The Daughter of Time (Ace of Queens #6)

Ch.9 The King

Chapter 9

Councilwoman Sofia never took the necklace off. It was always around her neck. She wasn't a werewolf, a jinn, or a witch. She was, in all her glory, a human immortal. Heyder's mark upon her had connected his life to her. As long as Heyder lived, Sofia too would be alive.

Maya had snuck into her father's office that night and went through Sofia's files. She needed to find out everything there was to know about this woman. Maya needed that necklace at all cost.

The office was pitch black. Maya used the flashlight on her cellphone to search through her father's desk and computer. She worked quickly and swiftly to limit her time. The longer she stayed, the stronger her scent would linger the next day. Maya turned on her camera on her phone and took photos of all the documents in Sofia's files. She got her address, bank account number, medical history, everything! Everything but the information to get the necklace.

With an angry sigh, Maya slammed the file shut and put it back where she found it. She moved onto her father's computer and searched through his files until she found something of interest. It was the monthly schedule for all the events the council would be attending. And according to Sofia's plans, she was in New York for a week. Maya quickly checked the dates and cursed when she found out she only had two days before Sofia came back.

It was the perfect opportunity. Sofia would be away from the palace with limited guards. She would never see Maya coming.

The girl was on a mission. She took a photo of the schedule and closed the laptop. With a watchful eye, Maya scurried out of her father's office and ran back into her room. Once inside, she booked a flight to New York for the morning and started to pack her bag. There was no time for sleeping.

With her nerves on high alert, Maya stuffed whatever clothes she saw into her bags. She didn't even waste time folding them as she ran over her plan in her mind. Sofia was staying at the Plaza hotel. She had three queen's guards with her. Her last event was a dinner downtown with a senator from New York. All Maya had to do was catch her in her room alone.

That wasn't the hard part. The hard part was breaking the necklace. Gemma had safeguarded the thing with a bunch of protection spells. Maya knew she could take it down but she wasn't sure if smashing the thing was all that would be required to free her jinn.

As the thought clouded Maya's mind, she found herself standing still in her room. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as her hands twisted the shirt she had taken out. Her eyes were wide with adrenaline and her cheeks flushed. A nervous laugh rose to her lips as she peered at herself.

"Ugh....fuck!" Maya groaned as she collapsed onto her bed. She buried her face into the pillows and sighed as she worried about that to do once she had the necklace. It wasn't as if she could go wake up her mother and force her to give away the answer. But.....

Maya suddenly sat up. She pushed her hair out of her face as her heart raced. The Fey spell books.

"That's it!" Maya whispered to herself. She vaguely remembered flipping through the first volume and reading something about jinns. Of course, at the time she had never paid much attention to it because her main focus was the samsara spell in the third volume.

Maya's knees began to bounce with adrenaline as she realized she needed to get her hands on the Fey book. They were moved to the family vault and locked away. Getting to them would be harder than getting to Sofia. But Maya had to try. She couldn't let the first hurdle discourage her.

Throwing the shirt into her bag, Maya rushed out of her room. She ran down the silent halls until she arrived at the door she needed to be at. However, before she could knock, Clare threw her door open.