“When Chariot held the auction to sell smudges,” he said, “they implied that either the Queen or I were the ones behind it, effectively turning us into scapegoats for when it inevitably went wrong.” Levi’s blue eyes glittered dangerously. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Facilitate an introduction, Ash. It’s time I met the Queen of Hearts.”
“You can’t ally yourself with the ruler of the black market.” Miles grabbed a stress ball off his desk, practically grinding the thing. “If the Untainted Party find out, they’ll crucify you.”
I pointed at Miles, nodding. “That.”
“They’re out to crucify me regardless.”
He wasn’t wrong. We’d learned at an auction a couple weeks ago that someone had fed the Party misinformation, implicating Levi behind the rampaging smudges with a view to securing dictatorial power. That was compounded by a rumor that a magic virus was on the loose, all to propagate how dangerous Nefesh are, and the Party had run with all of it.
“When Chariot was snatching kids out of my territory,” Levi said, “they used the Queen’s name to do it. Their actions have allowed the Party to weaponize. I want the key to disarm them and kill this proposed legislation.”
“Then take a team,” Miles said. “Or I’ll come.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said. “Make it an official parlay. I’ll drop a word in the Queen’s ear to arrange it when I go there, by myself, without the two most powerful people in the House that she could potentially take hostage. You can’t just drop in on her like you’re storming the castle. Would you go unannounced to another House Head?”
“Depends if I wanted to catch them off guard,” Levi said. “Which I won’t be doing anyway, given the alarm system around anyone entering her domain for the first time.”
“No, you’ll be handing her your weakness.”
Levi arched an eyebrow, as if him being weak was laughable.
I put Mrs. Hudson gently on the floor so I didn’t accidentally strangle the wrong neck.
The pug trotted back to her cow and pounced on it. Oh, brother. When she only attempted to rip into its belly instead of getting amorous, I relaxed.
Levi watched me with a tiny grin, which he smoothed out into a serious expression under Miles’ thunderous glower.
“You’re not invincible, asshole,” Miles said. “I’d be happy to prove it right now to keep you from going.”
“Invite the Queen here,” I said.
“She won’t come.” Levi loosened his silk tie, pulling the fabric from around his neck with a soft swish and stuffing it in his pocket. I’d have cheered the loss of the tie, except Levi was prepping himself for the trip, deliberately softening the arrogant alpha-ness he normally wore like a second skin. “I already tried. We’re going.”
“Whoa, there, Magic Mike,” I said. “Knot that back up and march upstairs to your office. I’m not taking you.”
Levi pointedly met my eyes and undid the top button of his shirt.
“Look, I’m not the best person for this delicate mission,” I said. “The Queen and I concluded our previous business on a rather tentative note.”
I’d professed that I wasn’t her enemy, she’d countered with a “not yet” and that whether I stayed that way remained to be seen. It seemed prudent to steer clear of her for a while, not force a meeting with someone who could complicate things for her. The Queen didn’t appreciate complications.
Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. “Were you going to tell me about this invitation of yours?”
Levi’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and typed a quick response as he spoke. “No point, since it didn’t happen. This isn’t some rash decision. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’m willing to pay the price if it establishes a tentative rapport.”
“Don’t pull her into this fight with Chariot,” I said. “I don’t trust her yet.”
“She’s already in it, whether she likes it or not.” Levi dropped the phone into his pocket and rubbed his temples. “I just came from a meeting with our allies in the government.”
When Houses were formed in Canada, they were established at a provincial level. House Heads fought for them to be written into the federal constitution, but that never happened, which gave the Untainted Party a lot of leverage now.
“How bleak is the situation?” Miles said.
“There’s more support for this bill than I’d realized,” Levi said. “If it went to a final reading tomorrow, it would pass into law. I want to kill it before it gets to the First Reading. Chariot’s antics with the smudges emboldened the Party to move forward with this audacious idea they’d never dared to propose before. I need leverage about how and why this all came to pass. The Queen is well placed to gather information and it affects her, too.” He levelled a flat stare at me. “Knowledge is power. The Queen knows that better than anyone.”
Yeah, it was practically her motto. I chided myself for mentioning that to him.
“I’m fighting for this House’s existence, for the safety of my people, and the gloves are off,” Levi said.
I buried my face in my hands. Levi was putting the Untainted Party—and my mother—in the crosshairs. Yes, they’d started it, and of course he had to protect his Nefesh community, but where was I supposed to stand in this fight?
“First Mayan, now this. You’re putting Ash in a hell of a position.”
I jerked my head up, gaping at Miles. His brown eyes were clouded with concern. For me. That was… okay.
“You think I don’t know that?” Levi’s expression was grimmer than I’d ever seen it. “If our House is legally dissolved, it’ll plunge Nefesh in this province into a dark age of persecution.” He reached his hand out to me, then dropped it into his lap at the last moment. “You’re my best shot at getting her to meet. Will you please take me to the Queen?”
Cursing Levi out in my head, I ran the wooden ring over
