Page 48 of Loving the Alien Spy

“If we are moving forward with your plan where you still play Bannik and he plays you, what comes next? We still do not know where Ryvik is. How will you get him not only to approach you, but to draw you into whatever scheme he has planned? Especially if he is working with Mohneek and Orvak still?” Horek asks.

“Tarrik. He’ll relay my message to Ryvik that I’m ready for whatever it is he didn’t think I was ready for at our last meeting.”

Bannik cocks his head. “Tarrik knows him? Why would another of the prince’s guards know someone associated with the rebel forces?”

“That’s what I plan on finding out.”

Janik and Horek share a glance before the commander shifts his focus my way. “After you approach Tarrik and give him a message for Ryvik to meet, then what?”

“It depends on how the meeting goes. Since I don’t know what his motivation or goal is, I can’t choose how to proceed until I’m armed with that knowledge.”

The prince laughs. “So you’re going in blind and coming up with a plan on the spot, without clearing it through me first?”

I cant my head. “No offense, Your Highness, but I’ve been a spy for longer than you’ve been both a rebel and a prince. Alik trusted me to handle things my own way without input from him. I know what I’m doing.”

To my surprise, Horek chuckles. “He has you there.”

Janik sends his cousin a rude gesture that is definitely something he learned from his human heart’s fire.

“So the plan is for everyone to go about their own business and wait for Ryvik to decide whether he’ll take Carrik’s bait?” Bannik questions.

“Yes—”

“No,” Janik says at the same time as me.

My eyes lock on the prince’s. “With all due respect, we have the same amount of intel regarding Mohneek, Orvak, or Ryvik at this moment as we did yesterday, which is none. The onlydifference is that Bannik is here now to take on the role of his greedy, wastrel brother. While I am still the guard—and former rebel—who has just recently discovered a new, but not yet publicized, reason to hate his brother the spy and the royal family. Which is what we need. A reason for Ryvik to believe that I’m open to whatever it is he has planned.”

“What if he doesn’t take your bait?” Janik asks.

“He will.”

The prince’s eyes widen. “What if he doesn’t?”

“Then I will figure something else out.”

Horek steps toward me and stops when he claps his hand on my shoulder. “You do not have to do this alone any longer, you know? We can come up with another way to draw out Ryvik.”

My jaw tightens at the unexpected kindness of the commander. Not that he’s cruel in any way, but he’s also not known for being softer with his emotions. It would seem as though his heart’s fire has brought out this new part of him.

“Thank you, Commander.”

Horek drops his arm to his side, moves back, and clears his throat like he’s uncomfortable with the unusual display of camaraderie. Janik merely sighs.

“I suppose that’s everything, then?” he asks.

“I understand how difficult it might be with what appears to be inaction and having the patience for it, but it truly is the best course of action.” Patience has been ingrained in me for anums.

The prince and commander both laugh, but it is Janik who speaks. “You were part of the rebel forces I led, so you know thatbeing patient is not always easy for me. It is something I must work hard at.”

“Vaguely, I can recall such a thing.” I grin.

Janik nods slowly. “Since you are the person with the most experience in subterfuge and espionage, I will leave the expertise of how to proceed with you then, I suppose. That does not mean I want to be left in the dark. I want any and all updates, even if there is nothing more to say than that there are no updates. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” I glance between the three of them, pausing only briefly on Bannik, before bowing. “If there is nothing else?”

Janik waves me off. “Go. Pass along your message to Tarrik.”

With a brief chin dip, I leave the throne room and make my way back to the palace entrance where I hope he remains on guard duty. I’m in luck, because he stands at attention next to the other guard. I catch his gaze, making sure to display the bitter rage I’m supposed to be feeling, and dart a glance toward the closest room off the entryway.