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Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Everest hoped Cadel had learned Morse code at some point. If not, they weren't going to be able to communicate. He tapped out his message and waited for Cadel to respond. Just when he thought it was a lost cause, Cadel replied OK.

The shifter is bound to the witch.

It was easy to tell since he knew what he was looking for, and while it made the siren's magic more powerful, it also made him weak. Witches thought they were safe if they had bound shifters and that they were in control; however, any time a bond was made between a witch and a shifter, be it fated mates or other, the tie between the magics could be exploited. Wounding or killing the shifter would impact the siren. Not that Everest was in a rush to kill anyone.

Cadel tapped out another OK.

Everest hoped Cadel could respond with more than those two letters.

Why does that matter? Cadel continued.

The knot of doubt in Everest's chest eased .

Because we can use one to harm the other if needed. For the moment, we comply. He paused. Do not resist the siren's magic.

I know.

Resisting and making the siren fight for every ounce of control was one way to weaken him and his bound shifter. Though his next step depended on the magics the remaining Shadow Board witches held, as well as their loyalty to the Board. And he wasn't going to take any step until he knew where Olier was.

Even though he didn't need to touch Cadel, Everest didn't remove his finger. The lion's touch was reassuring. Solid and stable. Grounding.

Are you okay? Cadel was much slower at tapping his message, but Everest didn't mind, as it was an excuse for them to keep touching.

Yes. In part because Cadel's touch made him focus on the present instead of drifting into the past to see solutions. He didn't need a solution at the moment. What he needed was to be in Shadow Board Central and get eyes on his brother.

And if they weren't being taken to where Olier was being held?

He'd deal with that when he came to it. But everything he'd learned from the past and from his work with the Coven told him that Olier was there and that the Shadow Board was desperate to avoid prison or having their magic stripped. Their only option was to negotiate with Mont de Leucoy, and since Everest wasn't the man they needed to talk with, he was someone they could use.

While returning a lost phoenix was a good bargaining chip, returning the prince was a better one. They pulled into an underground car park, and the vehicle stopped.

Cadel's hand tensed .

Be calm. Everest tapped, though he was anything but calm on the inside.

He'd worked too bloody long and too bloody hard to reach this point. He was excited to complete the job, heal the wound, and be free of the pain and the blame. He'd been there, and he should have stopped it—even though Olier had told him to hide and return home. Did Olier have a soul bruise from that night?

What other bruises had he collected while with the Shadow Board?

The car door opened, and a rush of doubts hit him. If he was wrong, Cadel and he died. At least Cadel only died once because when he was reborn, he'd be somewhere else and someone else. Not for the first time, Everest envied other shifters—they didn't have to face the problem of being captured and killed many times over.

"Get out of the car, nice and slow bodyguard." Cadel moved his hand, and Everest missed the loss of his touch.

He kept his breathing slow and even, listening to every sound. The more he focused on his other senses, the less likely he was to slip into the past. The last thing he needed was for the Shadow Board to see that happen and use it against him.

There was a click of metal, and Cadel grunted.

Handcuffs.

Would they be the magic-dampening kind? Had someone stolen them from the Coven to examine and make more of them? Everest resisted the temptation to open his eyes and find out what the hell was going on.

Someone grabbed his arm, and it took everything he had not to fight off the touch.

"Out you get, Prince," the siren said.

"That might be easier with my eyes open," he really should have resisted the quip. And while, at times, being royal annoyed him, the power it brought was a bonus in most situations…though not this one.

The witch laughed. "Keep your eyes closed until we are inside. Both of you."

He put an extra push into the words wanting to make sure the magic hooked into Everest, and that he obeyed. The magic dragged over Everest's skin but didn't stick. It wasn't only because he thought about obeying without trying to fight, though that helped; it was the way he had built wards into himself following the Hastings incident, a psychometric witch who'd learned far too much about him from touching his liquor glass. Learning how to do that had involved much digging and effort and wasn't something he was keen to repeat.

Nor did he want the Shadow Board to examine him too closely in case they realized he was not quite as he appeared. It was best that they thought him the feckless fool who sought power by aligning with them.

"I thought we were allies." Everest pouted as he stood by the car. If they cuffed him, it was a sign that things were headed in the wrong direction.

"We are. I just need your father to believe we aren't." The witch moved closer. "Don't want him to suspect you were the one behind the assassinations, do we? Or he may not want you back."

He'd only had a direct hand in one assassination.

And Everest trusted Gerrit's people and Malcolm to deal with it. He had absolute faith in his brothers. Sure, the argument might be made that he should've told them his plan, but there were so many moving pieces, and things changed so fast that updating them to every twitch and change would've taken too much time. And effort.

Both of which he was running out of.

He deliberately bumped into Cadel and then remained leaning against him. "I don't appreciate being bespelled."

"I'm sure you don't, but it's necessary," the witch said.

Everest doubted that. "And it was necessary to handcuff my bodyguard, whose only job is to look after me, thus rendering him useless? That is hardly the act of an ally."

"Wouldn't want him doing something stupid that might endanger you," the witch said as though it were obvious.

"He acts on my orders," Everest said dryly. He wasn't going to be given any wiggle room from the witch or his bound shifter. Everest sensed his presence lurking on the other side of Cadel.

Cadel's muscles were tight, waiting for Everest's order. Between the two of them, they could take on the witch and shifter, but that wouldn't give him what he needed.

"He acts on mine at the moment," the witch sneered. "Let's go."

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