he said quietly. “He shot Channing. His intentions are clear. If he’s the one who sent MacAlister after Cate, it was a play to start a turf war with Lach.” He turned to me. “And that means you cannot take his bait.”