Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,75
to be checked.”
“That’s not going to get us any closer to finding Max, though.”
“It depends entirely on what the way stations are used for. I doubt they were devised solely as a means to teach the twins the dark arts. It’s also doubtful they’d go to such lengths to provide a safe resting place for weary demons.”
“Not given how little their commanders value lives,” I muttered. “I still think Winter is our best bet. We do have the body of one his clones—”
“We do?” Mo cut in sharply.
“I didn’t mention it?”
“Obviously not.”
“Ah, well, I buried the bastard in a wave of earth and stone over on King Island.”
“Clever girl.”
“It wasn’t so much clever as desperate.” My voice was dry. “It’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re staring the possibility of death in the eye.”
“As motivators go, there’s certainly little better.” She pursed her lips. “I’ll ring Jackie and see if they’re able to question Riona tonight. We’ll fly back to the island in the morning and use that bastard’s DNA to spell find the rest of them.”
I frowned. “Why not go now? The sooner we find him, the sooner we can drag Max out of hiding.”
She lifted an eyebrow, her amusement evident. “Have you already forgotten you barely escaped a hellhole?”
“Hardly, but that doesn’t alter—”
“They’ll have all their forces out tonight looking for you. Not only is it safer if we lie low until dawn, it has the bonus of giving you time to fully recover.”
“But—” I stopped and waved a hand in frustration. “I need to be doing something.”
Because I didn’t want to think. Not about my brother, and not about the task that lay ahead of me. I might have accepted the need to kill him, but I had no doubt the decision would haunt my dreams. Not just now, but long into the future.
And the saddest thing of all was the fact that—had the situation been reversed—he would have killed me without a second thought and continued to sleep very soundly at night. He’d proven that on the bridge.
Mo leaned forward and wrapped a hand around mine, squeezing lightly. “I understand. Trust me, I do. But you can’t risk running yourself into the ground. It’s going to take all your strength and cunning to end your brother’s madness.”
“That sounds like you think I’m the only one who can deal with him.”
“I do.”
“But why? Because we’re twins?”
“In part, but mostly because we’re at the end of a very long game. Remember what Vivienne said—that destiny and blood has converged in this current timeline.”
“Which doesn’t explain anything at all when it comes to Max.”
“Old gods and goddesses find nothing more enjoyable than a good old battle between light and dark—between good and evil. And if that battle is between fraternal twins on opposites sides? Practically orgasmic.”
“I’m seriously beginning to hate the old gods and goddesses,” I muttered. “The world would have been much better off—”
“No,” she cut in softly. “It wouldn’t. Trust me on that.”
Given her age and familiarity with the gods, I had no choice but to believe her. It still didn’t make me like them any more.
I glanced around at the soft echo of footsteps. Luc’s gaze met mine, his expression grim and unhappy. “We had a traitor in our midst. The royal family came under attack.”
My heart clenched. “From another Blackbird?”
“Yes, but luckily for us all, Owain realized something was off and used the council’s ultraviolet light on Daniel. The reaction was immediate and almost deadly.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Owain’s currently in emergency being patched up, and Daniel is now under the care of the council specialist team.”
“I take it the royal family is now being moved?”
“No, because this whole attack might be nothing more than a setup—a means of getting the royal family out of a location that hasn’t been breached for hundreds of years.”
“There will be more infections within the palace ranks,” Mo said.
“Yes, which is why no one but the core team will be allowed to enter the secure apartments. There’ll be no shift rotations or relief until this is over.” He hesitated. “All other Blackbirds have been ordered back to London to deal with the invasion—including me.”
My heart just about leapt into my throat and, for several seconds, I couldn’t breathe. “And are you going?”
His gaze came to mine. “No. My duty is here. You are the Witch King’s heir, and it’s our goddess-given duty to protect you at all costs. That doesn’t alter just because the king is now a queen, and one