Page 83 of Heartless Enemy

She skidded to a halt in front of me, her brown hair flying around her face at the sudden stop. I almost snapped,what is it?But it wasn’t her fault that I was tired and annoyed, so I bit my tongue while she sucked in a deep breath.

“Christian White has been spotted,” she gasped out between breaths. “His army is one day out.”

I released a long exhale.

So that was why the white boots had retreated.

“Alright,” I said to Anna. “Pull everyone back to the Court.”

She bobbed her head and then took off again.

Eve, Shinji, and I exchanged a glance.

“Well, I guess the real war is finally about to start,” Eve commented.

Shinji’s dark eyes searched my face. “What do we do now, sir?”

Cold fall winds whirled down the street, ripping at my clothes and hair as I turned to gaze towards the north side. A wicked smile slid across my mouth.

“Now, we wait for them to raise the white flag.”

Chapter32

Hushed silence spread through the tent like a plague as we strode inside. The white tent flaps fluttered behind us, falling shut, as we moved farther into the surprisingly well-furnished space.

The tent had been set up right in the middle of the Bridge of Life, and pale wooden chairs were positioned on both sides, facing each other across the empty stretch in the center. There were three rows, with ten chairs in each row, on both sides of the tent. Our side was naturally empty. The north’s side was not.

I scanned the faces of the people seated there. The entire Parliament of Malgrave was in attendance. All twenty-five men and women who made up the democratically elected parliament were sitting straight-backed in the chairs and watching us with a mixture of anger and panic.

The white flag had been raised within the hour, along with a request for a meeting to discuss a truce. I could tell from the looks on their faces that the parliament wasn’t at all happy with this turn of events, but they were also terrified of what would happen if White attacked the city.

My gaze glided over the constables standing behind the rows of chairs. Frank and Jamila were there, standing by the pale tent wall.

Ulric was not.

Because Ulric Smith was sitting in a chair on the front row, wearing a white leather uniform with straps that marked him as the new Chief Constable of Malgrave.

I locked eyes with him. “So, Chief Anderson died and you became the new chief. How… convenient.”

Ulric’s eyes flooded with pain, presumably at seeing me in the company of Levi Arden. But he didn’t reply to my comment. Someone else did, though.

Anger flashed in the green eyes of a parliament member on the front row as he snapped, “Silence, you traitorous—”

“Careful how you finish that sentence,” Levi cut off, sliding his ruthless stare to the man who had spoken. “I’ve just had my boots cleaned, and I would hate for them to be covered in blood again so soon.”

Several people flicked their gazes down to Levi’s boots. I almost laughed.

Levi just kept that cold, nonchalant expression on his face as he sauntered up to the chair in the middle of our front row and dropped into it. Tyler and I took the seats on his right and left, with Shinji and Chris claiming the ones on our other side. The other twenty-five chairs remained empty.

From across the gap that had been left in the middle of the tent, the parliament members and the constables all watched us with various expressions blowing across their features. In total, there had to be something like fifty of them. And five of us. Some of the northsiders looked like they thought we were mad for showing up with so few people. But just like Levi had said when he issued the order, it was a statement.We are not afraid of you.

An unexpected burst of heat seared through my stomach as I stole a glance at Levi while adjusting my weight on the chair.

Levi was sitting on that plain wooden chair in the same way he sat on his throne. Leaned back, arms draped over the armrests, and legs spread wide. Effortless. Arrogant. And exuding power. Everything about him screamed ruthless dominance and unquestionable authority.

“So, you’ve raised the white flag of surrender.” Levi flicked his gaze up and down in a very degrading once-over, and then flashed a cruel smile. “I’m listening.”

“It wasnota flag of surrender!” the brown-haired woman in the middle spluttered, looking very indignant. “It was a temporary truce so that we could have this meeting and discuss much more important matters.”