I’d have to handle Adair myself. I ran towards him, careful not to make eye contact. “You shouldn’t be able to do that.”
A grin twisted his mouth. “These cuffs aren’t made for the likes of us, Bria.”
As I readied myself for a fight, a tremendous blast of wind struck both of us, knocking the guards’ fireballs off course and causing Adair to overbalance again.
I never thought I’d be glad to see the Air Element, but Ryan looked at the uniformed guards with an expression of confusion on their face as they began hurling fireballs at one another again. “What’s going on here?”
“I was bringing this guy to the Death King’s jail,” I told them. “He has mind-control powers. Don’t look him in the eyes.”
Ryan raised their hands and Adair’s body flew into the air before he could rise to his feet. A second blast of air magic sent the House of Fire guards flying in all directions like bottles knocked over. “How long does it last?”
“Not much longer as long as he doesn’t make eye contact with them again,” I replied. “Let them fight it out. Serves them right for not trusting me to deal with this myself.”
Adair kicked and yelled and shouted curses, but Ryan ignored him, levitating him all the way across the swamp without so much as breaking a sweat. When we finally reached the Court of the Dead, the liches at the gates parted to let us through, while their leader appeared at the top of the stone staircase and descended to meet us outside the castle.
Ryan faced the Death King. “What do you want me to do with him?”
“Take him to the jail,” said the Death King. “His abilities don’t work on liches, according to Bria.”
“It’s true,” I added. “I’ll open the doors.”
I walked ahead to the blocky shape of the Death King’s jail, opening the doors to let Ryan levitate Adair inside. “You know, this would have been much easier if you’d just done as you were told, Adair.”
“This is a waste of time,” said Adair. “This place won’t last, any more than the House of Fire will.”
“And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Yet.”
“Quit talking.” Ryan all but threw Adair into a cell, slamming the door on him.
With my brother safely behind bars, I left the jail before he attempted to work his magic on me. Yet his words crept into my thoughts despite my best efforts. The Family had never made an overt threat against the Death King, but they’d certainly been involved with the recent attacks on his territory. Might he be telling the truth? He’d have reason enough to lie purely for the purposes of screwing with me, but the fact remained that the rest of the Family was mysteriously absent.
Maybe biding their time… and preparing to strike at the heart of the new life I’d begun to build.
6
I didn’t get the opportunity to update Miles on my close call with Adair until the following day. After receiving no instructions from the Death King other than leaving our new prisoner alone, I set out for Elysium the next morning. Miles seemed to be expecting me, because he answered the door in person this time.
“Shit, Bria,” said Miles, when I’d explained the adventurous turn yesterday had taken. “I didn’t know they’d make you move your brother to the Death King’s territory so soon.”
“I got the impression they didn’t want me involved in their plan, but they needed my transporter spell,” I said. “Which I lost somewhere in Elysium. Sorry.”
“You mean this?” Miles reached into his pocket and held up the disc-shaped spell. “Wouldn’t want that going missing.”
“Oh.” I took it from him with a rush of gratitude. “Thanks.”
“Thank my brother,” said Shelley, entering the room. “Tate was watching for a distance. He saw the whole shit-show go down. I take it that dickhead of a brother of yours didn’t escape?”
“He almost did, but the Air Element helped me restrain him,” I said. “The House of Fire’s guards were pretty much useless. They haven’t come here again since the last time, have they?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I’m keen on the idea of them poking their noses into our business,” said Shelley. “At least the Death King is a known entity.”
The Death King wants an alliance with the Houses himself. But that would depend on the Houses’ cooperation, and they seemed to have zero intention of listening to a word I said. While I’d be more than happy to leave them alone, they had Tay’s freedom under their control, and maybe her life, too.
Even if she had killed the jailor, the odds were high that Adair had been the real culprit. Not that he’d made a confession, though the Death King hadn’t sent anyone to talk to him yet. I suspected I was the only person Adair would speak to, regardless, but it would do no good whatsoever to go into the jail and risk him using his mind-control powers on me. Not without a plan, anyway.
“Yeah, he is,” said Miles. “His jail is secure, for the record, so that guy won’t walk free anytime soon. You know he offered to let us stay with him in the castle if we want, too?”
Shelley frowned. “I’m not leaving our base, not with the House of Fire sniffing around at every opportunity. Can’t he help us with that? He’s no friend of the Houses’.”
“He’s not obviously opposed to them either,” said Tate. “If he wants to make an alliance.”
“It’s the sensible thing to do,” I said. “I’m not a fan of the Houses, but they’re the ruling authority in the city. I’d rather they were on our side than against us, if there really is another war coming.”
Shelley made a sceptical noise. “The last people who said there’d be a war are rotting in jail.”
“Best to be prepared,” said Miles. “I
