down the sidewalk toward the other houses in the neighborhood.
I glanced at her and saw her jaw set with determination, and sharp excitement in her eyes. When we were several hundred feet from the castle, she said, “I did it.”
“Did what?” I asked.
“I created options,” she said. “It was always possible that Etri was holding Thomas because he wanted a ransom, but that apparently is not the case. He wants blood. I wasn’t able to convince Etri to drop the charges against Thomas. But between Cristos and me, we convinced him that holding him prisoner in his own demesne made it appear as though vengeance was more important to him than justice.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “How does that change anything?”
“Baron Marcone, as host of this gathering, offered to hold my brother prisoner until the matter had been settled through an Accorded emissary.” Her eyes flashed. “My brother is being transferred to the castle.”
“Still don’t see how that changes anything,” I said.
“Negotiations begin in earnest tomorrow night,” she said. “Here. Not in svartalf territory.”
I took a slow breath. “Oh no. Tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
“My brother will be here, in a building I know, and everyone will be preoccupied,” she said. “And I won’t be violating svartalf borders. I can work something out with Marcone after. He’s reasonable about business.”
She stopped and turned to face me, slate grey eyes as hard as stone.
“I tried to be reasonable. Etri declined to meet me halfway. It’s time to create a better position. So, tomorrow night, while everyone is distracted, I’m taking my brother back. I’m going through anyone who gets in the way.”
Oh, Hell’s bells. I knew what came next.
So much for the diplomatic solution.
Her teeth showed very white as she saw my dawning comprehension. “And I’m calling in my second favor. You, Sir Knight, are going to help me.”
22
Is she insane?” Karrin demanded.
I threw up my hands halfheartedly.
Her blue eyes stared hard at me for a moment before she said, in a calm, practical voice, “Oh God. You want to do it.”
“I don’t want to do it,” I said. “But he’s my brother.”
She lifted her good hand and pressed her fist against her nose. “God, Harry, there are times when I could just choke you.”
“Yeah,” I said tiredly. “Me, too.”
Her grandmother’s clock ticked steadily on the mantel over the little steel-lined gas fireplace, which must have been one of the fanciest things in the neighborhood when the house was first built. Karrin had been cleaning that day, which was a bad sign. It was one of her go-to reactions for stress. If she started cleaning the guns, I would know it was really bad.
“Things are already tense enough,” she said. “If this disrupts the peace talks, there are going to be consequences.”
“I know.”
“My read is that this whole conference is Marcone’s baby.”
I grunted agreement. “He’s actually doing what Cristos only thinks he is,” I said. “Building alliances.”
“And if you screw up Marcone’s plan?” Karrin asked bluntly.
“His reputation takes a hit,” I said.
“And he will respond to that.”
“Marcone is acutely aware of the concept of payback,” I agreed.
Karrin glowered. “I don’t know all of the beings you deal with very well, Harry. But I know Marcone. And he scares me.”
I stared at her for a moment.
I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anyone else on the planet Karrin would say those words to.
She returned my gaze for a moment, and I had to look away. She knew what she’d just shown me. She’d decided to do it.
“Hey,” I said, and went over to sit next to her on the couch. I put an arm around her. She fit very neatly into the space against my side. She pressed her cheek against my chest for a moment.
“What happens if you tell Lara no?” she asked.
“ It … hurts,” I said.
“You’ve done pain before,” she said. “What will they do to you?”
“Mab is also all about payback,” I said. “She’d act.” I frowned and said, “Hell. If I get caught helping Lara disrupt the Accords, as her own damned enforcer, she’ll have to act, too. Quickly. And publicly.”
“Couldn’t the White Council tell her to back off?”
I thought about that for a second and then said, “Maybe they could. Question is if they would. Pretty sure the answer is no.”
“Useless,” she muttered.
“I’m not exactly their poster child,” I said. “It’s likely they’d wrap me up in a bow for Mab to keep from crossing her.”