Kyllian looked Talon squarely in the eye, his tone turning to steel. "Well, the council isn't king."
*****
Gabriel arrived at the underground hideout outside the border that housed Williams and his army.
Williams emerged from the shadows.
"Do you have it?" Williams asked.
"Yes," Gabriel replied coolly, stepping forward. "I have it."
"I thought you said it was difficult."
"It was," Gabriel said, his tone clipped. He pulled something from his pocket and unwrapped it from a cloth. "But I have eyes and ears inside the castle."
From the cloth, he revealed a comb. Tucked between its teeth were a few strands of hair. Damien's hair.
Gabriel offered it to Williams with a faint sneer, as though the object disgusted him more than the treachery it represented. "So how is the prince's hair supposed to help you find his mate?"
Williams' mouth curled into a thin, malicious smile. "You can find anything, Lord Gabriel, if you want to. You just need the right tools."
