Night Fae (Dark Fae Kings #3) - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,5

powerful beings in the room, the tension was off the charts, crackling in the air. With my newly awakened magic, I could sense danger, like a tart taste on my tongue, before the usurper queen even showed up.

A rush of adrenaline pumped into my bloodstream. Soon, I’d confront and fight my worst enemy who wanted me dead more than anything.

“Lady Evelina Greene, King Rydstrom, and King Baron, welcome,” Northton greeted us, his voice flowing with power. “The Winter King and I were just getting acquainted.”

My heart fluttered at the mention of Rowan. I’d been purposefully ignoring the betrayer and keeping my expression toward him cold. If I displayed any emotion, including anger, I’d betray that he still had the power to hurt me. I wouldn’t give him the slightest satisfaction. The worst insult to him was to show him that he didn’t matter to me.

“High mage.” Both the Night King and Summer King nodded at the director with respect.

“Thank you for hosting this summit, Director Northton,” Rydstrom said.

“It’s the honor of the Silver Circle, King Rydstrom.” Northton bowed slightly.

I should say something, too. “Uh, it’s nice to meet you, Director Northton,” I offered politely.

“The pleasure is all mine, Lady Evelina,” Northton said, a relieved yet melancholy look flitting across his eyes. “You might not know it, but I valued and trusted your parents highly.”

Blood rushed to my ears at the unexpected reference to my missing parents, and then ice chunks sank into my stomach. A while back, my enemy had used an LAPD detective as a pawn with fake information about my parents to lure me into a trap. Many Fae knights had died to protect me, and my brother had been taken.

Only recently had I found out that my parents were mages. The way Northton talked about my parents, it was as if he’d known them his whole life. So, they must have been members of the Silver Circle, then. Did Northton know that I was the lost princess, the true queen of the Dawn Court?

As far as I knew, only the Fae kings and their tight inner circles knew exactly who I was.

A burning need to ask the Director of the Silver Circle about my parents shot across my head, dazing me a bit, but I stood firm. I knew where my focus should be and what my kings and I needed to achieve today. I wouldn’t allow anyone—not the treacherous Winter King, and not the powerful leader of the mages who claimed to have a tight tie to my parents—to sway or distract me.

“Thank you, Director Northton,” I said, a cool mask in place even though I was shaking inside. “My parents never mentioned any of their associates. I didn’t know they were mages.”

“For a good reason,” Northton said softly and sympathetically. “But things are different now. Everything has changed.”

“We’ll talk about it later, Jett,” Rydstrom cut in, a cautious light flickering in his midnight eyes.

So, they were friends, as they were on a first-name basis.

“What are you looking at, Rowan?” Baron suddenly growled beside me, startling me out of my thoughts. “What are you doing here?” The Summer King always had an explosive temper, and he never bothered to reel it back, no matter the occasion. He was a king after all.

The Winter King was still staring at me like I was a delicious cake he could never have again.

The pounding in my ears had quieted, but now it pinged in my brain again.

“It’s King Rowan to you,” the Winter King seethed. “Forget your manners again, Summer King?”

Baron looked like he wanted to punch his half-brother’s teeth out, and I might not stop him.

“We didn’t invite you,” Baron snarled some more. These two kings could turn snarling and growling into an art. Rydstrom, however, didn’t snarl much. He just went for the kill as soon as he issued a threat, which marked him an impatient man as well. “We didn’t ask your pompous ass here. This matter is between Summer, Night, and Dawn courts. It doesn’t concern you, and you should stay out of it!”

I heard gasps in the room. Baron’s voice had carried, as he was never the discreet type, but I was totally supportive of Baron and his rudeness this time. Who gave a crap about being politically correct when it was all fakery and cowardice?

I’d wanted to go for my ex-lover’s jugular as well and crush him way worse than he’d crushed me, but today, we weren’t here for him. We’d stay on