Page 21 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Draven slides his gaze to Alistair, and a sharp smile plays over his lips as he flicks a deliberate look up and down Alistair’s body. “Remind me again how many assassinations you have carried out?”

“I… That’s not?—”

“Enough with the dick measuring contests,” Isera snaps. She shoots the two of them a pointed look. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Alistair crosses his arms and scowls but doesn’t argue. Draven gives him one last smirk before turning back to the rest of us.

“Alright,” Draven begins. “Everyone understands their part in the plan?” When we all nod, he adds, “We need to time this perfectly. The Unseelie fae are very particular about their bargains, and Orion requested an assassination where we get seen. Which means that it needs to look like an assassination gone slightly wrong and not like we were trying to get caughtfrom the beginning. And that means stealth. Especially for this first part.” He locks eyes with Alistair again. “So keep the fire small.”

“Look, bossy pants, I’ve already told you.” Alistair gives him an exasperated look. “I don’t do stealthy. My magic is loud and messy.”

“Adapt,” Draven simply orders before turning back to the rest of us. “Let’s go.”

Alistair mutters under his breath and shakes his head but sneaks along the stone fence towards the front of the mansion. Isera simply spins on her heel and starts in the other direction in silence.

Still lingering by the wall, Galen and Lyra cast hesitant glances at Draven, as if they want to say something, but Draven doesn’t appear to notice because he, in turn, is looking at me. When they notice that, Lyra swallows while Galen clears his throat before both of them slip away after Isera without another word.

“Ready?” Draven asks.

I nod. Calling up my magic, I once more throw it across Danzo Wolfstalker’s mansion. But this time, I only aim it at the six guards who are positioned across the grounds outside. All of them feel a flicker of suspicion as they keep watch. I latch on to it and start to steadily decrease it. We don’t want them to spot Alistair before he can start the fire.

While we wait for the others to get into position, I tilt my head back and glance up at the tall stone wall that separates us from the gardens inside.

“You know,” I begin, shifting my gaze back to Draven. “Getting over this wall would be a lot easier if you could fly.”

Draven’s eyes glint, and a knowing smirk ghosts across his lips. “You mean like this?”

A small cloud of black smoke erupts before me. My jaw drops as Draven’s wings suddenly appear from his back. He spreads them out slightly, looking very pleased with himself. For a moment, I just stare at those imposing black wings for another second before I lock eyes with him again.

“But…” I begin, completely bewildered. “I thought Orion said that you couldn’t shift in here.”

“We can’t. While you were still unconscious, all three of us tried to shift into our dragon forms. It doesn’t work. The magic from the wards makes it impossible.” That smug smile on his lips widens. “But this form is half human, so the wards apparently can’t suppress it.”

“That’s—”

My sentence is cut off as suspicion tries to spike through one of the guards at the front of the mansion. I flick a glance in that direction, even though I can’t see anything from behind the stone wall. While still lowering the guard’s suspicion, I turn back to Draven.

“Alistair is in position,” I explain.

He nods and shifts his stance so that he’s ready to fly us over the wall at a moment’s notice.

A warm night wind caresses my cheeks as I wait another ten seconds for Alistair to start his fire. Suspicion tries to flare up from the second guard at the front of the mansion. A smile blows across my lips.Showtime.

With a rapid push of my magic, I make the flame of suspicion that all six guards are feeling erupt into a massive fire. Raised voices come from the front of the grounds, though we’re too far away to hear what they’re saying.

Then the screaming starts.

“FIRE!” a voice bellows from where Alistair snuck off to.

Clanking noises echo from the other side of the stone wall as the two guards who were stationed there leap into motion andrush towards the screaming voice. I cut off the flow of my magic and turn to grin at Draven.

“Well, then,” I say. “Shall we?”

He lets out a breath of amusement before wrapping his arms around me. My stomach lurches as he quickly flies us over the wall.

The moment our feet touch the grass, he shifts back into his fully human form and summons his magic. Storm clouds gather around us. In the dark of night, it adds further shadows to the already darkened garden and hides us almost entirely from view.

After exchanging a nod, we dart across the grass and towards the back door. Alistair should be making his way here right now as well, while Isera, Lyra, and Galen are securing our escape route.

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