His mustache bristled. “Do you have a weapon on you, girl?”
There was a soft zing, and she pulled two daggers out of nowhere. “Mind your business, human.”
The man got up abruptly, one hand on his hip. “Air Marshal,” he said gruffly. “Put your hands where I can see them.”
Chapter
Twenty
We rode the elevator up to Violet House in silence. After a minute, I broke it. “Cress will be fine, Donovan.”
He growled. “I am not concerned for her welfare.”
Cress had gotten herself pepper sprayed, then tasered, handcuffed and strapped to a board, and hauled off the plane in a Hannibal Lecter mask as soon as we landed.
I felt terrible. I’d tried to stop her, tried to reason with her, and begged her to hand her daggers to the air marshal, but there was no getting through to her.
Especially since while she was grappling with the air marshal—who turned out to be an ex-navy wolf shifter who took his job far too seriously—I hadn’t done anything physically to stop it. Truth be told, both the wolf shifter and Cress were itching for a fight, and there was probably nothing I could do. We didn’t have any time to waste, so we let the police haul her away.
On Donovan’s orders, Eryk and Nate melted into the shadows as soon as we got to the arrivals lounge to find a centaur as quick as possible.
I felt like we were back at square one. It was so depressing.
Bart patted my hunched shoulder. “I’ll go home and call around. I don’t have any centaur friends, but Mom and Dad definitely know some; they run in the same circles.” The elevator stopped at his floor and opened. “I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve found something.”
“Thanks, Bart.” Calling his parents wouldn’t be easy for him. They were assholes who had disowned him when he was forced out of the closet. “I know how hard it is for you to speak to them.”
“It’s the least I can do.” He met my gaze. “We’ll find her, Sue.”
I nodded. The elevator doors closed, and we rose again.
Someone’s phone pinged. Cecil, back to his mini-duocorn form, pulled a phone out of his mane, checked it, and tottered on his back hooves, yawning widely. “Your human agents have contacted your lawyer for Cress. They are doing something called ‘bailing her out’ right now, Your Highness.”
“Whatever sinking ship she is in, they can leave her there for all I care.” Donovan let out a rough sigh. “She was brimming with frustration before, and she will be absolutely insufferable when she rejoins us. No doubt she didn’t realize the marshal was a wolf shifter. She thinks she was bested by a human.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I should send her home,” he muttered into his hand. “She is a liability to us.”
“You can’t,” Cecil said. “You promised the Queen that you would bring her along.”
Donovan shot me a quick look that I couldn’t decipher. “If anyone can spur me into shunning my duty, it will be Cress. Maybe it is time for me to start defying my mother’s orders.” The elevator dinged, he shoved the gate open, and we walked into my House.
Violet could barely contain herself. The whole floor shook, and the walls squeezed in and out, like she was trying to hug us all very gently. I wobbled on my feet and patted the gilt door frame. “I missed you too, Violet. It’s good to be home. Uh, do you think you could stop moving?”
Violet trembled one more time, then settled down as we walked through the drawing room to my beautiful kitchen. She couldn’t help herself, though. In her enthusiastic desire to serve, the oak floorboards turned into a moving walkway, ferrying us into the kitchen. I didn’t say anything. It was helpful, and I was too tired to keep walking.
Cecil clomped towards the coffee machine and began to grind some beans. “Yes please, Cecil,” I said gratefully. “I’m exhausted.”
“This wasn’t for you,” he said. He rubbed his face with his hoof. “It’s for me. For some reason, I’m absolutely wrecked.”
“Well, get me one, too, please.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Donovan sat opposite me, elbows resting lightly on the table. His hand twitched towards mine. “We will find a centaur quickly, Chosen. They are easier to locate than the berserkers. We will find Audrina.”
My own hands moved involuntarily, reaching for him; I forced them to stay still. “We might have to face your brother when we do,” I said quietly.
“I am ready.”
The door slammed, and Nate and Eryk strode in. “That was quick,” I said, scrambling to my feet. “You found a centaur?”
Eryk shook his head, tossing his blond hair back off his face. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. We haven’t found a centaur or located a portal to their realm yet. We found something else, and we thought we should come and tell you right away.”
“What is it?”
Eryk hesitated. “Remember that church near Irving Street, where we found the little portal for the seduire realm?”
Donovan nodded, his expression grim.
“We found the dried husk of a seduire just outside of it. It had been completely drained. Its heart was missing.”
Donovan cursed, low and long. “That is why he was not in Madison.”
“I don’t understand.” A headache was starting to settle in with the amount of times I whipped my head back and forth between them. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“The prince’s brother has pursued another spark stone in the Lower World,” Eryk told me. “All the evidence suggests he has entered the seduire realm. He may have devoured their stone already.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “What kind of creatures are the seduire?”
Donovan answered me. “They are magically weak and a benign species, both physically and mentally, but they impersonate humans easily.” He met my eye. “They feed on sexual desire. There is plenty of that to be had here in the mortal realm, so they come here often to feed. They do not do any damage to humans, besides inciting them to infidelity. I believe in modern times you would call them a succubus.”
