Grave Destiny (Alex Craft, #6) - Kalayna Price Page 0,13

light court.

“Do you think Ryese . . . ?” I started, looking at Falin.

He shook his head. “The son of the Queen of Light is banished from these lands. We would know if he entered our territory.”

Well, there went that idea. Ryese, who was not only the Light Queen’s son, but also the Winter Queen’s nephew, had made his play to try to overthrow his aunt recently. He’d very nearly succeeded. All of his known associates were dead or banished, but he might still have sympathizers inside the winter court. As long-lived as fae were, they had a lot of time to create histories, friendships, and feuds.

I clasped my hands, steepling my fingers as I thought. Something occurred to me and I turned to Falin. “How did you find out Dugan entered winter’s territory?”

“A call came in to FIB headquarters that the prince was seen passing through the Bloom.”

Surprise followed by suspicion crossed Dugan’s face. “That is not possible. I have gone nowhere near the Eternal Bloom nor the door to the winter court.”

“Then how did you get here?” Falin asked, and it was his turn to sound suspicious.

Dugan’s gaze flickered toward me, the glance quick, but I doubted Falin missed it. “Through more neutral territory.”

So somewhere I’d merged the planes in the past. Sadly, there were several spots in Nekros that described at this point. The largest was in my father’s mansion, but considering the fact that Dugan said he hadn’t spoken to my father recently, I was guessing he’d found another spot.

“The Bloom is in the center of the Magic Quarter, only a few blocks from here. Perhaps someone saw you and assumed . . .” I trailed off as he shook his head.

“I am the Prince of Shadows and Secrets. No one saw me come here.” He seemed genuinely insulted that I’d suggested it. Then his intense gaze fixed on Falin. “If your informant said I was at the Eternal Bloom, how did you find me here so quickly?”

Falin scowled at him, but I knew the answer. When Falin had burst through my door, he hadn’t expected to find Dugan.

“He came to secure me,” I said, because it seemed obvious enough. Either as a friend or because I was an asset of the Winter Queen, getting me somewhere safe when a perceived threat from Faerie had crossed into the territory had been one of Falin’s priorities. After all, he didn’t know I’d had contact with the shadow court—and Dugan in particular—several times in the last few months, but he did know that the king had made a play to secure me as a planeweaver for his court once before in an act that was near equal parts rescue and kidnapping.

“So, we have two bodies in the winter court, who appear to have killed each other, but you”—I nodded to Dugan—“say the shadow fae had no orders to be there, and to your knowledge, no reason to want to kill a noble in winter. Your court heard whispers about the death before the bodies were even found, but with limited details as if the news were designed to inspire a knee-jerk reaction. And someone reported Dugan’s entrance into Nekros to you”—this time I nodded at Falin—“except the information passed on to you was clearly false. It was effective in getting you here, though. Did your agent get the identity of the informant?”

Falin ran a thumb along his jaw before shaking his head. “I’ll have to check what information was logged, but I don’t think so. If you were never near the Bloom, then that would make the message relayed to me a blatant lie.”

Which meant the caller had to be human. Fae couldn’t lie—bend the truth until the listener was convinced up was down, sure. But they couldn’t outright lie.

“A changeling, maybe?” I asked, and Falin looked thoughtful. “Whoever it was, the lie certainly adds some weight to the fact that there might be more going on here than what it appears.”

Both men gave grim nods. Of course the queen wasn’t known for her patience or levelheadedness—granted, all of my interactions with her had been while she’d been being slowly poisoned into madness. I was told she was saner now, but I could easily imagine her declaring war or demanding recompense for her lost noble based solely on the appearance of the scene. Which meant Falin needed to get to Faerie soon and lead the real investigation, and it sounded like I was going with him, at least