I watched appreciatively as Maxen and his sparring partner, a guy named Shane who’d graduated a few years after us, slashed and jabbed at each other, each of their weapons engulfed in their respective wielders’ magic. Maxen’s was like deep indigo smoke dancing around his arm and sword. His brow was lined with concentration, his teeth gritted.
I felt a zip of recognition across my back, Mort waking up in the proximity of other weapons. My hand itched to grab my broadsword and a partner. While I appreciated the sheer strength Maxen and his opponent displayed, I was much quicker than the full-bloods, and I loved fighting them. Skilled quickness beat brute strength nine times out of ten. At least, when it was my quickness in the fight.
Two short beeps sounded, and Maxen and Shane lowered their swords, let their rock armor dissolve, and went to the towels and jars of water they’d left near where I was standing.
Maxen caught sight of me, and the tension of the fight eased from his face, replaced by a boyish grin.
“Hey, Petra. You next?” He playfully tossed his short sword from one hand to the other and assumed an exaggerated fencing pose.
“With you already tuckered out? Nah, I’d probably hurt you. I’ll fight you when you’re fresh, Lothlorien.”
“So, you just wanted to watch me, then,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and shot Shane a long-suffering look. I’d sparred with him plenty of times growing up. I’d always envied the fact that he could fight equally well with either hand. True ambidexterity was rare. He gave a good-natured smile, nodded, and walked off toward the locker room with his towel draped around his neck.
“Got a minute?” I asked when Shane was out of earshot.
“For you? I’ve got five.” Maxen’s tone was teasing, but his eyes had sharpened with interest.
“I need to get into the Duergar Court, and I know you’ve got official business there,” I said.
He peered at me out of the corners of his eyes. “Work?”
“Sort of.” I glanced around, considering how much to say. Remembering the urgency in Oliver’s eyes, I decided to keep as much to myself as possible. Channeling my more seductive alter ego, Penelope, I leaned in and flicked my eyes down to Maxen’s lips before giving him a direct, unblinking look. “So, think you can get me in? C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
He tipped his head back and let out a short laugh. Merriment danced in his sapphire eyes. “Considering your little tirade at King Sebastian, I have serious doubts about taking you on a diplomatic trip.”
“Yeah, I probably went a bit too far.” I tilted my head to one side. “But then the assassins showed up. You can’t tell me that wasn’t fun.”
“Adrenaline junkie,” he accused, but he was grinning.
I knew I had him.
“You leave tomorrow night, right?” I asked. “What time should I come back here?”
“Noon tomorrow,” he said.
“Isn’t that a little early for an evening arrival?”
He gave me a droll look from under his brows. “You don’t just saunter through a doorway into another Fae palace. There are preparations. Pageantry. Protocol.”
I tried not to grimace. “That’s a lot of P words. Okay, noon it is. See you then.”
I didn’t even make it a full step.
“Petra.”
“What?” I asked innocently.
“You haven’t told me why you need to go to the Duergar court.”
I bit my lip for a second. I had to tell him something. Besides, Marisol would inform him soon, anyway. “Periclase is holding a New Garg changeling against her will. I need to get her out.”
He regarded me for a long moment. I could see the confusion on his face. Marisol hadn’t told him about Nicole yet. Part of me wanted to tell him that Nicole was my sister, but I remembered Oliver’s warning. My mother had apparently feared for my life and Nicole’s life at the hands of Marisol. I trusted Maxen, but if Oliver didn’t want Marisol to know about my twin, he certainly wouldn’t want Maxen to know.
“Periclase is holding a New Garg changeling,” he repeated.
I reached up to rub at the back of my neck. I really wished Marisol would have briefed him already. “Yeah. I just found out.”
“Why you?”
I shrugged. “You’d have to ask Oliver,” I said, skirting around the real reason. Fae can’t lie to each other, but we can be evasive.
“Okay,” he said finally.
I flipped my braid over my shoulder and let out a quiet breath of relief.
He pulled his sweaty t-shirt up and over his head and then balled it up in his hands and used it to wipe his forehead. “But this isn’t going to come for free.”
My gaze slid from his muscled shoulders and down across his chest to his cut abs. Just because I wasn’t interested in Maxen’s overtures didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate what he had to offer.
I nodded once and then turned and strode away. Even that little acknowledgement was too close to agreeing that I’d owe him a favor. I needed to get out before I accidentally said something more binding.
A glance at the clock in the training yard told me that Order business had already eaten up a good portion of my work day. I still had to find that drug-dealing vamp, Van Zant.
Chapter 7
THERE WAS A huge payout for apprehending Van Zant, and I sorely needed it. My roommate had to cover my part of the current month’s rent, we had a handful of bills that were overdue, I hadn’t paid off all of Vincenzo’s last round of repairs, and my account balance had dwindled to double-digits. Not to mention the fact that Van Zant was a menace to society and his black market VAMP3 blood would cause deaths of innocents, if it hadn’t already.
When I stepped through the doorway and back into the Earthly realm outside the fortress, my phone buzzed and bleeped. I scanned through my messages to make sure there was nothing urgent—there wasn’t. But there was the picture of Nicole that Oliver had shown me on his phone. He must have stepped outside of Faerie to send it to me while I’d been in the training yard.
I gazed at it for a long moment, looking for any other resemblance between me and my twin besides our eyes. Our skin tone was similar, except mine was a tanner version. She looked like she wore sunscreen a lot, or maybe just didn’t spend much time outside. Her makeup was heavy, almost like stage makeup and much more than a girl with her sunny good looks needed.