Page 135 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

He looked the same.

Dressed in his usual black leathers and with his dark hair out of his face, he was lethally handsome. And as his perceptive gaze flew over her, that sense that he read too much into her every movement made apprehension coat her skin.

When a smirk—the one that had infuriated her so much during the election—played across his lips as she pressed herself against the wall, she tore her eyes away.

Instead, Lessia shot a quick look across what seemed like a dated living room, with a small couch and table, but she couldn’t make out Soria and Pellie anywhere, and her stomach churned when those terrifying masks Loche’s guards wore followed her every movement—like a flock of deadly black birds spread out behind their leader.

“Hello, Lessia.” As she forced her eyes back to his, Loche’s sharp gaze flew down to the hand Merrick still held on to as he casually leaned his back on the wall beside her, and he clicked his tongue before continuing. “Death Whisperer. Not bothering with the glamour anymore?”

Merrick flashed his teeth back. “Seems we’re past that point.”

“We are, aren’t we?” Loche nodded to himself, holding up a hand when his guards—who stood posted at almost every inch of the wooden walls in the large sitting room—stepped closer. “No need. I’m confident Lessia and her little band of Fae warriors won’t try anything. Especially since her friends inthecavewould not fare well if something happened to me… or if I seem a bit too accommodating.”

Cursing silently, Lessia shot Merrick a quick look, and he dipped his chin the tiniest bit before locking his gaze ahead.

From the outside, Merrick appeared calm, his legs crossed and shoulders lowered, but Lessia could see the vein straining on his neck—could feel how his fingers rhythmically brushed the back of her hand.

He was anything but.

Raine and Kerym growled softly as they took up the spots next to Merrick, keeping a hand on their blades and fixing the regent with their glares.

Despite it all, she pursed her lips.

They probably didn’t appreciate being called little.

“Look at that.”

Her eyes snapped up when Loche spoke once more.

“It’s almost the full brotherhood.” Loche cocked his head, his smirk not once wavering as he dragged his gaze over the four of them. “Are you here to declare war against me, Lessia?”

“N-no,” she got out.

After clearing her throat, she quickly continued. “We’ve come to warn you.”

Loche let out a low laugh that had her clamp her lips shut. “Warn me… Do you have a death wish? I told you I’d kill you myself if you ever set foot in Ellow again.”

Lessia hushed Merrick when he let out a low growl.

“I know,” she said as she took a step forward.

The only step she could take, as Merrick had her hand in a death grip.

“Loche, the rebels are planning a devastating attack. And not just from the sea—there are people all across Ellow who are part of this. And… and that’s not the only threat Ellow—we—are facing. Another realm of Fae is heading here—the Oakgards’ Fae—and Rioner is working with them. He’s going to help them take over Ellow. There is a curse… I don’t know all of it, but he believes you’re destined to destroy the Rantzier family and bring him to his knees, so he needs to take you out.”

Not a single muscle in Loche’s body, nor a single feature of his face, shifted.

Lessia’s pulse quickened as she eyed him, and the thumps within her accelerated when he eyed her right back.

“He knows.” Merrick sidled up next to her. “Don’t you?”

Sucking his teeth, Loche waved for his guards to retreat out the door behind him—into the gray light shining through the small window to his right. “I need a moment with them alone.”

As a few guards lingered, their steps hesitant as they followed the others, Loche hissed, “That was an order.”

Loche didn’t waste a second when the door slammed shut behind the last one.

After a quick look out of the dusty window, he stormed up to them.

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