Page 70 of A House of Cloaks & Daggers

Sometimes, I caught him looking at me in such a way that could very nearly set me on fire. But then he would glance away. I would receive the affectionate brush of a thumb acrossmy cheekbone or a foot massage in the library. Maybe even a kiss like that day on the sand, but it never went any further, even when I showed interest. In fact, he had abruptly left me panting and hot on more than one occasion with no explanation.

I actually felt like he was avoiding me some days, so I didn’t tell him about my dreams and my search for the dungeon. Not even the books I was trying to reach in the library on the days he didn’t join me there. I didn’t say very much at all about it, and to be perfectly honest, neither did he.

Until sometime after my third week in the House, when he knocked on my bedroom door.

Chapter thirty

A Very Clear Case of Dark Magic

“It all feels so…forced. I wish I didn’t have to put you through any of this.”

Threading my fingers through Lucais’s as he guided me through the maze of hallways in the House, I sighed. “The caenim that attacked my mother set us up, really.”

His long fingers tensed around mine, sending a shiver of pleasure skittering up my arm. The High King didn’t make gestures often, and they were normally casual and cool. This one echoed with a subtle and raw form of possession, though.

I had to admit that I didn’tnotlike it.

“The whole point of this was only ever to keep you alive,” he replied. “With so many human girls showing up dead, it stopped being about the mating bond and instead became about preventing them from killing humans in pursuit of you. We didn’t know who you were, and when we realised, we wanted to protect you. From all of it.” The High King paused, mulling overhis words. “His methods,” he went on, cautiously referring to Wren for the first time in weeks, “would not be my first choice. He’s done the best he can, given the situation.”

I let go of his hand as we descended the staircase. Lucais was a smidge closer to my height, but he was still so huge that I had to bend my elbow to keep my hand in his. The gesture was odd—it felt comfortable, but I couldn’t remember who had taken whose hand first or why.

Wrenhadsaved my life.

If anything, that acknowledgment served to turn my intense dislike for him into indifference. He was obviously an important member of the High King’s inner circle, and I still didn’t have any proof that he was a traitor. Or that hewouldbe a traitor. He had disappeared from his own bedroom at some point during my embrace with his High King, which hinted at something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what.

Lucais was accompanying me to a meeting downstairs. Apparently, if it involved the caenim, it had to involve me, too. When Lucais mentioned to me that Wren was waiting there, I scoffed without thinking it through first.

“Are there sections of the library that are closed off?” I asked to change the subject as he gestured for me to walk ahead through a doorway.

I entered yet another new hall illuminated with candlelight. They kept appearing, though I’d been combing through the place from top to bottom. It was as if the House was moving its halls and doors, like the Forest had changed the position of its trees.

Lucais gave me a strange look. “No,” he answered. “Of course not. You’re welcome to anything of mine in this House. The library should present no exception. Is there anything in particular you’re searching for in there?”

“The Malum,” I admitted. I had tried to overcome it myself for long enough. “And the Oracle’s prophecy. Anything to help me understand more about the connection between the two, and how that involves me. Wren said—” I broke off, scrunching my nose at the way his name felt on my tongue. “He told me that there were books I could read to brush up on my history, but I can’t get to them.”

“I’ll have some sent to your room,” Lucais offered immediately. “There’s really not much in terms of the Malum or the Oracle, though. The Malum wish to create a union that will give them equal rights to sit at the High King’s table, and the Oracle appears once or twice during every High King or High Queen’s reign to spit arbitrary gossip out of a crystal ball.”

“Are you saying they want tomarryinto the inner circle?” I clarified, as we strode past some familiar yet entirely out of place glass cases and cabinets. The House was definitely reorganising its doors and hallways.

Bastard thing.

“They have a bride ready and everything,” he muttered, shaking his head at the floor. “They were all—I mean, we knew them once. Lived among them, fought beside them. Some were considered close friends. Their bride was a member of my Court before she joined the rebellion and…” He trailed off into an uneasy silence.

“You know her?” I frowned, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall.

“Knew her, yes.” Lucais’s gaze fell back to the floor. “It’s not really her anymore, and even if it was, she’s not the intended High Queen. Or even a desired substitute. Not that the real one is under any obligation.” He gave me a meaningful look, accompanied by the most breathtakingly handsome smile of which I had ever been the recipient.

Intended High Queen.

Brynn would have a field day.

“They seized the Court of Darkness after the initial proposal was rejected,” Lucais continued. “It seems they would prefer to orchestrate a marriage and rule Faerie as equal parts Malum and High Fae, because they still don’t fully understand how far removed from us that they’ve become. However, we would be foolish to assume that they’re not well-prepared to try and take it by force.”

I raised my eyebrows at my own reflection, visible in the glass cabinet over his shoulder. “Why do they still want me dead when you’ve already rejected the proposal, and we aren’t even… I mean, it’s not like…” I took a sharp breath and spat it out. “We’re not married.”

Lucais gave me a crooked smile and chuckled, running a hand through his dark hair. “Aura, we wouldn’t marry. High Faedon’tmarry. We mate.” His woodfire eyes were sparkling with faint amusement. “The Malum are offering marriage because there is no mating bond between our kinds, and therefore no other way for their bride to be recognised as High Queen. There can’t be a Malum Queen. It goes against the High Mother. So, while they may believe it’s their best option to join us again, it’s practically an impossibility. It wouldn’t make a difference if you accepted the bond, but they don’t care.”

“I don’t understand. Wren said the rebels mated with the Banshees, and that the High Fae in your Court were…canoodling that first night. So, they’re all mated?”

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