Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,101
Max will hit Ainslyn hard sometime in the next few hours.”
“It won’t matter, because they are ready for whatever the bastard throws at them.”
“That sounds like you’re not intending to be there.”
“I won’t be.” He hesitated. “I’ve been ordered back to London.”
Ice sliced through my heart. “Even after what I just did?”
“Even after.” His voice was grim. Angry. “You may wield Elysian, but the Blackbirds’ loyalty remains with the crown and the throne. Or so I’m reminded.”
I closed my eyes. This was it. This was his moment of choosing. “And are you going to obey the order this time?”
He hesitated. “I swore an oath of allegiance to the crown, Gwen. This crown, not the one that belongs to a throne and a time that no longer exists.”
The Witch King’s throne did actually exist, even if it was nothing more than a historical curiosity these days.
The Witch King’s heir also existed, even if she would never sit on any throne, official or not.
“Three Blackbirds are dead,” he continued softly. “Two more are seriously injured. I might be able to walk away from duty, but I cannot walk away from them.”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. There was nothing I could—or even should—say or do to change his mind. Vivienne had been plotting the course of our lives for a very long time now, and this decision—this choice—was his alone to make.
But it broke my heart to think that—if his words were to be believed—he was once again choosing duty over love.
“Fine.” I scrubbed a hand across my eyes. My fingers came away wet. “But please be careful. The situation here is still very precarious.”
“So Ricker has said.” He paused again, this time for longer. “What do you plan to do next?”
“Go to the rendezvous point as planned.” Despite my best effort to keep my voice even, an edge of anger ran through it. At him. At Max. At old goddesses and their stupid plans.
“Why? Even if Max has Mo, I’d put money on her never telling him the location.”
“And I would have put money on him never being able to capture her.” I tried my best to ignore the images of what he might be doing to her, even now, but the horror would not be restrained. I briefly closed my eyes and held on to the hope that she was a tough old bird who’d not only survived multiple centuries, but multiple attempts on her life. “Max will know I’ll hold to the arrangements made if I can’t contact her.”
“That old farmhouse is the perfect location for a trap.”
“Yes, it is.” Because it was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by empty fields. And arriving in daylight—as we’d planned—wouldn’t make one bit of difference to Max if he did plan a trap there. At this late stage of the game, he had plenty of human and witch help to call on.
“Look,” Luc said, voice low and urgent. Filled with desperate, frustrated anger. “There’s an abandoned barn a mile and a half up from our rendezvous point—stop there and use the earth to check what might be going down at the old farmhouse. I’ll get Barney and—”
“No,” I cut in. “Under no circumstances are you to send anyone down. I do not want to be responsible for anyone else’s death, Luc. Besides, this showdown was always destined to be just him and me.”
“Weren’t you the one who proclaimed it would never be just you and him? That Darkside would always be with him?”
“Yes, but I’m not stupid—”
“I never thought or suggested you were,” he cut in, “but Mo’s blood runs strong in you, and she’s as headstrong and determined as they come. The only difference is, you don’t have her years of sneakiness, or even the years of conniving and duplicity that Max has under his belt. That might just make the difference between winning and losing this fight.”
“Even if I lose, he can’t win. He can’t raise Elysian.”
“That’s presuming what is written on the King’s Stone is correct,” Luc said. “We can’t be sure it is, especially given the only man who truly knows has decided to remain in his den.”
“Mo believes it, so I’m not about to gainsay her.”
“I was just making a point—”
“I know, and I appreciate it, but you’re going to have enough on your plate getting to London and protecting the crown to be worrying about me.” I hesitated. “Be careful heading out of Ainslyn. It’s likely Max has people watching what’s