Ice Queen (Tess Skye Book 5) by D.N. Erikson

Author:D.N. Erikson [Erikson, D.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

“Don’t worry, I’m with the police.” I raise my hands anyway, just to convey that I’m not a threat. Finn follows suit. Javy weakly raises one arm, the wounded one staying by his side.

Smoke drifts through the air as the militari march forward.

My declaration doesn’t seem to have impacted their reaction in the slightest.

Kuno emerges from somewhere in the group. He has an angry shiner starting to form just under his right eye, courtesy of where Javy knocked him out cold.

“Tess Skye, you have broken—”

“Hey, what’s going on here?” A throat clears in the background, and Victor pushes his way through the throng.

His sandals squish in the muddy ground. In the distance, the chopper’s blades thwack in the gray sky as it circles on the horizon, presumably awaiting further instructions.

“This woman is a wanted fugitive in Elven Springs,” Kuno says. “Wanted for assaulting an officer of the law.”

“Your jurisdiction ends somewhere over there, I think.” Victor does a hand-wavey motion toward the wall of flame.

It’s finally receding. Slightly. It’ll be awhile before it burns down completely, though. Whatever warlock or sorceress they had cast the spell, it’s pretty formidable stuff.

“But she committed crimes on elven—”

“The precedent set by the United States v. King Lothari are clear,” Victor says, dismissing Kuno’s legal nonsense with an eye roll. “You have autonomy over outsiders on your lands. But once they’re over the border, it’s no longer your concern.” He points at the row of raised guns. “So if your men don’t lower their weapons in five seconds, I’ll have no choice but to treat this as an illegal military operation.”

“You would not do such a brazen thing,” Kuno says.

“Plenty of places to bury bodies in the desert.” Victor stretches his tan arms out at the wide expanse. “You fucked with my people and wrongfully imprisoned an American citizen on American soil. Try me and find out.”

Kuno glowers, his jaw set in a defiant pout.

“Five.” Victor holds up his hand, all the fingers outstretched.

Kuno winces. Getting in a pissing match with American law enforcement is just about the last thing the elves want. True, they have autonomy and their own set of rules.

But they don’t have the type of military force necessary to withstand any sort of assault if the country decides that the precedent set some twenty years ago is no longer valid.

They’d be overrun in hours.

“Four.”

The countdown doesn’t need to go any further. Kuno says, “Lower your firearms.”

His men do so in almost eerie synchronicity.

“And I believe it’s time for you to head home.” Victor gestures toward the wall of flames.

“It is a standard courtesy to be included in investigations that involve elven citizens,” Kuno says.

“It’s also standard courtesy to greet outsiders with respect,” Victor says. “The old king would be ashamed.”

“Hold your tongue. Lest you lose it.” A little fire from Kuno here that I hadn’t seen previously.

But I think it’s panic. This is a major L for him. The prince is going to let him have it when the Chief of Elven Affairs has to tuck tail and retreat back into Elven Springs.

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