Free City of Shadows by Pippa DaCosta

were anything other than what they appeared to be—a well-oiled machine charged with keeping the peace between human and fae. But what about the general? I’d tried striking up conversations with the warriors, eager to learn more about Kael, but they’d quickly made their excuses or avoided me altogether.
    I paused outside what I’d decided to call the general’s war room, about to knock, when I heard snippets of conversation from behind the door. The general was saying something about trust—not trusting anyone else, and how important this could be, not just for him, but for all the fae.
    Samuel muttered something low enough that the door muffled the words. Whatever it had been, Kael wasn’t pleased. He growled a string of words that sounded both menacing and melodic and definitely weren’t English.
    Minutes ticked over at an excruciatingly slow rate. I had an aversion to waiting. Time was my enemy. I didn’t want to be waiting on Kael’s whim, but I did need to get inside that room so I could look for any clues as to Becky’s whereabouts.
    The door opened. I stepped back, tucked my hands behind my back, and smiled sweetly at Samuel. His eyes narrowed to angry slits. He seemed to hesitate, as though expecting me to say something or perhaps he wanted to speak with me, but he eventually chose silence and stepped aside, gesturing for me to enter.
    â€œThank you,” I added with extreme politeness.
    He closed the door behind me without a word.
    â€œConstruct,” Kael said. I gritted my teeth and pinned a wooden smile to my lips. “Sit,” he said, pointing at the huge meeting table.
    My gaze slid about the room, over rolls of maps strewn about the table, and came to rest on a pair of crossed daggers on his desk. “No, thank you.” They were his daggers, I realized, noticing his empty thigh sheaths.
    Fae weaponry had an exotic flare you’d expect to see in ceremonial swords, but their blades weren’t designed for aesthetics alone. The edges would be razor sharp. A good fae blade represented its owner. Gorgeous to look at, deadly to touch. Kael’s daggers were probably as old as the general himself.
    He saw me eyeing his blades and straightened. “I’ll return your daggers when I’m satisfied you’re not a threat.”
    That would be never.
    I wandered the room, trailing my fingers across the books; old leather-bound books, embossed with intricate fae designs, fully aware of Kael’s eyes on my every touch. I’d tried to decipher the fae language using books left in Under, but I’d failed. Their swirling letters were more art than words. The books, the maps, the daggers. Kael wasn’t a blunt instrument; his troops, and the fae as a people, revered him for a reason. I’d do well to take in everything I could from this meeting and file it away to consider later.
    While I wandered, Kael waited, his face expressionless, but for the smallest narrowing of his eyes. His silvery hair had grown out a little since I’d first laid eyes on him, when he’d attacked Reign on the Underground. It wasn’t yet long enough to grab in a fight; perhaps he was trying to appear less threatening? A smile twitched on my lips. General Kael was never going to win personality of the year, but he did have an infallible presence about him, one that earned him the respect of the London public. The FA, under his command, had kept London safe; until the queen broke free.
    I’d roamed the room, finding nothing obviously connected to Andrews’s sister, and stopped in front of the general’s desk. Could I snatch his daggers and run him through before he retaliated? My palms itched, seeking the blades. I lifted my head. Kael leaned an arm over the back of his chair. His reach was about the same as mine. Was this a test? He didn’t look defensive, but Kael could flick to killer just as quickly as I could.
    â€œThree