Four Dead Queens(61)

Varin squatted beside me. “You did what you had to. You saved us.”

“Yes, with no help from you.”

He surprised me by letting out a low, chest-rumbling laugh. “I’m not the quickest in a tight spot.” His expression was soft. For the first time, he didn’t appear to be judging me, and this was the one moment when I would’ve forgiven him for doing so. And he wasn’t looking at me like I was broken. A porcelain doll. He looked at me as though I was strong.

“Truer words have never been spoken,” I said with a small smile.

“Do you really want to quit now?” His dark brows were low over his eyes.

“We lost our evidence,” I said, referring to the rerecorded comm chips. “And we still don’t know how Mackiel is involved.”

“We have enough information. I can go to the palace alone, if you want?” He was testing me. Did I want to help the queens or not? Did I want to do the right thing? Was I more than a thief?

Who do you want to be?

“I’m in this deeper than ever. But Mackiel will still want his cut.” I ran a finger along my throat. “Unless you want out?”

Varin could disappear into Eonia; Mackiel and his henchmen wouldn’t find him there. “I told you, I’m going to see this through.” He raked his hand through his dark hair. “You’re not the only one who needs something.”

“HIDRA,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

He nodded, something behind his expression—hope?

Too bad we wanted the same thing. I could leave him here and venture to the palace for HIDRA on my own, but he could easily turn me in to the palace authorities. After all, who would the palace guards trust? A thief or an Eonist messenger?

I needed Varin on my side. Until I got what I wanted. I’d worry about betraying him later.

“We’re in this together,” he said. “But no more lying. No more tricks.”

I held my hand out for him to shake.

“Together,” I said as our palms made contact. “Promise.”

He should’ve known better than to trust a thief.

There was only one place left to go. And it was as though we’d been drawn there from the start, for this was where it had all begun. My steps turned more determined as we walked back up the stairs to the House of Concord and through to the palace.

“We need a plan,” he said.

“We are the plan.” I grinned. “No one will suspect a silly little Torian girl and a young, na?ve Eonist.” I nodded at him. “We’ve got this. You and me. We go to the palace authorities and tell them we have information to trade on the queens’ murders. We tell them all about Mackiel and the comm chips.”

“How do you plan on breaking into the palace?” he asked, staring up at the golden dome. “There are Eonist guards defending the entrance and many more inside.”

I shot him an annoyed look. “We’re not breaking in.”

His brow furrowed. “We’re not?”

“You think that little of me?” I looped my arm through his, feeling his muscles tense on contact, but he didn’t pull away. “Silly Varin. We’re invited. Everyone is.”

His eyebrows raised. “We’re going to attend court?”

“We’re going to attend court,” I confirmed. “And we better look our finest.”

He shook his head with a disappointed sigh. “So no to breaking into the palace, but yes to stealing more clothes?”

I snapped my fingers at him. “Now you’re starting to get it.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE





Corra


   Queen of Eonia



Rule eleven: The power of the queen can only be passed on to her daughter in the event of the queen’s death or her abdication.


Corra returned to her rooms after meeting with the inspector. She couldn’t believe Stessa was now also gone. She needed to reset. She’d allowed her emotions to take control and realized it a moment too late. There had only been one other occasion when Corra’s emotions had bested her—the day of her mother’s passing.

Corra hadn’t expected to be queen until she was fifty-five, as her mother’s death date was set to ninety years old, giving Corra plenty of time to perfect her hold on her emotions. By then she thought she might not even feel them. A true Eonist, ready to take the throne.

But her mother had begun rejecting her monthly medical treatments for her weak heart. In one of their few meetings, her mother had told Corra that she’d wanted to pass on to the next world so Corra could step into the light.

Corra had tried reasoning with her mother, but her mother wouldn’t hear of it. A year later, her mother was sent to the palace infirmary to take her final breaths.

With her mother’s death imminent, Corra had stole out of the palace for the first time in her life. It was important the Eonist advisor found her within Eonia—to ensure her upbringing inside the palace was kept a secret. During the few days Corra had spent in Eonia, she knew her mother had done the right thing. She had felt an affinity for the quadrant she’d only ever heard about, and she could not imagine feeling closer to Eonia had she grown up there.

When the Eonist advisor had arrived at the apartment her mother had given as Corra’s address, she’d been ready to return to the only home she’d ever known.