Page 215 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

“Where is your wife?” he asked, his mouth set in a grim line and his tone as close to panic as he ever came.

When I blinked, I could still see the outline of her perfect body lying in the bed at the inn. I could still hear her slow, steady breaths as she slept, the sound of the door clicking shut as I closed it behind me and walked away from her to keep her safe.

I steeled my expression, shutting down the swell of guilt and the stabbing sense of loss that threatened to overtake me.

“I sent her back to Lochlann.” I said the words with all the nonchalance I didn’t feel.

My cousin blinked, his lips parting.

“You what?” he asked, as though perhaps he’d misheard me.

When I didn’t respond, he shook his head like he was still struggling to understand. “And she just...went?”

No, indeed, she did not just go.Nor would she ever have, as he was obviously well aware. But this was the last thing I wanted to discuss right now. Or ever.

I dismounted my horse, leading him to the stables. Taras followed in expectant silence, apparently having no plans of letting the subject drop.

“Not exactly,” I bit out, avoiding the censure in his gaze.

We had a siege to plan for, and my cousin was choosing this moment—this particularly hellish moment—to question my choices regarding the woman he said himself was nothing but chaos.

Taras ran a hand over his face.

“What happened?” He asked the question like he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.

Which was fitting, since I also didn’t want to give it to him.

“I did what I had to do,” I said, hoping he understood what I wasn’t saying, or that he at least remembered himself enough to drop the matter for the time being.

I handed the horse off to the stableboy then spun on my heel, heading toward the castle.

“Tell me about the preparations here,” I ordered before he could pry further.

Taras’s eyes narrowed. He hesitated briefly before dipping his chin once, ceding this round to me.

“We’re as prepared as we can be,” he said, gesturing around at the courtyard and both the soldiers and courtiers alike who were readying for the siege. “But the forces just aren’t here.”

I thought back to the battle maps at the war camp and how woefully ill-equipped we were for this sort of betrayal. Anger swelled inside of me as I realized all over again how well Iiro had played his game. Had playedme.

He must have known that it wouldn’t occur to me that Wolf would betray our alliance. It wasn’t done. For all that Socairanswere known to be ruthless, we operated by a strict set of traditions and rules. Just as blood was not spilled at the Summit, no duke would dishonor an alliance and hope to maintain his clan by the end of it.

Unless he had the backing of a king, apparently. And in Nils’s eyes, his betrayal was second only to my own. Iiro had known that and had capitalized on it.

Der’mo.

“I know,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair with a sigh. “But it should buy us a couple weeks.”

If we were lucky.

He dipped his head again, knowing as well as I did that we had no hope of withstanding a siege with the number of forces they were talking about. We had to bank on Crane and Lynx getting through the Western Front, and on our holding out until they could—ifthey could.

It was a strange feeling.

As long as I had been alive, Bear had been all but untouchable. But this…Iiro’s underhanded methods may finally pay off for him.

At least he wouldn’t get his hands on Rowan now.

My cousin glanced at me like he could hear the thoughts playing out in my head, but he didn’t speak again until we were inside, away from prying ears. I headed to the war room, realizing there was no part of me that was ready to face the rooms I had shared with my wife.

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