Ivy nodded and smiled at Robin and Marian, gesturing for them to follow her. Robin wisely didn’t press his luck, and kept his head down as he led Marian across the room and out the large double doors that would lead them down the long hallway and out of the castle.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Etienne rounded on Kirill. He opened his mouth, but Kirill raised a hand, halting him before he could speak.
“They aren’t human, wolf. Their hearing is quite good, so perhaps you could wait until they are actually out of earshot to spew whatever venom you have waiting?”
Etienne looked like he would leap at him then, the fury vibrating his skin an almost tangible force. Adonis watched, intrigued, as he thought he could see Etienne’s wolf roll beneath his skin, the promise of a lupine form just there under the surface. It didn’t matter how many times he saw it, it was always intriguing to see another form writhing underneath his skin.
Finally Kirill nodded. “They’ve gone.”
“Did your ward tell you that?” Etienne growled.#p#分页标题#e#
Kirill met his eyes, held them without a trace of shame. “Yes.”
“I can’t believe we let them in,” Patricio muttered. Marcela raised a hand to stroke his chest, curling herself against his side. In a rare show of insight, Patricio slid behind her, rested his large hands on her shoulders, and began kneading her muscles. Given how long she’d held her spear tonight, Adonis could only imagine how sore the former mermaid was. He wondered if changing to her air form would relieve that.
Suddenly Patricio paused, looked at Kirill. “I can’t believe you were so quiet that whole time, that you didn’t intercede, try to calm things down. What happened to your precious strategy, to controlling the situation?”
Adonis chuckled then, both because he was genuinely amused and because he knew it would irritate Patricio. “You really don’t get it do you? You have no idea what was going on. Why the queen was working so hard to start a fight, poking at everyone with a stick?”
“Oh, and you do?”
Adonis smirked. “Yes. And so does Kirill. He saw it right away, and that’s why he let it go on.”
Kirill remained silent, but Adonis was sure he saw a spark of satisfaction in his eyes. Every teacher liked to see evidence that his pupil was learning.
“Well?” Etienne demanded.
“She wants to be part of this kingdom,” Adonis explained patiently. “And she wants a position of power. Dubheasa is no dummy, she’s a strategist like Kirill. And as a strategist, what would she want before she came into this kingdom?”
“I’m not playing games, demon,” Patricio snarled. He must have tightened his hands too fast, because Marcela winced. He forced his hands open, took a deep breath. “Spit it out.”
Adonis rolled his eyes. “She wanted to understand the politics. She needed to know how strong our loyalty was to one another, who gets along, who doesn’t. Who speaks up, who watches. Who leads, who follows.” He shook his head. “And she certainly got what she wanted. All our petty problems spread out for her like a scrumptious little banquet of information.”
“And you just soaked it all up, took advantage of her prodding to gather your own information,” Etienne accused Kirill. His face darkened, his eyes glowing gold. “You haven’t changed. It’s your loyalties we should be questioning.” The gold in his eyes flared brighter. “Making plans to kill all of us. You talk about us being united. What kind of united council has a member plotting against other members?”
“Etienne, my plans are only a precaution. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead,” Kirill said softly.
“I would like to see you attempt it.”
“If I attempt it, you will not see me.”
“Enough!” Irina raised her hands, glaring at Etienne and her husband in equal measure. “You are acting like children.” She looked at Etienne. “The fact of the matter is that none of us can know for certain what sort of person we’ll become. Etienne, we’ve all heard the stories of werewolves going feral, killing without conscience.”
Etienne clenched his teeth. “I would never—”
“What if Loupe were murdered? Tortured, killed in front of you—”
Etienne took a step toward her, and in a flash Kirill stood between him and Irina. No weapon was visible, but there was a clear message in the tension singing in his form that suggested it would be in Etienne’s best interest to keep his distance.
“Just the suggestion is enough to move you,” Irina said calmly. “Do you see my point?”#p#分页标题#e#