Page 26 of Shadow Master
A deliberate cough cut through the quiet. I surfaced, eyes fluttering open as I ended the lip-lock and grazed his beautiful face with my fingertips.
“I understand you wanted to speak to me, Miss Justice,” Orion said.
Ah, the owner of the cough, no doubt. I turned to face him, and my heart sank to see Hyde standing beside him. He was dressed in his armor. Had he been intending to head back to the mist today?
He’d watched the kiss, but his expression gave nothing away.
Hyde couldn’t be my problem. Not if I wanted him to live. I focused on Orion, the man I’d come to see.
“I wanted to let you know I’m leaving for fomorian territory. I’m leaving Lloyd in charge of the cadets. If you need anything, you need to ask him.”
“Oh? And what do you hope to gain from your trip?”
“They took one of us, and I intend to get him back.”
“Ah, yes, Brady Stonewall.” Orion’s mouth turned down in a pretty good imitation of sympathy. “Hyde mentioned what happened. A terrible shame. For all we know, Brady is dead. We can’t lose our Shadow Master too.”
I wanted to slap him. A proper bitch slap that would rock his head back on his neck.
Instead, I climbed off the podium and approached the fey. “Or, he could be being used somehow like Harmon was. Used to find a way to attack us again.” They’d called Brady their salvation. But what did that entail? “We don’t give up on our own.”
Madam Latrou and Brunner had entered the room and stood by the arch looking uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, I can’t permit it,” Orion said curtly.
Anger flickered to life in the pit of my stomach, and then a calm settled over me. I smiled, but it was an empty smile. A ruthless smile.
“I think you’ve misunderstood my intention, Mr. Winterlock. I didn’t come here to ask for your permission. I came as a courtesy to inform you what the fuck was going to happen. I am leaving, and Lloyd will act as Shadow Master in my absence. I intend to return with Brady Stonewall and as much intelligence on the fomorian threat as I can find. Am I clear?”
Orion’s features tightened. “You forget yourself, Miss Justice. You forget who you’re speaking to.”
“And you forget that you’re not in charge here. Brunner is. Brunner runs the Academy. I’m the fucking Shadow Master, and the cadets and their welfare are my responsibility. You, Mr. Winterlock, are simply a guest here, and my decision to leave is not a fucking council matter.”
To give him credit, the man remained cool and calm. “You’d have no mist, if not for me.”
I took a moment to compose myself. Easy, Indie. Do not lose your temper.
“And the world thanks you, but how about we come to an agreement. I won’t come into your tech company and tell you how to run things, and you don’t walk into my domain and assume to know how to run it.”
His eyes narrowed, and then a slight smirk curled his lips. “Henrich and I were friends, did you know that?”
What? Where was he going with this? “No.”
“No, I guess not many people did. But we were. When you told me he handed you the pin, I assumed he’d done it out of desperation. I was sure that, given the chance, he would have passed it to someone else, but I see now I was wrong. I see why Henrich chose you.”
Shit, was he agreeing with me?
He gave me a close-lipped smile. “What do you need for your trip?”
“Me,” Hyde said. “She’s going to need me.”
My pulse began to hammer hard in my throat. What was he doing?
Orion looked at Hyde for a long beat. What would he do? I doubted he believed Hyde’s story about the petition. He’d be stupid not to see there was a connection between us.
I needed to say something, but my mouth was suddenly dry because it was all very well to go up against Orion when it was my welfare at stake, but when it was Hyde’s life, then it was another thing. Orion couldn’t hurt me directly, but if he hurt Hyde, it would break me.
Did he know?
