Page 78 of Kiss of Embers
Zara stared. And now, color rose in her cheeks. “You worked with Brader? You went behind my back?” She gasped. “Did you know he hired Galen of House Baudelaire to sabotage me in the challenges?”
Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd. Galen shoved his way to the front and stared at Drute with cold eyes.
“I never worked with this gargoyle,” he said. “Only Ashcroft. My people do business with one customer at a time.”
“Dirty business,” someone muttered.
The witch turned and glared at the crowd. “The houses offer spells to those who can pay. If you don’t like it, learn how to do witchcraft.”
Drute spoke, his stricken gaze on Zara. “The witch speaks the truth. Brader came to me just before you and I left for the Games. He and I agreed he would follow and try to persuade you to leave the competition. When that failed, he had the idea to purchase a spell to knock you out of the challenges. Brader handled the transaction. He promised you wouldn’t be harmed.”
Anger flared hot in my chest. My fingers itched to wrench the gargoyle’s head from his shoulders. But I held my tongue as Zara stood over him with clenched fists.
“You betrayed me,” she said, her voice vibrating with rage. “You were my father’s advisor! You served him for centuries! You were supposed to serveme.”
The gargoyle shook his head. Tears trickled from his eyes and rolled down his angular cheeks. “I serve the pack. And the pack needed you alive. I was so worried…” He closed his eyes on a long blink. “Brader has always championed you before the Council. I thought if you could join with the Ashcroft Pack, it would give you the resources and time you needed to figure out what was causing the moon sickness. But then…”
“Then what?” Zara demanded.
Drute looked at Ashcroft, and anger sharpened his tone. “Brader came to me yesterday, after you disappeared with the dragons. He was unhinged, ranting about the witch’s spell going haywire. He accused me of hiding you.”
Ashcroft rolled to his side. Bloody spittle flecked his lips as he glared at Drute. “Youdidhide her. You went back on our deal.”
“There was no deal,” the gargoyle spat. “I turned a blind eye to the witchcraft because I believed it was in the best interest of the Rockford Pack. But I would have never done that if I knewyouwere responsible for the moon sickness.”
Zara sucked in a breath. Shock rolled from her as she looked from Drute to Ashcroft. “Brader?”
Ashcroft moaned as he sat up. His jaw hung at an odd angle, and pleasure warmed me as I realized Finn must have broken it.
“It was my father’s doing,” Ashcroft whined. “He arranged it with one of the houses.”
Everyone looked at Galen. The witch raised his hands. “I don’t doubt it, but I have no idea what this asshole is talking about.”
Zara stared at him. “Could a witch create a curse that powerful?”
Galen nodded. “For the right amount of money? Sure. Mullo Balfour almost eradicated the dragons with his blood curse.”
Zara turned her attention to Ashcroft. “You paid to kill my people.” Her nostrils flared. “You killed my parents.”
Ashcroft sniffed. “My father did it. I inherited his mess.”
“And you said nothing.”
Ashcroft gave her a sullen look. “If you would have married me like I asked, we could have figured it out together.”
A low sound moved through the crowd. Somewhere, someone murmured, “Oh, fuck.”
The fine hairs on my body lifted as Zara stared Ashcroft down. Her eyes lightened to amber, and the air around her crackled with power.
“Finn,” she said quietly, “can I borrow a knife?”
Finn stepped beside her. “I can do one better, Alpha,” he said, drawing a broadsword from out of nowhere. He handed it to her, then stepped back.
She advanced on Ashcroft, who cowered away, then scrambled backward on his ass.
“Stop,” Zara said, the command echoing around the clearing. Ashcroft froze, his chest heaving. More blood spilled down his chin.
“You can’t kill me,” he rasped.