Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,116

no doubt that Milo wanted to murder all his enemies. But I never would have even found out about his plan if he hadn’t stolen tearstone from so many places in Andvari, especially the Blauberg mine. Surely, Milo had realized that someone there would notice the missing tearstone sooner or later, but he’d still sent Wexel to fetch it anyway. The crown prince had taken a big risk, which meant that he specifically needed tearstone, and that no other metal, ore, or gem would do.

I started to slip the arrow into my pocket when a lighter patch of floor caught my eye. I squinted. Someone had left a footprint behind in the grime that coated the flagstones.

No, not just one footprint—dozens of them.

A chill skittered down my spine, and I reached out with my magic again. This time, instead of reassuring nothingness, I sensed several people, all hurrying this way.

Leonidas whirled toward me, sensing the same thing. Then we both turned toward the back of the chamber.

Several shadows slithered away from the wall, congealing into guards clutching swords. They advanced on us, with Captain Wexel leading the charge.

It was a trap.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Wexel headed toward Leonidas. Most of the guards followed him, although a few veered in my direction, grinning and swinging their swords back and forth.

All those long, grueling hours of training and countless sparring matches with Rhea, Serilda, and Aunt Evie filled my mind. I clutched the tearstone arrow a little tighter and dropped my hand to my side, hiding my makeshift weapon from the approaching guards.

Wexel stopped and sneered at Leonidas. “I thought that I’d killed you in Blauberg, but you seem to have as many lives as your bloody strix does.” He gestured at the guards. “Well, this time, I brought enough men to finish the job.”

More than two dozen men stepped up beside the captain, still swinging their swords back and forth, like they were guillotine blades about to drop.

“You should have kept your nose out of Milo’s affairs in Blauberg, and especially his workshop here,” Wexel said. “You’re not nearly as clever and sneaky as you think you are. No one enters Milo’s workshop without him knowing about it, and you were all too eager to follow his trail of breadcrumbs right back here.”

I silently cursed. Milo must have had some magical trip wire we hadn’t sensed. Or perhaps he’d realized that someone had been in his workshop because the liladorn vines had shifted. Either way, it sounded like he had purposefully mentioned the old armory, knowing that Leonidas would come here the first chance he got.

Leonidas drew his own sword from the scabbard on his belt, then stared at the guards. “Sure you want to do this? Attacking your prince is treason. You will all hang for this.”

None of the guards flinched at his warning. They were all Wexel’s—and Milo’s—men.

“The only one who’s going to hang is you, Leo,” Wexel crowed. “After I kill you, I’m going to stuff you in one of these cages. Maybe Milo will display you in his workshop like Maximus did all those strixes he experimented on.”

Leonidas’s face hardened, and icy fury filled his eyes.

Wexel looked at me. “I don’t know who you really are or where I know you from, but you’re no Mortan lady.”

Leonidas glanced at me, and I nodded back. We didn’t have to send thoughts to each other. We both knew that fighting together was the only way we were going to survive.

Wexel sucked in a breath, probably to taunt us some more, but I cut him off.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I snapped. “And come and try to kill us, if you dare.”

He stabbed his sword at me. “She’s mine. I’m going to enjoy sawing her tongue out of her mouth.”

The guards nodded, although they kept giving me evil grins. They wouldn’t kill me, but they would take great delight in hurting me as much as possible. I tightened my grip on the arrow still hidden in my hand.

“You’re making a fatal mistake,” Leonidas warned. “I don’t have a coldiron collar clamped around my neck to dampen my magic this time.”

Wexel laughed. “I don’t care whether you have a bloody collar around your neck. This time, I’m going to gut you and make sure you’re dead.”

The captain snarled, raised his sword high, and charged forward. Leonidas growled, lifted his own blade, and stepped up to meet him.

The guards in front of me grinned again and advanced. They probably thought they were being intimidating, or