2. Got a Secret

Chapter 2

Got a Secret

LORI

W olves that march in with their teeth bared are dangerous. Snakes that lure you in are worse. Seth Devine is definitely a serpent. He's a particular beast, even for a Fae. He possesses both the charisma and mystique of a dark Fae coupled with the raw, blinding beauty of spring.

His mother is Freya Heart, the ruthless Spring Queen. The woman responsible for archers and love arrows… And my brother's doom.

I raise a blade to the fucker's nose despite the pain in my side. "I warn you. You're not my type."

"Oh, Lori. I'm everyone's type. That's the beauty of being me." He bats his eyelashes a few times, and the dangerous grin from before vanishes into a warm, boy-next-door type of smile. "You don't have to pretend otherwise. Where are you from, anyway?"

I blink and keep a straight-face, unmoved by his gigantic ego. "You of all people should understand what a trick question that is."

"Who are your parents, then? Maybe I know one of them."

Names and magic go hand-in-hand. I certainly won't help this Fae get more information on me by revealing my heritage. "I doubt it. My parents are dead."

"Ooh, mysterious."

"You're the prince of nowhere at all." I show my teeth. "Well… I'm Lori of everywhere at once."

The mention of his illegitimacy doesn't ruffle him one bit, and he slithers closer. "Since we met, I've done my homework, and I've got a proposition for you, Lorisha Pari Singh."

My smile falters. How in the seven hells?

"I heard your brother was wasting away in my mother's court…" he trails off like we're talking about something as mundane as the next storm he plans to brew.

My pulse drums at my temples, and I flee toward the mirror. "You bastard! I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm not listening to another word?—"

"Too bad. Ayaan told me you'd hear me out."

I freeze, my heart about to explode. "You talked to him?"

"I might be called the prince of nowhere at all, but I'm still a prince. Crown or no crown, I could help you clear his name. Or at least save him from the noose."

I slip inside a shadow and dash over to Seth, the edge of my dagger soon grazing the soft skin under his jaw. "Noose? What are you talking about?"

He glances down at the weapon and extends his neck to taunt me, almost daring me to slice his throat. The motion causes the tip of the blade to pierce his dark brown skin, and I let the dagger fall to my side.

Seth rubs the blood from his neck and licks it off his thumb. "Your little brother has been marked for execution as part of the winter solstice celebrations."

My stomach lurches, my palms clammy and numb. "That's not— Why?" I squeak. "Selling arrows on the black market hardly justifies a public execution."

A contemptuous scoff quakes him. "Selling arrows on the black market? Is that what they told you? Lori, your brother associated with rebel dissidents and carved a forbidden arrow. I could get his sentence remediated…if you help me."

There's no way…

The urge to kick and scream and curse Seth and his family to the seven hells is almost impossible to quell. But even if the crown fabricated false charges, it doesn't change the facts. And the word rebel picks at painful, old memories.

"And how would I repay the favor?" I ask, stunned.

"Do you know that you're a ringer for a woman called Iris Lovatt?"

Iris Lovatt… The name sort of rings a bell, but I can't remember why. I squint at Seth, trying to see past his princely exterior and into the wicked inner workings of his brain. "You think I look like her?"

His smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "You don't just look like her . You're the spitting image of her."

Fae can't outright lie, but most of them are very good at twisting the truth and omitting important information, so I can't quite believe his claim. "Who is she?"

"My cousin by blood—my aunt Irene's only daughter."

My grandmother was a Spring Fae, but she didn't have anything to do with the royal family. "And you want me to pretend that I'm her? You need me to kill someone or steal something?—"

He cuts in. "Oh no. Iris died decades before you were born." The light in his eyes dims, and he looks me over like he's seeing his cousin in my place. "I was truly fond of her."

The obvious grief in the tremble of his voice makes me pause. Perhaps I've got this all wrong.

"She was a Spring princess?" I ask softly, stowing all my quick assumptions away.

"Yes. Irene's only child. Her father was the headmaster of Summers' Royal Academy. Have you heard of it? Almost all the royals in history have studied there."

"I've heard of it, but I still don't see what you hope to achieve. If she's dead, why does it matter?"

"Iris wasn't just any princess." He takes a dramatic pause, clearly stretching the suspense to rile me up. "She was the Winter King's first wife."

Holy fuck! I start shaking my head before Seth is even done talking. The gossip making its rounds through the Shadow Court about the Winter King's romance with his first wife makes Romeo and Juliet's fate sound like a fluffy fairytale ending.

"Why— Why would I look like her? My Fae heritage doesn't run as high as the lowest barony. My grandmother was a maid in a provincial town, for Morpheus' sake."

The platinum mask of the Winter King comes to mind, and I tremble at the thought of what might have happened if I hadn't crawled into the deepest shadow to avoid him.

"Who knows?" Seth shrugs like the reason for this resemblance isn't worth discussing. "But I suspect the Winter King is harboring a mutual friend of ours. If the woman responsible for that scar"—he grazes my bitten rib—"is hiding out in Wintermere, we catch her before she even realizes what's coming."

Jeez. Am I walking around with an "I almost died" neon sign written on my forehead? I look down at my side, but my jacket and shirt are still there, covering the mark. A dark hole at the pit of my stomach stirs to life. Revenge fills my blood, as slick and enticing as Feyfire wine.

"How would that work, exactly?" I ask, the sharpness in his voice too obvious for my taste.

His lips stretch in victory. "Every year, my mother sends in candidates for the Yule pageant. Your resemblance to Iris presents a rare opportunity for me to infiltrate Elio's court. I would present you along with the others, as nothing more than a Spring seed longing for a taste of immortality."

"You want me to enter the Yule pageant?" I paw at the front of my jacket, ready to melt into the floor.

"You wouldn't have to marry him in the end. And you'd get a generous dowry just for entering?—"

"Keep your money. I don't need it. Why do you care so much about the Winter King, or Morrigan, anyway? What's in it for you?"

Seth grits his teeth. "Never mind that. If you get past the first few rounds of elimination, I'll make sure your brother survives. And I'll do everything in my power to set him free if we manage to track Morrigan."

The word we puts me on guard. A man like Seth doesn't go around making empty promises, but there's something he's not telling me. If anything, my resemblance to the Winter King's dead wife might put him off altogether.

"What's the catch? Why capture Morrigan? Why not kill her?"

Seth isn't supposed to know about Morrigan's blood link to Cece—a spell that prevents us from killing her without condemning Lil' Bit to the same fate.

The prince runs his thumb across his lips. "That's my business, but I need her alive. As for the obvious drawbacks, Elio's been suspected of killing off a few candidates over the years. But you…you can defend yourself. A spider like you, disguised as a rose, will be able to sneak around his castle without being seen."

Other courts call all Shadow hunters spiders because of our skills, but I shiver all over. This is a bad, bad idea. "You're mad! I could never pass for a Spring seed."

Seth tilts his head to the side, his tone all soft and quiet. "Don't sell yourself short, Lori of everywhere at once." His lips quirk. "With a little help, a woman like you could bring kingdoms to ruin."

My throat bobs, the certainty in his voice loosening something inside me. All my life, I've worked so hard not to stand out. To blend in with the mortals back home and shine only by my hard work here in the Shadow Court. Sparing male egos left and right.

Never shining too bright to attract the wrong kind of attention.

"It's a win-win-win situation. You're hungry for new adventures, Lori."

I am. I truly am. The business with the spider only reminded me how close to death we are here in the Shadowlands. It's my new home, but I don't want to die for the greater good. I want to fight and laugh and love…

Damian and Nell step out of the door-shaped mirror at the other end of the gym, interrupting my inner musings. And the Shadow King looks about to wrench Seth's heart out of his chest and serve it with a side of wedding cake.