Chapter 108: Lines That Will Not Stay Buried
Chapter 108: Lines That Will Not Stay Buried
Elyn’s POV
I gasped in shock and from the sheer audacity of what I had just heard.
The sound tore out of me before I could stop it, sharp and unguarded, and my head snapped toward Zorathys like my body had made the decision before my mind could catch up.
"You—" I started, then stopped, because the look on his face was infuriatingly calm.
He tilted his head slightly, lips curving into a lazy smirk that did not belong on the face of someone who I had just been told had been the target of an assassination plan.
I’m not even going to deny that I was also a bit scared of what would have happened if that plan had succeeded. But was I going to vocalise that? No way.
"That look," Zorathys said mildly, "is unnecessary."
I stared at him, appalled. "Unnecessary?"
He waved a hand dismissively. "The man... what was his name again?" he asked, his head tilted as a frown overtook his face while he tried to remember the name of his assailant.
Don’t even ask me how one forgot the name of their assailant.
"Baelarik," Naviel supplied, adjusting his glasses.
"Yes, Baelarik... an ugly name for an ugly demon—wouldn’t have succeeded," Zorathys said to me.
I just gave him a look.
"There’s no reason to look at me like that," he continued, unbothered. "Especially over something that never truly endangered me."
My hands clenched at my sides. "That doesn’t matter."
He raised a brow. "It does."
"No," I snapped. "It really doesn’t. Someone tried to kill you."
He sighed, long-suffering, like I was the unreasonable one here. "There were attempts on my life. That is not the same as being almost killed."
I turned fully toward him now. "Do you hear yourself?"
"Yes," he said calmly. "And I am correct."
I took a step closer. "You’re telling me this like it’s a technicality."
"It is a technicality," he replied. "An important one."
My jaw tightened. "You could have died."
His eyes flicked over my face, something sharper cutting through the amusement for half a second. "I would not have."
"That’s not the point."
"That is exactly the point."
I stared at him, incredulous, my frustration buzzing just beneath my skin. "You’re impossible."
"I’ve been told."
I opened my mouth to argue again—and then he moved.
Zorathys reached out with infuriating gentleness, fingers sliding beneath my chin. He turned my head back toward the desk, toward the scattered papers and circled names, the evidence that actually mattered.
The touch wasn’t forceful. It wasn’t possessive.
It was deliberate.
"Come on, Firefly," he said quietly, close enough that his voice dropped into something low and steady. "Do not focus on me. Let’s not focus on something that happened long ago."
My breath hitched, but I didn’t pull away.
"Let’s focus on what is happening now."
He released me just as smoothly as he’d touched me.
I didn’t say anything.
I just stared back down at the papers, my pulse loud in my ears, my thoughts slowly realigning where he’d nudged them.
After a moment, I spoke.
"How are we supposed to get to the bottom of this," I asked, "if the Duke of the Beast Territory won’t work with us?"
Zorathys leaned back, folding his arms. "That part is easy."
I blinked. "Easy."
"Yes."
"How?"
He pointed—casually, lazily—at Ignivar and Naviel.
"They will figure it out."
Ignivar stiffened. "We will what?"
Naviel adjusted his glasses, clearly bracing himself. "Your Majesty—"
Ignivar turned fully toward Zorathys, eyes wide. "Why are you giving us more work?"
Zorathys shrugged. "Because it is work you are meant to do."
"That is not an answer," Ignivar protested.
"It is," Zorathys replied. "You simply don’t like it."
I watched the exchange for exactly three seconds before cutting in.
"Ignivar isn’t going to do it," I said.
Both of them turned to me.
Ignivar looked relieved. Naviel looked cautiously hopeful.
Zorathys frowned. "What?"
"You are," I continued, looking directly at Zorathys.
There was a beat of silence.
Then Zorathys gasped.
Actually gasped.
He pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes."
He stared at me like I’d just suggested we overthrow the realm using interpretive dance.
"No," he said flatly.
I smiled sweetly. "Yes."
He shook his head. "There is absolutely no way you are assigning me more work."
"It’s not hard work," I said calmly.
"That’s what people say before they make my life unbearable."
I ignored that. "I’ll even go with you."
That made him pause.
"We just need to sneak into the base," I continued, tapping the paper where the distribution point had been marked. "See what’s actually happening. Who’s involved. How deep it goes."
He stared at me.
Genuinely stunned.
"You’ve grown two heads," he decided. "I just can’t seem to locate the other head."
I lifted my chin. "I’m serious."
"You are supposed to be preparing for the introductory ball," he said slowly, like he was explaining something to a particularly reckless child. "Learning protocol, how to dance or something. Understanding the demon realm."
"I know," I said. "And I am still doing that, but this can’t wait either, so I’ll do both."
He scoffed. "That is not how time works."
"It is when children are being sold," I shot back. "This can’t wait."
Silence stretched between us.
Zorathys studied me, eyes dark and unreadable, as if reassessing something he thought he already understood.
Finally, he yawned.
A long, lazy yawn that made Ignivar look like he was about to scream.
"This sounds like a tremendous amount of effort," Zorathys said. "I dislike effort."
Not a surprise.
I crossed my arms. "You’re doing it anyway."
He glanced at me sideways. "Bold of you to assume that."
"I’m not assuming," I said. "I’m stating."
He huffed softly, then looked back at the desk. At the names. At the patterns.
"...I will do it," he said at last.
I blinked. "That was easier than expected."
"Do not mistake this for compliance," he warned. "I am only agreeing because children are involved."
His voice hardened just slightly. "I despise those who use children as currency."
Something in my chest loosened.
I smiled. "Then it’s settled."
He eyed me warily. "What is?"
"We move," I said.
His head snapped up. "Move?"
"Now."
His eyes widened.
"Now?"