Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
He passed her the note. It was from Kingston.
Made it to this side of the Atlantic.
Brought Andrew with me and he wanted to see the sights.
See you at the party tomorrow.
—Kingston
Kierse frowned at the words. “He’s not staying here?”
“George says it was sent from the Plaza.”
“But he was offended at the thought of staying at the Plaza a few months ago.”
Graves worked his jaw in irritation. “I know.”
“Walter has already set up in his room.”
“I know. We’ll have to move it to the party.”
Kierse blew out a breath. “There’s already a lot of shit going down at the party.”
“Any other idea?”
“Walter is going to hate this.”
“Lyra can probably get him in early. I’ll text her and see if they can meet.” Graves nodded back to the kitchen. “Go be with Bram. I’ll tell him. We have twenty-four hours to get this right. Can’t fuck it up in the eleventh hour.”
“It’ll still work,” she reassured him.
He started toward the stairs and then paused. His shoulders slumped as if something heavy had settled on his shoulders before he said, “Let Lorcan know, too.”
She blinked, surprised to hear Lorcan’s name out of Graves’s mouth. “All right…”
“You said he deserves this as much as you do. I’ll honor that.” Then he climbed the stairs.
And he said he wasn’t a good man.
Kierse steadied her breath before leaning into the bond. “Change of plans.”
Lorcan’s voice came like syrup in her mind. “Oh?”
“Kingston is meeting us at the Halloween party. We’re moving the setup there.”
“The Morgan Library party?”
“The very one. Guess you’ll need a good costume.”
He was silent a moment before asking, “What are you going as?”
“A queen.”
“No less than what you are.”
“See you there.”
Yeah. Great.
Bram’s eyes caught Kierse’s in the hall. “Everything all right?”
“Plan has moved back a day. Tomorrow at the Halloween party, we kill the Fae Killer.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Kierse held her breath as Isolde zipped her into her dress. “That’s quite a fit.”
“I think all that training in the room with Walter got you more back muscles,” Isolde preened. “You should be proud of them.”
“Totally proud of my back muscles. I feel like a damsel who can’t breathe in a corset.”
“Please, it isn’t even corseted,” she said on a laugh. “And you look so pretty. Take a look.”
Kierse turned to the full-length mirror in her old rooms. She looked like a fairytale queen, her hair in long waves and her makeup practically glowing. She wore dramatic chandelier diamond and ruby earrings and a matching necklace that lay heavy across her decolletage. A small golden tiara with interchanging diamonds and rubies was settled onto the crown of her head. The dress was a deep wine red that fit to her waist to a point. It hung off of her shoulders and hugged her chest with careful lace details and a dark ruby at the center. Then it swept across her figure in a billowing array of sumptuous fabric. The sleeves fluttered past her hand, widening at the elbow with more lace. Not exactly ideal for fighting, but hopefully she’d only have one kill shot tonight.
“It’ll do,” Kierse agreed.
“Let’s hope we can get you out of here after he sees you.”
She grinned, liking that possibility a lot. Unfortunately, they had too much on the line tonight to let him keep her locked up in a tower. Even one she would like to be trapped in.
She descended the stairs to find her king waiting for her at the bottom. Her stomach flipped at the sight of him, regal and magnetic. His jawline looked cut out of marble as he flipped the pages of a small black book. His attire matched her queen ensemble in a black-and-gold-threaded doublet that hugged his chest and arms. The collar was lifted high, leaving only a sliver of skin visible. His pants were dark and pressed. A draped wine-red cape hung across the mantle of his shoulder, held in place by a thick gold chain with a ruby at its center. The material hung low to the ground like a train, broadening his shoulders and making him look twice as impressive before she even got to the crown nestled into his midnight-blue hair.
“Your Majesty.”
His eyes lifted from the book, and he snapped it shut in response. His eyes trailed over her body, making it hard to breathe in the already constricting dress. She came to the landing and dipped him her best curtsy. His laugh sent a shiver down her spine.
“We’ll need to work on your etiquette lessons,” he teased as he lifted her out of her curtsy. “You are a vision. Perhaps I should have gone with something a little less enticing for you. No one will be able to take their eyes off you, and then how will we slip away?”
“They will assume that you cannot keep your hands off of me.”