“I’m not sure I believe you,” he said, candidly. “The odds are impossible. You found me here, of all places, by chance? No, I don’t think that’s what happened.” He pushed from his chair, his movements hardening. “Humans lie as easily as they breathe. You have no honor, no integrity. That’s why they sent you.” He approached, intent punctuating each stride.
I stood my ground, even when he stopped too close, filling everything with his pretend Istvan Larsen with his sharp suit and the charming glint in his eye. Who was the greater liar here? He may not lie with his words—those were the only part of him that couldn’t lie—but the rest of him wove lies as easily as he wove illusions.
Whatever he had planned to do fizzled away under my glare. Instead, he touched my coat shoulder and ran his fingers down a seam. He pined so for home that he sought out its touch anywhere and everywhere.
His head tilted and his eyes narrowed, losing some of their shallow human sheen. He wore biotek lenses to hide their true radiance, but now that I knew what I was looking for, I saw through it to the reality hidden inside. And what lurked in there wasn’t entirely whole. This fae—whoever he was—was broken.
Chapter 14
Over the next few days, Larsen continued to lead me around Arcon like his new pet. Any questions about me were met with vague dismissals. I let it happen, absorbing the layout of the building and all the information. As far as captivity went, I’d endured worse.
His lingering gazes and unspoken questions indicated he didn’t trust me. His paranoid mind had concocted some conspiracy with me at its center. When we were above the basement—the name I’d given my underground prison—he didn’t leave my side. I’d slipped away a few times while he’d been distracted, but he always knew where I’d be before I did. The one time I had tried to break into Sota’s room, he’d appeared at my side minutes after I thought I had given him the slip. It was uncanny. But then, he was fae. Albeit a lonely, insane, underpowered one. But he did have magic. I felt it in his gaze and in the rare times his fingers brushed mine. Either he knew how to preserve it, or he had a source to draw from hidden somewhere. All fae carried their own magical reserve, but it was reduced when away from Faerie. The longer they spent away from their home, the more wraith-like they became. It was why the fae—with their superior power—didn’t inhabit all three star systems. That and the fact humans insisted on creating more and more tek, poisoning the fae’s backyard.
The latest outing Larsen insisted I join him on involved a party-like gathering. One of Arcon’s training auditoriums had been transformed with enormous ribbon bows and spiraling decorations. Apparently, it was Arcon’s thirty-year anniversary. Tek surveillance had obviously existed before Arcon, but they’d taken it and now owned the industry. Or rather, Larsen owned it. He was the star of the show. Everyone wanted a piece of the young, dynamic CEO.
I did my part, shadowing Larsen until he allowed me to break away and sample some of the exotic food spread across several tables.
“Hi.” A woman thrust her hand at me and beamed a bright smile. “I’m Sindy. I work for Istvan. He keeps you so close. Everyone’s been dying to meet you.”
I finished the mouthful of rice and some kind of vegetable that had tasted divine after my dull diet of packet food. “Hey.” I took her hand and gave it a friendly shake. “Kesh.”
She had referred to Larsen by his first name. Few of his staff did that. That either put her in his inner circle or she was lying to make it appear as though they were friends. I couldn’t recall ever seeing her, but then, Larsen appeared to cut several of Arcon’s departments out of my regular tours.
I picked up another rice parcel and devoured it. I’d eat the whole damn spread given enough time, then I imagined Larsen watching me hoard food and equally imagined the bastard’s thrill at seeing his control over me. Suddenly, the food didn’t look so tempting.
“So, what do you do for Istvan?” Sindy asked, flicking her razor-straight bangs back. “Karlo in accounting thinks you’re an investor, but I… well…” She raked her gaze over me. “Some of us think you’re an apprentice. Yah know, someone he’s training for a high end executive role.”
Her thinly veiled skepticism and jealousy might as well have been a luminescent sign blinking over her head. I glanced across the room in time to catch Larsen’s eye. He saw who I was standing with and promptly excused himself from his little gaggle of groupies. I had about eight seconds of fun before he ruined it.
I smiled at Sindy and beckoned her closer. “I’ll tell you, if you can keep a secret.”
“Oh.” Her eyes lit up. She stepped closer in her needle-point heels. “Do tell.”
“He keeps me in the basement.”
She laughed. I didn’t.
I picked up a tiny parcel of sweet pastry, my mouth watering. “He’s not who you think he is.”
“Kesh.” Larsen stood rigidly behind Sindy’s shoulder.
He said my name like he was lashing a whip. I grinned back at the fake man and popped the pastry parcel into my mouth, crunching down. Sindy—pale-faced and confused—teetered off. Foolish human.
Larsen stepped to my side, easing his hand around my arm and holding me firmly at his side. His magic tingled, his illusion active. He pretended to admire the food while the party continued behind him. “I warned you.”
“Hmm,” I mumbled. All these smiling, happy people. What would they say if I yelled out the truth? Larsen would probably cover it up with a laugh and a joke. No one would believe me.
My gaze snagged on a familiar face standing still in the crowd. Artfully tousled hair, keen eyes reading the scene, but no smile. This was the last place Marshal Kellee wanted to be. My heart stuttered at the sight of him. Larsen had no use for the lawman. If Kellee got in his way, Larsen would kill him.
He saw me. People filtered back and forth between us, but his gaze locked on me and then skipped to the man at my side. I knew how it looked. Larsen stood too close, his hand on my arm. Here I was, apparently enjoying the party next to the camouflaged fae. Betrayal hardened Kellee’s frown. I wanted to shout to him, that it wasn’t what it looked like.
“What part of your drone’s beloved character shall I delete for this indiscretion?” Larsen asked, amusement dancing in his voice.
Kellee began to turn. I clenched my teeth together. Wait! He was so close, just across the room, and he was leaving because his fears had been realized. I’d lied to him. I was fae. He’d come to check, and now he had seen what he thought was confirmation of all his suspicions.
I had to stop him. I had to reach him without Larsen knowing.
I yanked down my coat collar. Fabric tore. I didn’t care. Kellee hesitated. Confusion crossed his face.
“What are you doing?” Larsen demanded. He saw the glimmer of iron resting around my neck and twisted to face the crowd, seeking the source of my fixation.
So many witnesses, but Kellee had gone. There one second, vanished the next. He was good at that.
I grinned at Larsen.
Larsen’s human appearance flickered. He towered over me, sneering, his grip on my arm turning to iron like the collar around my neck. He pulled me off the floor and through a doorway, not caring that his staff all watched it happen. I would pay for this. Either by way of Sota or imprisonment. I’d pushed him too far.
I twisted in his grip and bucked, but his fingers dug harder into my arm. I brought my arm up, over his, and slammed it down, breaking his hold. He reached for me again, but I lunged away, almost free. He snatched my coat, yanking me off balance, but instead of falling into him, I dipped my weight sideways, dropped to my hands and elbowed his weight-bearing knee out from under him. He tumbled to the floor on his side. In a whirl, I slipped free of my coat, kicked the garment over his face and pinned it down, digging my knee into his chest. My hands fit neatly around his throat, holding the coat over his face. He flailed, blindly grabbing for my head.
Figures blurred in the corners of my vision. More witnesses. I didn’t care. It would solve a lot of problems if I killed Larsen here and now.