Page 90 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
I narrowed my eyes at him before turning and surveying the people he’d pointed out.
Outsiders who weren’t members of his court and still lived in Luminis, suggesting they were people he’d been closer to in the past when he’d lived there, too.
And their names. Mayrie. Tavin. Thurl. Iknewthose names.
A buzzing began under my skin, and I had to gulp down another mouthful of my drink before I could speak. “Let me guess. Loy is also here. And so are all the others on your list.”
“That’s my cunning little witch.” He squeezed me close and nuzzled into my neck. “Sun and Stars, I love it when I can see the cogs whirring in your mind. I’d never realised plotting could be so damn hot.”
But the warmth coiling through me was thicker and deeper than just the physical. “You did all this to gather them here?”
“I did it all for you. They’re staying for a month. I pitched it as a reunion. ‘Like old times,’ my invitation said.” He rolled his eyes, then swept a small, tight glare over the assembled fae. “They all came running at the promise of a few weeks living off the royal coffers. Fucking parasites.”
It was hard to breathe, never mind reply. The warmth in my chest took up too much space. I wanted to thank him, though, so I did it with a kiss, winning a surprised exhale from him.
I teased the roof of his mouth and traced the points of his teeth. I nibbled his lip and drank up the deep groan that followed. It was a sweeter kiss than any of our others, and he opened to it, letting me probe and explore, rather than gripping me and battling for dominance.
It tore me in a way none of our other kisses had, like some thin membrane in me broke on the lazy sweep of his tongue against mine.
When I pulled away, breathless and too hot, he gave me a wide-eyed look. “What was that for?”
But speech was still beyond me, so I just shrugged and turned to survey the dozen suspects spread before me.
My sister’s killer was in reach.
38
That evening, he gathered the same group in a large, circular room of the palace. An unbroken glass dome shielded us from the night, but it was too cloudy for any stars. Shadows pooled between the room’s pillars, little pockets of darkness the fae lights couldn’t reach.
Platters of food far more lavish than usual appeared at a gesture from Sepher, and once we were done, the dirty plates cleared themselves away just as quickly. A show for our guests. Even though he no longer lived in Luminis, he was still a prince of Elfhame, and he still held power.
I suspected it was as much a reminder for him as it was for them.
I did it all for you.
There was that, too. He’d gone to a lot of effort to organise this at such short notice, and that fact wasn’t lost on me. It spread inside, some part of me wanting to be comforted and pleased by it, another part twisting away like it was a bramble I might get caught on.
After dinner, a blood-red baize cloth appeared on the table with a deck of cards and an odd set of chips unlike any I’d seen before. All pale green jade and all the same shape—I couldn’t see any way to differentiate between their values.
Despite the strangeness of the chips, as the fae divided them up and dealt the cards, chatting and laughing, it all felt very familiar.
I sat on the arm of Sepher’s chair and glanced at his cards. A decent hand, but not guaranteed victory.
Around the table, the players’ eyes shuttered as they read what they’d been dealt and tried to smother any reaction.
My jaw tightened. One of these was my sister’s killer. Although it was only poker, not anything important, the thought of that person winning made the contents of my stomach curdle. I couldn’t let them have even a moment’s victory. Not after they’d had ten years of freedom and fucking cheer.
Muscles buzzing with the outrage of it, I rose.
Sepher caught my ankle with his tail. “Where are you going, pet?”
I bent close to him, movements smooth and graceful despite the terrible tightness of my body. “You like to win, don’t you?” I whispered.
“I never lose.” His smile was slow, like he truly believed that.
Victory was great, but it required work.
“If I touch their right shoulder, they’re bluffing. If I touch their left, they have a better hand than yours and will need bullying into folding. If I rub my nose, you should fold and save yourself for the next hand. Got it?”
