He paused to glance at her.
“To answer your question … yes, Apollo would love a threesome, and Morgen wouldn’t mind it either.”
His face went stark white. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
“You have your skills. I have mine.” And he should never underestimate hers. “Now, run along. Morgen doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Turning, he headed off.
The moment he was out of sight, she grabbed the Adoni knight behind her and snatched him closer so that she could whisper in his ear. “Fetch me Maddor. I don’t care what whore you have to pry him off, bring him to me within the quarter hour or it’s your balls I’ll be dining on!” She shoved him away from her. “I’ll be awaiting him in the study.”
With those words spoken, she went to gather her own agents to plan her strategy for this next round.
The Adoni turned on his companions with a hiss. “You heard her! Fetch the mandrake!”
“Fuck you.” Varian duFey slid his knife straight into the lung of the bastard in front of him and held him upright until he stopped struggling. Only then did he use his powers to remove all traces of the fey’s existence.
“Damn, V. That’s so cold.”
Wiping the blood off on the sleeve of his jerkin, he sneered at his hellhound companion. “Oh, like you wouldn’t have bitten his throat out, then licked your own balls.”
“Probably the former, but never the latter. Too many others willing to do that for me.” Kaziel grinned at him. “At any rate, killing an Adoni on an errand for your mother seems a bit reckless when we’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. And to think, Aeron and Nick accuse me of being rash.”
“You are rash, my friend. So rash, it’s actually creeping down your neck.”
“Those are the hives I get from being this close to you when you’re doing something profoundly stupid.” Kaziel glanced down the hallway to make sure no one else was around. “Damn shame to be this near to your mother and she didn’t recognize you.”
“You’ve no idea. But I wouldn’t put anything past her. The main thing for now is that we find Blaise and let him and Emrys know what’s going on. You take Beau and find them.”
Kaziel hesitated. “What about you?”
“We still need more information for our Merlin. I’m after Maddor to see why my mother was so insistent on him. That’s not like her. Which means there’s something peculiar there, and I intend to find out what.”
Kaziel inclined his head to him. As he started away, Varian grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a dark alcove.
They’d barely vanished into the curtained shadows before Morgen’s two newest paramours came down the hallway, grumbling.
“I wish Brevalaer was still here. No one else can handle her when she’s in this foul a mood. How did he manage it for so long?”
“Brevalaer? How did Kerrigan? I swear I can barely walk.”
They paused right in front of their hiding spot so that they could examine each other. “You don’t think we’re infected, do you?”
The dark-haired Adoni bit his lip. “I hope not. They’re feeding the infected to the gallu.”
Cursing, they went on their way.
Varian didn’t move for several heartbeats as he digested that news. “Morgen’s working with the gallu? Why?”
“No idea. But I’m sure nothing good can come of it.”
Something cold brushed against Varian. Quicker than he could think, he drew his dagger and lunged.
The shadow beside him solidified into a man who quickly disarmed him, and tsked. “Careful, coz. I require dinner before someone daggers me.”
He rolled his eyes at the shadowborn demon. Just above average height and well built, Shadow had eyes of steel. And like his very soul, his shoulder-length hair that he wore pulled back into a short ponytail was neither light nor dark, but strands of varying shades that were trapped squarely between his two dueling natures. The man was fearless as a rule, hence his personal motto that he feared no evil, for he was the most evil thing that stalked the darkness and called the deadliest night home. “Careful, demon. You tread on treacherous ground to be sneaking up on me.”
“Sorry about that, but your Merlin sent me to you with news. Emrys and Nimue have fallen.”
Varian gasped at the last thing he’d expected to hear. “What do you mean?”
“Apollo bid his demons assault them. He’s closing the noose around the dragons, trying to get to the dragonstone first. Meanwhile, you have to get the tablet from Morgen before she finds Falcyn’s stone and resurrects Mordred. Otherwise, all is lost.”
“That’s what I was trying to do when you rudely barged in.”
Shadow growled at him. “And saved your life. Let’s not forget the good part.”
“Are you done harassing me?”
“Not even close.” He flashed a cocky grin at Varian. “She also wants you to hand over a portal key.”
Varian laughed. Until he realized it wasn’t a joke. “Is Merlin crazy?” Without a key, he’d be trapped here.
“Probably. She has been inhaling fumes again in her library. However, without Emrys around, the dragon and crew are stuck in the Valley and they have no way to walk through the portals, back to their world. She wants me to escort them through and make sure they’re safe.”
“Can’t you get them through on your own?”
He shook his head. “Shadowalkers can only pass through alone. Without a key, they’d be trapped and forced to wave at me on the other side.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“More than you know.” Shadow held his hand out. “Give it up.”
Grumbling, Varian pulled the dragon key from around his neck and handed it over. “How am I supposed to get back?”
After pocketing the key, Shadow clapped him on the arm. “Sure you’ll think of something. I hear that you’re good in a crisis.”
“You’re such a bastard.”
“’Course I am. Suckled on the tit of all evil itself.”
There was never any shaming the rank demon. He thrived on insults for some unknown reason.
Disgruntled and annoyed, Varian sighed. “And here I thought you were some master thief who could steal a key from anyone you wanted.”
“I can. Unfortunately, they tend to miss such an item quickly and form a search party for it. Last thing we need is them finding our comrades before us. If Falcyn’s stone falls into Morgen’s hands … it’d be as bad as her finding a way to restore the Table.”
There was that.
And Varian’s stomach tightened at the thought. Shadow was right and he knew it. Arthur’s Round Table was just one of several divine objects that had been hidden in the mortal realm and protected by a cadre of guardians who’d sworn a blood oath to keep them out of the hands of evil. To give their lives before they allowed their sacred objects to be used for destructive means.
While they’d won Kerrigan back from Morgen’s Circle, Arador and his charge still remained in her hands. The last thing they could afford was to see any more of Arthur’s mortal or fey objects taken by her members.
Which also made him think of something else. “Question?”