The Queen's Advantage by Jessie Mihalik

Author:Jessie Mihalik [Mihalik, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64197-089-1
Publisher: NYLA

We went to BlackHeart next. The crowd was rougher, noisier, and looking for trouble. Luka got in a brawl with two young men too stupid to recognize the threat he presented. He laid them out with a single punch each, but then he was quickly tossed out.

I wasn’t much more successful. While I didn’t exactly get in a fistfight, I planted a fair number of elbows in kidneys and other soft tissues. No one I talked to had enough connections to find the team we were searching for. And while everyone was talking about the attack, no one seemed to have any information other than what the news outlets were reporting.

Jack’s was moderately better. Luka didn’t get thrown out, and he contacted some people who promised to keep an eye out for a cut of the bounty. I talked to Jack, the owner, briefly, but he was more interested in getting in my pants than earning credits. His attention didn’t stray above my chest long enough for me to determine if he had an information network or not, so that was a failure.

All of my hopes rested on Finlay because I didn’t know how good Luka’s contacts actually were.

I’d kept an eye out, but I hadn’t spotted the man in the coat again.

The sky was starting to lighten by the time we returned to the palace. We entered through a smaller side tunnel that seemed suspiciously like a secret passageway, albeit one with five locked doors along its length. “Why not use the tunnel we used before?” I asked.

“Palace staff are arriving for the day.”

“Ah.” It would definitely look bad for a foreign queen to be caught sneaking in with Valentin’s closest guard. I needed to sleep before I had lunch with Margie or she’d wrangle every secret from my exhausted brain.

Luka escorted me to the door of my suite. “Do you want me to check your rooms?” he asked.

“No, thank you. And thank you for going with me tonight.”

He nodded silently and turned for Valentin’s suite. So much for our bonding time.

I let myself into the suite. Imogen stood from the sofa and looked me over.

“Any injuries?”

“No. But you missed Luka in action. Two dumbasses decided he was a good target.”

“Is he hurt?” She sounded concerned.

“He might’ve bruised his knuckles on their faces. Otherwise, no.”

She grinned. “Was it beautiful? I sparred with him in the gym. He moves like liquid.”

“It was beautiful,” I agreed before changing the subject. “We’re having lunch with the dowager empress today. Before that, I’d like to go talk to Myra Shah and get her insight on the advisors. I’m going to grab a couple of hours of sleep. Please be ready to leave by ten. You’re on your own for breakfast.”

“I’ll survive, somehow,” she said, her voice desert dry. “I’m glad you’re back in one piece. Sleep well.”

“Thank you.”

I was stripping out of my gear when Valentin linked to me. Luka just got back. Are you okay?

Valentin was in his suite, as expected, not out on the streets of Koan, unprotected.

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