Page 76 of A Touch of Poison
“Brynan told me your offices are secure. Once we’re there, I’ll explain.” They swung their legs out of bed, ignoring Brynan’s protests.
I would’ve voiced my own, but Gael moved with ease, only seeming stiff when they bent over and pulled on a pair of shoes. We filed to my office in tense silence.
Once we were sealed inside, I gestured for Gael to explain. “No one can hear us now. What happened?”
“I was working on…” They raised their eyebrows and eyed Asher.
“He knows about the note. Carry on.”
“It had grown chilly, so I went to close the window, and… there was someone there. In our sitting room.” They pressed their lips together, and Brynan squeezed their knee.
“Go on, darling.”
“I caught the movement out the corner of my eye and turned, but it was too late.” They rubbed their stomach, pale skin turning even paler. “I barely managed to twist away from another strike. I don’t know how long I dodged them, trying to get to a weapon, but they got me again before I could. Then… Then”—they covered Brynan’s hand with their own—“he came back early from reporting to Her Majesty.”
Brynan’s mouth twisted. “I think I pissed her off, so she sent me away. Thank the Stars she did. Someone was standing over them, all in grey, face covered. I couldn’t see anything of use.”
I worked my jaw side to side. “Let me guess—average height, average build, no sign of masculine or feminine features.”
Brynan nodded. “Their dagger had a bronze hilt, that’s all I can say.”
Asher made a soft sound. “A perfect assassin.”
Eyes gleaming, Brynan bent closer to Gael and touched his head to theirs. “They were ready to… finish things. But I…”
Gael chuckled darkly. “You blasted in. I thought someone had unleashed a Horror.”
“If I get hold of whoever that was, I’ll feed them to one.” He scowled. “I only managed to get a slash in.”
“Only?” Gael raised their eyebrows. “You sent them running. You should’ve gone after them, though.”
Brynan’s refined features scrunched up—an exaggerated version of his more customary thoughtful frown. “I had to check you were all right.” He shot me a look. “By the time I made sure this one wasn’t about to bleed out, there was no sign of the attacker. I’m sorry. I know I should’ve—”
“It’s fine. I understand.” If it had been Katherine, I’d have done the same.
Eyebrows rising, he exchanged a glance with Gael. Asher looked away, a smirk edging his mouth.
The old Bastian would’ve rebuked Brynan for not going after the assassin. Capturing them would’ve given us vital information. And while many watched my shadows with mistrust and fear, they weren’t my true power.
That was knowledge.
And yet instead, here I was telling Brynan it was fine that he’d put his partner first.
Kat was turning me soft.
“Guards swept the palace, but didn’t find the intruder.” Asher shrugged. “Not even a trail of blood.”
“Of course not.” I pursed my lips. “Still, you could’ve written this in a report.”
“Not this next part.” Gael sat up and held my gaze—something only those closest to me managed for any length of time. The glow tended to unnerve the seelie. “I finished decoding the note.”
I straightened in my seat. “And?”
“I burned my decoding. I don’t trust it to paper. If my attacker had got hold of it…”
My money was on the attacker working for the king, their aim being to stop us from uncovering its contents.
“It was just addressed to ‘sire’—no clues about who that may be.” Gael placed the original note on my desk, unfolded. “This part says the writer went to the Riverton library as instructed and found a book that referenced the ‘undesirable situation.’ Apparently the humans didn’t realise the age of the book they had—it had been collected with writings by other scholars and rebound into a single volume, but the script matched that of a scroll in Dawn’s library.”
