Page 124 of The Seeker
“I’d hardly have to crook my finger.” Vasu smirked. “Bozidar will do anything if you flatter him. He lives for it. He was voted Most Easy to Manipulate in the heavenly realm.”
Meera blinked. “Was that… a joke? Did you make a joke on purpose?”
“Are you saying I make jokes accidentally?”
Meera couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him that wouldn’t lead to far more conversation than she wanted. She turned to Sari. “What do you think?”
The other singer raised her eyebrows. “I think nothing. It’s not my haven. But if you’re asking what I would do, I’d speak to your mother first. She’s the one tasked with guarding this place. I wouldn’t even dream of revealing its location to one of the Fallen—”
“He already knows,” Vasu said. “I told you.”
“—without full knowledge and permission of the elders here,” Sari continued as if Vasu hadn’t spoken. “If Patiala is in favor of this plan, then talk to Ata. She’s not alone anymore. She has allies. The Wolf might want the chance to slay Bozidar herself. She’s done it before.”
Damien said, “And if you decide to go forward, you have both of us with you. You know that. What I don’t have is my black blade.”
Rhys asked, “You came here unarmed?”
“I came for your mating feast, dammit! Some vacation this is turning out to be.”
Meera tooka deep breath and clutched Rhys’s hands. “So I’m going to go in there, tell my mother and father that one of the Fallen has been my… associate—”
“Friend seems too generous.”
“—for most of my life, that he knows our location has been compromised to another one of the Fallen, and that we could potentially draw said Fallen to the haven by revealing the location of a legendary warrior, who is staying in my parents’ house as a guest at our mating celebration.”
“When you string it all together like that, it does seem like an incredibly bad idea,” Rhys muttered. “Maybe lead with having discovered a way to kill an angel and free hundreds of Grigori and unknown numbers ofkareshtafrom the influence of the Fallen.”
Meera nodded. “Good. I like that.”
“But they’re going to be upset about the Vasu thing,” he said. “There’s no getting around that. You should probably leave out our suspicions that he goaded Bozidar into this fight.”
“This is Anamitra’s fault!” Meera said. “It’s not like I found Vasu on my own. I… inherited him.”
“Maybe mention that too.”
She squeezed his hand again, then entered the tent where her mother was directing the cooks for the dinner that night. The scribes and singers of the haven had been gathering food for days. Though the guest list wasn’t large, the feasts would still be elaborate.
“Mother,” Meera called.
Patiala looked up and smiled. “Hello.”
“Can Rhys and I speak to you and Father for a moment?”
“Is everything all right?” She frowned and glanced at their joined hands.
“We’re fine,” Rhys said. “It’s about the larger issue we’ve been talking to Roch about.”
With a businesslike nod, she followed them out of the cooking tent. “Your father is in the fields.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll call him and tell him to meet us.”
Rhys led them to his cottage and cleared off two chairs so Patiala and Meera could sit. Maarut joined them a few minutes later, and Meera gathered her courage.
“So,” she began. “Rhys and I are fine and very happy with our mating celebration so far. We’re looking forward to everything. But talking with Roch and the scribe house in New Orleans has clarified some of the problems the city is facing, which might explain what happened the other night in New Orleans.”
Maarut nodded gravely. “I have a few questions.”
“That’s understandable,” Rhys said. “You might have more before this conversation is over.”
Meera had seenher mother angry. She’d thought she’d seen her shocked. It was nothing compared to the utter and complete silence that greeted her after she’d outlined the problem the haven was facing.
