A single globe offered meager light, but it was enough for me to see that Tam wasn’t fighting back.

He held his hands up, palms out. “No weapons,” he whispered.

“Because you didn’t get mine!” It was all I could do to keep my voice down.

“To keep you from carving me up.”

I sat back, still straddling him. “What the hell is going on?”

Tam looked as tired as I felt, but he languidly moved his hips beneath me. “This is the best thing to happen to me all week.”

I gasped at the source of the contact and the delicious shock of sensation that followed. Focus, Raine. I glared at him. “I repeat, what the hell?”

“I’m touching you.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.” Parts of me were much more aware than others. “That doesn’t answer what—”

I realized what he meant; I shut up and didn’t dare move.

Tam was touching me. I was touching Tam…

… and the Saghred wasn’t touching either one of us.

But it was there; I could feel it, hot and coiled, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. I knew it’d be a good idea to get off of Tam, but I thought it’d be a bad idea to move.

“How?” I whispered.

“I haven’t used a death curse lately?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You mean no überevil black magic.”

“Don’t act surprised.”

“How am I supposed to act? You’re a dark mage.”

Tam was incredulous. “I was the queen’s chief shaman. What did you think I was?”

“Shush!” I heard, felt, or sensed something like a snake’s angry hiss.

Tam froze and didn’t even blink. He’d heard, felt, or sensed it, too.

Apparently passion ignited it—that or strong emotion. Great. That’s all Tam and I had. Ever since we’d met, either he was trying to seduce me, or I was arguing with him.

I sat quietly and waited. Tam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. When he opened those glorious midnight eyes, he had himself under control. Possibly. Me straddling him while wearing a slinky, black velvet gown wasn’t helping matters any.

The pissed-off-firesnake sensation didn’t entirely go away, but it had lessened. I’d take that for now.

“Raine, what did you think I was?” Tam asked again, softer this time.

“I don’t know.”

Tam hadn’t talked much about his past; I hadn’t asked him to tell me. I thought we had a fine arrangement.

My family’s big on denial. And if we denied something long enough, we thought it’d go away. I know that’s not how it works, but we’re in denial about that, too.

In my mind’s eye, Tam’s dark-mage nature paced restlessly on the edge of the shadows, eager and hungry. The Saghred was coiled like a fiery serpent near his feet, tongue flicking, tasting the air, searching, wanting the black magic Tam held in check.

So long as Tam didn’t antagonize that snake, it wouldn’t bite me. Maybe.

I didn’t feel like taking that chance. Time to leave.

Tam’s hands tightened around my waist. “Wait.”

“I’m helping you control yourself. You’re a fuse. I’m explosives. Remember?”

The goblin’s lips curved into a slow, wicked grin. “Yeah, I do.”

I just looked at him. “If the Saghred strikes a match, that fuse of yours is going to get us both into trouble.”

“I like playing with fire.” Tam’s hands explored my velvet bodice with a mind of their own.

“I know you do.” And after some heavy breathing in a dark alley, I did, too. “So the farther I stay from you, the better.”

Tam ran his hands down the length of my bodice from ribs to hips, like he was memorizing the curves for later. “It would be the smart thing to do.” His breathing had taken on a ragged edge.

I dismounted. I had to take the moral high road sometime.

I hate moral high roads.

I sat on a nearby crate and crossed my arms. “Now talk. What have the Khrynsani got on you, and why is Rudra Muralin your houseguest?”

Tam sat up. “Talon.”

“Huh?”

“The Nightshades took Talon.” A muscle worked in Tam’s jaw. “So no one has anything on me anymore. Tonight, I’m going to make the Nightshades permanently sorry.”

I did the math, made some assumptions, and when that got too convoluted, I just trusted the answer my gut gave me. Talon’s swagger, the bravado, the feline grace, but most of all the eyes. Tam’s eyes were black. Talon’s were aquamarine, but they had the same bad-boy sparkle—and the same intent.

And Tam had taken on the Khrynsani to protect him.

“Talon’s your son.”

“Yes, he’s mine.”

Talon obviously wasn’t a result of Tam’s only marriage to a pure-blooded Mal’Salin duchess. Tam liked elves. Tam liked me. Judging from Talon’s eyes and pale, silvery skin, I wasn’t the only elf Tam had liked.

“And he doesn’t know.”

“I don’t want him to. Considering who and what I used to be, it’s not safe for him to know.” Tam’s expression darkened. “Until a few days ago, no one knew. Muralin said that unless I turned you over to him, he was going have Talon kidnapped—and sold in the Nebian slave markets. The Khrynsani have a long reach, so I knew I couldn’t send Talon away to keep him safe. The closer he stayed to me, the better.”

Tam didn’t have to spell it out for me. I knew full well what kind of slavery awaited a half-breed as beautiful as Talon.

“If I tried to warn you, Rudra Muralin said he would kill Talon outright. I tried to keep Talon safe.” Tam’s eyes narrowed accusingly. “You were supposed to stay in the citadel.”

The citadel. Piaras.

Crap.

“I’ve got to find Piaras.”

“Then you’ll be going to the elven embassy,” came Phaelan’s voice from the dark. Lantern light flared, illuminating my cousin leaning against a closed door.

“You were supposed to wait outside,” Tam told him.

“You weren’t supposed to be late.”

I was incredulous. “You knew about all this?”

“Hey, I just found out,” Phaelan said. His dark eyes flashed in anger. “You might say Tam and I ran into each other backstage. He was kind enough to hit the high spots for me. It all sounded just crazy enough to be true.”

“But Guardians would take Piaras to the citadel, not—”

Phaelan snorted. “If they had made it that far. Six Guardians took Piaras out the backstage door. I couldn’t get to him without getting nabbed myself, so I hung back. Glad I did. Those Guardians were ambushed. Within a couple seconds there were six dead Guardians and one unconscious Piaras being loaded into a coach—by elves who knew which end of a crossbow was up.”

“Were they wearing fancy livery?” If Carnades was responsible, there wasn’t a hole deep enough for him to hide in.

“Nope, uniforms. Definitely embassy guards, and that’s the direction they were headed.”

“Any witnesses?”

“Just yours truly. And I don’t think I should go anywhere near a Guardian just now.”

I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know. “Is Justinius dead?”

Tam spoke. “The last I saw, Mychael was working on the archmagus. Mychael is a fine healer, but it didn’t look like it was going well. Though Mychael didn’t look like he was giving up.”

Oh shit.

“Gentlemen, the Isle of Mid just got itself a new archmagus,” I said. “If Justinius dies or until he’s in a condition to take command again, Carnades Silvanus is in charge—and Mychael has to take his orders from him.”

Chapter 20

Carnades was probably living his dream, and Mychael had to be in a living nightmare.

I told Tam what I knew about where the Nightshades were holding the spellsingers—and their eventual fate unless they were found.

“The Saghred is still in the citadel’s containment rooms,” I said. “They can’t sacrifice anyone if they don’t have anything to sacrifice them to.” This was supposed to make Tam feel marginally better. It didn’t.

“Can Carnades order Mychael to turn over the Saghred?” Phaelan asked.

“He can. But Mychael won’t do it.”

“Sounds like mutiny.”

It would be mutiny, though Carnades would probably prefer to call it treason. He could have Mychael locked up in one of his own containment rooms and pick a paladin who’d give him the Saghred, and anything else he wanted.

I couldn’t let myself think about Mychael right now. I had to get Piaras out of that embassy. One catastrophe at a time.

“Tam, I wish we could—”

Tam held up a hand. “I know. You’d help if you could. You have to get Piaras. I understand. I have to get my son back.” His dark eyes were hard and resolute. “Once Talon’s safe, I’m going after Rudra Muralin.” He grinned in a cold flash of fangs. “I have a busy night planned.”

Tam sounded like he was looking forward to it. I would have, too. I guess I’d have to settle for having left my teeth marks in Muralin’s ear.

Tam went to one of the racks against the wall and pulled off the sheet that was covering it. There were costumes zbeneath. We were in a prop room two levels below the stage. Tam selected two cloaks, one black and the other dark green. He tossed the black one to Phaelan and held the green cloak open for me. I stepped up to him and he swept the green velvet around me and I fastened the clasp.

“I won’t be going in alone,” he assured me. “I have men I can trust. They’re good in a fight.” He almost smiled. “And they’ll love the chance to get their hands on Nightshades and Khrynsani in one night.”

Phaelan opened a low door in the far wall. Beyond was a pitch-dark tunnel that Tam said emptied five blocks from Sirens, well away from the chaos that was probably still going on upstairs.