Page 7 of Fallen Court

I snorted, which was easier to do on the verge of hyperventilating. Thank you, panic attack. “Lachlan Gage doesn’t care about anyone. Surely, you know that.”

A smile ghosted his lips. Of course Oberon believed that. Clearly, the Hallow Court prince shared that trait.

But Titania planted her palms on the table, shaking her head with barely restrained fury. “But you love him, don’t you?”

“Love?” I channeled the pain of that thought, letting it contort my face into a grimace. “You think I loved him?”

She blinked, confusion flashing across her lovely face, and I seized my opportunity.

“I was trapped.” I let some of the agony I felt slip through to sell the lie, and Oberon lowered his paper. Now that I had his attention, I plunged forward, giving in to my churning emotions more. “He tricked me. I was forced to live with him. Lach isn’t the only one who can play games. I knew what he wanted from me. I didn’t have a choice. I’ve been trying to escape him for weeks—trying to break my bargain.”

Titania sneered, her amber eyes studying me like a bug under a microscope. “By any means necessary, it seems.”

I hated her implication—not because of what it might say about me but because of what it insinuated about Lach—but I smiled back. “As far as I’m concerned, you did me a favor. You freed me from him.”

Titania flinched, but Oberon pressed his lips into a bemused line. “I didn’t break your bargain, Cate. You are still bound to him.”

They might have known what happened with MacAlister, but they didn’t know Lach had broken our bargain in those final moments before he sent me away—sent me toward this fate. My thumb brushed the band of my ring. Somehow it had all hinged on my mother’s ring. I didn’t understand it. But I would let them believe the bargain remained, if only to see whether it could help me.

“He can use the bargain to track her here. Which is why we need to kill her,” Titania demanded. “Bargain ended. Problem solved.”

My heart pounded in my chest as I realized my mistake. “You told me I was safe here.” I knew that I wasn’t, so very real fear bled into my words, cracking and breaking them. I grabbed the edge of the linen tablecloth and clutched it as I stared at Oberon, dredging up his own words to use against him—the most dangerous weapon against a sociopath was always their own ego. “You said you weren’t a monster like Lach.”

I hated myself for smearing Lach like this, but what choice did I have? If I died, any chance I had of escaping, of warning the other courts about Oberon’s plans, died with me. I might have failed Channing, but I could still protect Ciara and Shaw and Roark. Maybe I could stop Lach from attacking Bain and delivering himself directly to the Wild Hunt. Still, I wanted to vomit all over their beautiful china, and my obvious distress only sold my lie.

“The Hallow Court is warded—spelled to prevent anyone from the outside getting in,” Oberon said with a smug smile that made me want to smack him. “All courts are.”

“But you came to the Nether Court. I don’t understand.” Playing dumb was working remarkably well. I just had to stomach the lie until he let his guard down. I didn’t know what was worse: the terrible things spewing from my own lips or that Oberon believed them.

“We were invited for the betrothal.” He looked like he might pat my head, and I braced myself to endure more of his condescension. “At least for the official celebrations, but that is why we stayed at the Avalon. We may enter New Orleans freely, but no one steps foot into a royal residence without an invitation. Lach cannot enter my home.”

I nodded, letting my shoulders sag as if I was relieved. I wasn’t. Despite everything, part of me hoped Lach would figure it out, nip right into this garden, and spirit me away. But I was on my own now. He had sent me away from New Orleans so that he could run from the Wild Hunt. He had no idea that my brother had betrayed me. It was a small comfort to know that Ciara, Lach’s sister—my newest yet closest friend—and all the others back in New Orleans would be safe if they stayed in their own court. Had Lach found time to tell them what had happened—to warn them?

“I wouldn’t concern yourself. He has other things to worry about,” Oberon continued when I remained silent. “He can’t hide from the Wild Hunt long. He’ll be dead soon.”

“Yes, he will.” A tremor cracked my voice, threatening to undermine my lies. I glanced around and frowned, hoping they didn’t catch it. “I would say thank you, but since she wants to kill me…”

“Titania wants many things she can’t have.” He leveled cold eyes at her. “Isn’t that right?”

Something unreadable flashed across her face. Her hand lashed out, seizing her gun, and I froze. But she tucked it away before rising from her seat. “Fine. Have it your way.” She smirked. “I’m glad we would be so helpful in aiding your escape.”

She didn’t believe me. That didn’t matter. For now.

Titania scowled at me, eyes as sharp as daggers, before she stomped toward the house, sunlight glinting off her dark hair. Ice filtered through my veins as she left. At least she let her disdain show. I knew where I stood with the Hallow Court princess. Her brother was another story. He was a spider spinning his webs to trap me.

“You must excuse my sister. She’s been like this since the day we were born, or so I was told.” Oberon pushed up from his seat and held out a hand. “Allow me to show you the grounds and prove that we aren’t monsters.”

Something only a monster would say. It took considerable effort to accept his outstretched hand. I forced a smile, my skin crawling where it met his. “I would like that.”

Not exactly a lie. I needed to learn whether or not he was telling the truth about what lay beyond his estate. But I wasn’t sure how long the adrenaline fueling my act would hold out.

Oberon led me into the gardens, toward the carefully trimmed hedgerows. Pink blossoms punctuated the bushes, straining toward the sun overhead and overshadowing the tiny white flowers growing in the shrubbery’s shadows. The herbal scent of freshly cut grass mingled with the delicate, fleeting smells of primrose and oleander, the grounds looking as if it was early spring rather than October. But nothing in the Otherworld operated the way my own world did. Here, beauty distracted and cajoled—just like the man at my side.

“I was rude earlier.”

“When you considered killing me?” I asked carefully.

“You were never in danger. It’s a good rule of thumb to not mistake Titania’s tantrums with my plans. Best to let her have her fits.” He laughed like it was a silly misunderstanding. “No, I assumed, like my sister, that you were in love with Lach. But you must know that it was about more than politics when I came for you,” he said as we wandered. Such a smooth liar. I’d expected that, just as I expected him to be arrogant enough to believe the lies I’d fed him about Lach.