“They took our acolytes, because you told them to,” Fenn spat.

This was not true.

He’d done other things.

But not that.

Tedrey did not correct him.

“I go with you and let us go, and swiftly,” Tedrey urged. “They know much, Fenn. You and the others need to flee.”

He heard Nyx hiss as Fenn pulled her hair farther back, arching her neck.

“They know much because of you,” Fenn bit.

Well, that was true.

“And I am yours if you leave her be,” Tedrey replied as calmly as he could.

“And what would you do if I drew this dagger across her throat?” Fenn asked.

“I would stop at nothing until I killed you.”

Fenn laughed before he queried, “Do you think I came here alone?”

“I would die, happily, if she is gone. This life would not matter to me, if she is not in it. But I would meet my death with grace, only once you are dead too.”

Fenn bent and pressed his jaw to Nyx’s hair, a sacrilege of her person that made Tedrey bare his teeth.

“Do you love her so, this wet cunt?” Fenn’s voice was snide.

That was not that part of her he loved.

However…

“Yes,” Tedrey gritted through his teeth.

“Teddy,” Nyx whispered.

“Let her go, and I will come with you,” Tedrey pushed.

“I will have you and still kill her,” Fenn returned, making all of Tedrey’s innards seize, his hands itch, his brain hurt.

“You do not know the love she has from her husband,” Tedrey said low. “I know I have given you no reason to trust me, but you can trust that. You will not walk into pits, Fenn. What he will do to you when he finds you, you will pray to the gods for the simplicity of pitch filling your lungs.”

He saw something shift in Fenn’s eyes at this, before the man said, “If he finds me.”

Tedrey had to capitalize on that shift.

“He is King Mars’s captain, he is also Mars’s friend. Because of this, it will not be a man who seeks you. It will be an army.”

Fenn and Tedrey stared at each other for moments that felt like an eternity.

Then Fenn straightened, took the dagger from Nyx’s neck, flipped it so he held the blade, and brought it down violently at Nyx’s temple.

Tedrey swallowed a cry and fought the driving need to burst forward when she collapsed to her side.

Fenn strode over her, pulling something out of his robes.

He held Tedrey’s journal in front of him.

“On our journey, I will have some informative reading, don’t you think?” Fenn inquired.

Tedrey opened his mouth but did not have the opportunity to respond.

He felt a burst of pain in the back of his head.

And then he saw nothing but black.

109

The Tribunal

Prince Cassius

Bedchamber of the Prince Regent, Sky Citadel, Sky Bay