Sebastian’s body tensed, but he remained silent.
Movement caught Ari’s eye, and she turned to see her brother slowly climbing out from behind a table that had flipped to its side during the struggle. There was blood pouring from a wound in his head, and he could barely keep his balance, but he was still alive, and Ari’s throat thickened with tears as she looked at him.
Teague turned to face Thad and pocketed his pipe. Withdrawing two arrows from an inner coat pocket, he held them up. Candlelight reflected dully against the arrows’ metal surface.
Iron.
“Tsk, tsk, it seems our dear king has been injured.” He glanced at Ari, who was still trying to breathe past the pain. “As has our resourceful princess. Such a shame, though I did warn you to leave me alone. Imagine my surprise when a pair of creatures much like the two I just destroyed were sent to attack me as I traveled to one of my warehouses this afternoon.” He looked back at Thad, his eyes glowing with malice. “When they failed to kill me, a man sent two arrows into my back. Obviously, he also failed to kill me. It didn’t take much of an interrogation to learn he was working for you. You really should hire people with higher pain tolerance.”
Ari’s heart sank. Ajax had failed, and Ari still didn’t have a viable backup plan.
She had no way to save Thad.
Teague tossed the arrows to the floor and stepped over them. His tone was cut glass. “A lesser fae would’ve died, but you aren’t dealing with a lesser fae. You’re dealing with Alistair Teague.”
The walls shook, candlelight flickering as his voice rose. “I am ancient. I have survived battles in wars long lost to history. I have survived assassination attempts from those much more learned in fae lore than you.” He closed in on Thad. “I have survived betrayal, exile, and the miserable pretense of obeying human law, and you can be sure I will survive you.”
He reached into another pocket and withdrew a scroll of parchment and a vial that glittered as if it were made from diamonds. “Do you know what this is?”
He held up the parchment, and Thad nodded miserably.
The contract. Ari lurched to her feet. Sebastian stood as well, though he didn’t touch her. Maybe she could grab it. Burn it. Chew it up and swallow it if she had to.
Teague unrolled it with a flick of his wrist. “It’s the contract you signed. The one where you gave me your soul and the right to run my business in your kingdom without your interference.”
Ari took a step forward, wincing in pain.
Teague’s voice became a whiplash of cold fury. “I warned you not to try to break the terms of our bargain.” He raised the parchment and read from the bottom of the page. “It says here that if the undersigned, which is you, attempts to harm me, renegotiate terms, or break your vow in any way, the debt you owe comes due.” He looked up and met Thad’s desperate gaze. “Immediately.”
Thad’s knees buckled, and he slid to the floor as his gaze locked on Ari. She could read the fear, the regret, and, most of all, the desperate plea for her to do what he’d been preparing her to do all along: take the crown and rule in his place.
The wound in Ari’s heart that had opened the night her mother died ached fiercely, and tears blurred her vision.
She was going to lose Thad if she didn’t do something.
“Get to your feet, you worthless boy.” Teague stalked toward him, and Ari started moving, Sebastian on her heels. “You didn’t care what the price was as long as your sister was safe. I held up my end of the deal, and what have you done? Sent your sister into the market to ask questions about me and to buy poison for the monster killer you hired to assassinate me. Purchased beasts from Llorenyae to fend off my just attempts to get you to honor your debt. I’ll bet you didn’t expect me to be able to control them, did you? You see, I speak fae, and I read runes. I am nearly immune to iron, and you’d have to fill me with bloodflower poison for it to kill me. And I am out of patience with you.”
“You’re making a mistake.” Thad’s words were slurred, and he seemed to be having trouble focusing his eyes. He needed medical attention, but if Ari didn’t find a way to stop Teague from ripping out her brother’s soul, none of that would matter.
“No, you made the mistake! We had a bargain. A mutually beneficial relationship that was supposed to last for ten years. I offered you the desire of your heart.” Teague’s voice rose, shaking the floor. “And you took it. You took it, and now I will take what is owed me.”
Ari’s chest throbbed, and desperate fear drove her forward as Teague put the contract into his coat pocket and unstoppered the glittering vial.
She was never going to see him again. Never going to hear him laugh at her crazy plans or list all the things a proper princess didn’t do.
He would be gone, and she would be left wearing a crown she’d never wanted.
Alone.
The pain in her heart stabbed deep, a fierce ache that felt as if she was already grieving him.
She was going to lose her brother, and Teague would get away with it because Ari didn’t know how to stop him. Thad would die, and she would be left alone in the palace to pick up the pieces of a life she didn’t want to live without knowing that her brother was safe.
Her mind skipped from one desperate idea to the next. She knew a myriad of details about his business. His life. There had to be something she could use.
He hadn’t just wanted Thad’s soul. He’d wanted unimpeded access to the city.
He’d wanted immunity from the consequences of his actions.
He’d wanted to be the unrivaled power behind a puppet king.
He wanted power, but if he took Thad’s soul, he’d be giving that up.
In a voice that shook the room, Teague said, “Ghlacadh anam de Thaddeus Glavan agus—”
“Wait!” Ari threw herself at Teague, an idea born of furious, desperate love taking shape inside her head. He wanted power. He wanted immunity from his actions. He wanted puppet kings on paper thrones dancing to his whims.
If she could give Teague that long enough to buy herself time to uncover the key to stopping him, maybe she could save Thad and free him to be the just, fair ruler he wanted to be.
“If you take Thad’s soul, you’ll be squandering the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said as she held Teague’s gaze.
He glared. “I think not.”
“His soul isn’t what you’re really after. You want freedom to run your business as you please.” Her words were rushed and desperate, her fingers knotting together as if in supplication. “You want power. And a man like you—an ancient, powerful fae—wouldn’t be satisfied with the kind of power that keeps Kosim Thalas under your thumb. That’s just one city out of thousands. You’re the Wish Granter. You deserve to have entire kingdoms to answer to you, and Thad can make that happen.”