Page 103 of Court of Lies and Deceit

“We do,” Isera says, her eyes locked on the Unseelie King.

Another flash of worry pulses through me, and I have to suppress the urge to glance at her. But she thankfully doesn’t say anything else. Nothing to antagonize him. I let out a small sigh.

“Excellent.” His eyes glint as he holds Isera’s gaze. “Then you can start by giving back the dragon steel and begging my forgiveness for stealing it.”

A sharp smile spreads across her lips. “Can’t steal something that already belongs to you.”

“Ah, but it didn’t belong to you. The moment you committed a crime, all of your possessions became property of the Crown.”

“Can’t commit a crime when the mission was sanctioned by the king.”

“You have a lot of cocky retorts already waiting on that wicked tongue of yours, don’t you?”

Her sly smile widens, and she runs her tongue along her teeth. “You should see what else I can do with it.”

His eyes flash. But not with anger.

“We made a deal, Your Majesty,” I interrupt with as much politeness as I can muster before this strange confrontation between them gets out of hand. “If we won these games, we would be allowed to leave the Unseelie Court promptly and without issue. You’ve already gone back on your word once. Do you intend to do it again?”

This time, it’s most definitely anger that flashes in his eyes as he snaps his gaze to me and growls, “I didnotgo back on my word. You just didn’t word the bargain carefully enough.”

Irritation crackles through me at his damn word games, but this is obviously an important distinction to him, so I incline my head and diplomatically reply, “Of course. I apologize. However, this time, the bargain was clear. So, do you intend to honor it?”

Drawing in a long breath, he just watches the two of us in silence for a while. Then he finally lets out that breath again, sounding both annoyed and resigned. “Yes.” His eyes slide to me. “While I am somewhat irked by your miraculous win…”

Since you deliberately stacked the deck against us and set us up to lose,I finish for him silently in my mind.

“I do always honor the bargains I make,” he finishes, giving me a pointed stare. “So yes, you have my permission to leave theUnseelie Court. As soon as you’re ready, I will personally escort you to the wards and let you through.”

“Unless you want to strike another bargain,” Isera cuts in.

I whip my head towards her. “What?”

Interest sparks in Orion’s eyes as he locks them on Isera instead. “I’m listening.”

“You like games and gambles, so here is one for you,” Isera says. “We trade our freedom for another bargain. And if we win, you and your court will help us take down the Iceheart Dynasty.”

“What?” I snap again, aghast.

We’ve just barely managed to win this one and get our freedom back. There’s no way in hell we’ll be able to win another one.

“Isera, what the hell?” I demand. “We haven’t?—”

She flicks her wrist.

Andicefills my mouth.

I jerk back in shock, trying to gasp, but the ice spreads out so that it prevents me from moving my tongue. Gagging, I try to spit it out. And then I try to pull it out with my fingers. It doesn’t work. I can still breathe through my nose, but the chunk of ice inside my mouth is so wide and so tall now that I can’t get it past my teeth and back out of my mouth.

Whirling towards her, I stare at her in shock and disbelief. But she isn’t even looking at me. Her gaze is firmly fixed on the Unseelie King, who is watching her just as intently.

His eyes gleam like daggers as he flashes her a sharp smile. “My, my. Gagging your own friend so that you can bargain away her freedom? How very ruthless of you.”

“So you accept the bargain?” Isera pushes.

Still fighting against the ice in my mouth, I grab Isera by the arm and pull hard, trying to force her to look at me. She just yanks her arm out of my grip and flicks her wrist again.

Ice shoots up from the ground, wrapping around my ankles and wrists. I try to gasp again, but only a gurgling sound makes it past the ice in my mouth. Now completely immobilized, all I can do is to stand there and watch while shock at her betrayal clangs through my skull.

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