shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight by amanda bonilla Page A

that the king is presumed dead.” The air temperature dropped and my breath fogged the air. Flinging insults Ty’s way wasn’t going help our situation.  “Rebellions have to be quelled, rumors squashed. The throne has to be protected at all costs.”
    “Even if that cost is Xander’s life?”
    Raif let out a slow sigh. “Yes. And if he were here instead of me, he’d tell you the same thing.”
    I was aware of the unrest in the Shaede kingdom. For months Xander’s regent and distant cousin, Saben had been spreading propaganda, rallying supporters to help depose Xander. His being taken captive was the perfect opportunity for a usurper to move in. Honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised me a bit if Padma and Saben worked together to destroy everything that Xander’s family had built.
    “Let’s all just take a second to calm down.” Okay, so Raif was pretty fucking calm. And on the outside, Tyler might have appeared stoic, but I knew he was barely holding on to his composure. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to keep my own shit together either. I understood Raif’s sense of responsibility but this was Xander we were talking about!
    “He came to me ,” Tyler stressed again. “And I’m sure I don’t need to point out that had he not thrown my ass in a PNT cell , that none of this would have happened!”
    Yeah, no one was going to calm down anytime soon.
    “You were all too anxious to be rid of him, Jinn!” Raif railed. “No doubt you served him up to Padma on a silver platter!”
    “Raif,” I said, “you know that’s not true.”
    “You mean like he served me up to the PNT because he was too much of an arrogant prick to take a fist to the face and move on?” Tyler’s body tensed with the words and another puff of steam clouded the air.
    “Petty children, fighting over a female,” Raif spat.
    As the female in question, I took offense to Raif’s tone. “Both of you shut up!” At my indignant shout, Raif’s guards entered the room. He raised a dismissive hand and they retreated. I still couldn’t reconcile seeing Raif in the role of leader and not that of protector. Warrior. I leveled my gaze on him and he sank back into his chair. “I’m going to forgive your slight because I know you’re upset. I also understand that you have a shitload on your plate. Tyler?” I turned my gaze to one very agitated genie. A muscle ticked at his cheek and his jaw squared with anger. “Can we make it through the canyons with a handful of people?”
    “Possibly,” he answered from between clenched teeth. “But she’ll be expecting retaliation. I can’t imagine it’ll be as easy to get in a second time. We barely made it through to get you and we were welcomed guests.”
    Raif snorted and I shot him a look. “I’m willing to take my chances.” I didn’t give a shit about insurgencies or political machinations. Raif could worry about the crown and kingdom. My only concern was getting Xander out of that hole in one piece. “Give me five. Louella, Myles, Julian, Liam, and Asher.”
    “Not Asher,” Raif said.
    “Raif, she has the key to O Anel .” Raif’s duty was to the throne now, but would he risk his daughter’s safety? Brakae was vulnerable while Padma wore my pendulum around her neck.  
    Raif met my gaze and let out a slow breath that caused his shoulders to sag almost indiscernibly. “You can have Asher as well.”
    Ty pushed himself out of the chair, clearly more than ready to get the hell out of Dodge.
     I stood as well and said to Raif, “We’re leaving in the morning. Before dawn. We’ll swing by on our way out to pick everyone up.” I didn’t need to tell him to have them outfitted with more weapons than they could carry, this was Raif I was talking to after all.
    He inclined his head. Very kingly of him. I was already out the door when Raif said, “Darian, a moment.”
    Tyler stopped ahead of me and turned. “Go ahead,” I told him. “I’ll be right out.” No