Page 20 of Faerie Hunted

“You destroyed it? Without talking to me first?” The bite in Mike’s voice brought me to attention and the rest of the room held its collective breath. “How dare you! That wasn’t your decision to make.”

In the silence, several low murmurs began, the other courtiers chatting amongst themselves in tones too low for even my sensitive hearing to make out.

The members of the Elder Council, with the lower half of their faces obscured by masks, remained stoic and quiet as a tomb. Taking in the proceedings and cataloging everything.

The premier appeared unbothered.

“My father wanted theImperiumbecause of the Faerie Prophecy,” Mike continued in a low growl.

I stepped closer to him automatically.

“The prophecy will come to pass no matter what measures Tywin tried to enact. The fact remains: The device was much too powerful to be in the hands ofanyperson. I acted in the best interest of this city and the realm. TheImperiumhas been destroyed.”

He held his open palms in front of him in a what’s-done-is-done gesture I automatically hated.

He was the type of person who took matters into his own hands and damned anyone else who stepped up to try and challenge him. I knew the type, marking him in a heartbeat as someone to watch.

His history and his skills elevated him to his station for a reason. We’d have to watch him. Who knew what else he’d try?

Mike waited another beat before he inclined his head. “Fine.” That was all he said. And then, “What plan does the Council have for the intruder?”

The Elder Council remained quiet.

Once again, Cosmo took up the thread of the conversation. “We will be sending a team down to the dungeons to interrogate the witch and find out exactly how theImperiumgot into her hands. Rest assured, your Royal Highness. We will get to the bottom of this matter. I’ve already taken steps to ensure the wards around the castle are bolstered and this sort of thing never happens again.”

My mouth went dry, throat constricting painfully until it felt impossible to draw in a breath.

Terror lived in every fiber of my being.Oh shit, no.

My entire world stood poised and ready to crash down.

If they got Barbara to talk, then they would inevitably find out about me.

6

The rest of the meeting passed in confusion and terror. I locked my knees to keep standing, and even the final word coming down from the Elder Council couldn’t get me to stop shaking.

The momentousness of the occasion did not escape me. This was it. The end of everything. The moment Barbara talked—I was a dead werewolf walking.

And I was still too weak to do anything about it.

Mike did his best to control the meeting, yet despite everything, he lapsed into silence before it ended. Cosmo stole the opportunity to grandstand, commanding the room as though we were all an audience strapped to our seats and forced to add to the laugh track.

Except no one was laughing.

The King’s condition was serious, the premier hungry enough to take advantage of the situation, and everyone seemed to recognize that Mike and Laina were practically powerless.

Mike escorted me back to the hospital, quiet during our walk, and by the time we made it to my room, my knees gave out.

He swooped in to scoop me up before I hit the floor, although my head continued to spiral dizzily.

“Too much excitement for you?” He made it less a question and more of a statement as he deposited me in bed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry the meeting took so long. I didn’t expect the proceedings to be held up like that.”

He also hadn’t expected Cosmo to destroy theAugundae Imperiumwithout discussing it with the royal family first. Things were happening beyond our control, and even the authority of the royal bloodline wasn’t working in Mike’s favor.

At least that was how it seemed to me.

The premier had taken an ancient artifact and shattered it, just like that.

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