“Then you doom us all,” Cruce warned.
Barrons murmured, “Psychopaths have their weaknesses.”
“And are so savage one rarely gains the offensive long enough to exploit them,” Cruce retorted.
“The two of you should know,” Christian said dryly.
Barrons closed his eyes and rubbed his jaw, the rasp of his hand against stubble loud to Jada’s ears in the hostile silence of the office. Finally he opened them and said to Cruce, “If you were the Mac version of the Sinsar Dubh, what would you want?”
“A better body,” Cruce said without hesitation. “One not human, with no mortal limitations. That would be any Fae’s first priority.”
“How would you get a better body? I already offered mine. It refused.”
Jada inhaled sharply. “Are you kidding me? Do you know what it might do with your—” She broke off, not about to discuss the Nine’s extraordinary abilities in front of Cruce.
Cruce said, “If it can’t seize another body—and it must doubt its ability or it would have taken your offer, or tried to take mine—it will go after the Seelie Queen’s elixir, the true Elixir of Life.”
“Which is where?”
Cruce shrugged. “None but the queen is privy to that information.”
Jada said, “She’s missing and has been since the night you were iced at the abbey.” And they desperately needed her if they were to have any hope of saving their world. She alone possessed the power to wield the dangerous Song of Making.
“Then it would appear the Book is out of luck,” Cruce said lightly.
Christian shook his head. “False. There is something it can do and you know it. What is it?”
Barrons growled, “We’ll hand you to Mac on a bloody platter if you don’t tell us everything you know. Either you’re with me or you’re in my motherfucking way.”
Cruce slanted his iridescent eyes half closed, and Jada could practically see him tallying his options and odds in columns the same way she did. After a moment he said, “I will offer you a deal.”
“We’ve already made a deal,” Jada said sharply.
“You forced concessions at a time of duress. I insist we renegotiate. I know what the Book wants and how it will go after it.”
“And what do you want in return?” Barrons said acerbically.
Cruce said mildly, “No more than I wanted before—to kill the queen and become the rightful ruler of my race. This time, however, you and your merry little band will help me accomplish it.”
Barrons was motionless a long moment then inclined his head in assent.
“You can’t be serious,” Jada exclaimed. What was he doing? They didn’t dare kill the queen. They needed her.
“You can’t bloody kill the queen of the Fae just to get your bloody girlfriend back,” Christian spat.
Cruce glanced pointedly at Jada and Christian. “Do you speak for them as well?”
“Yes,” Barrons said, shooting them both lethal looks.
“We’re in.” Jada flashed Christian a look that said, Trust that Barrons has a plan. “But if Mac comes to harm, the deal’s off.”
“Saving her without harm is your problem,” Cruce said, shrugging. “Mine is merely getting you close enough to place the stones.”
“And placing one of them yourself,” Jada added.
“We’re not using him,” Christian snarled.
“He’ll be there anyway,” she said. “The fewer people we bring into this the better.”
“But you have already impeded my plan,” Cruce continued evenly, “and must rectify that. MacKayla will not go after the queen until she has one of the immortal weapons in her possession.”
Jada said incredulously. “You want me to give Mac the spear back?”
“No. I want you to permit her to recover it in a way that convinces her she bested you. The Sinsar Dubh is deeply paranoid.”
Christian shot him a dark look. “She already came after us once and you want to put a weapon in her hands that can kill us both?”
“She thinks us out of her way in cocoons, and immortality is her priority. The longer the Sinsar Dubh inhabits MacKayla’s body, the more it will despise its limitations. The moment she has the spear, she will go for the queen to coerce from her the Elixir of Life. When she does, we will trap her.”
“But no one knows where the queen is,” Jada reminded.
Cruce said, “The Sinsar Dubh knows a place at which our queen can be summoned and Aoibheal cannot refuse to attend. I know that location, too. Both the Book and I possess a vast store of the king’s knowledge.”
Barrons glanced at Christian.
“Truth.”
“Where?” Barrons demanded.
Cruce said coldly, “I trust you no more than you trust me. Once MacKayla has the spear and begins to make her move, I will take you there. The quarters are tight and her army will be unable to accompany her. That is where we will trap MacKayla and kill Aoibheal.”
Christian narrowed his eyes. “If you know how to summon Aoibheal, why haven’t you done it already? What do you need us for?”