He glances over his shoulder, checking we’re still alone. “My mother’s…not okay. I don’t want this anymore. Maybe not ever.”
“I could have told you that.” Holly snorts in derision but I cast her a warning. If this warlock, thisArcher, is on our side, we’d be idiots to piss him off.
He glances down the hall again. “This is—I understand Mom’s concern, but what she’s doing…I don’t stand by it. So stay alive, ’kay? Getting you out is our mutual goal because without you Dark, she’s further from her plan.”
“We’ll try.” Carina brushes a fingertip along the cuffs. “I came here because I needed to know the extent of her plans. We need to warn Starfall, too.”
“Warn quickly. That alarm, if I had to bet, is a rep from the Angeli Telluris, which means Wynter’s time is coming to a close. You know how vicious they can be.”
She stares for a beat, and then glances at me, but the name is unfamiliar.
Archer musses his hair by dragging a hand through it. “No offence, but Mom’s right; Morgan isn’t training you well. They’re a group of hunters—mortals, to note—who make their prey all Otherworldly creatures. I’ll presume you’ve at least heard of the Salem Witch Trials? They’re behind them, after forming a coalition to retaliate against witches. As they learned about the others—vampires, shifters, and demons—they began hunting them too. Any being they feel threatens Earth’s safety—and thus, humans.”
“They’re only mortals.” Holly snorts, barely earning a glance from him.
“Trained humans, with weapons infused with magick that can wipe any one of us out. How they got these weapons, we can’t figure out, but there’s a load of rumours about it.”
“What do they have to gain for helping your mother get Wynter?” Carina runs her hands over the other, particularly lingering around her fingertips. “Or, why would they help the beings they hunt?”
“Because as generations passed, everything has changed. The world, most notably, and how we all live within it. Most covens have learned to blend in with mortals and cities, so the Angeli Telluris generally leave us alone, unless action is needed to keep someone in line.”
In other words: death.
“Now, they’re basically mercenaries—hired guns for the Otherworld. They’ll kill any they feel threatens the balance but will also turn a blind eye at one for a payday. Mom specifically wants Caden Blackstone to track Wynter down and bring her here.”
Carina curses and lets out a long breath, suggesting this Wynter person is important. “If your mom is that close to finding Wynter…” The two share some silent conversation that ends in grimaces and my irritation.
“What’s in this for you?” I call out to Archer.
“Freedom.”
“Speaking of freedom, what about the Seer?” Carina jerks her chin towards the hall.
What fucking now?
A shadow passes over the warlock’s face, and his chin drops almost to his chest as the ground between their feet suddenly becomes very interesting. “Don’t believe I condoned what’s being done to him. He’s next on my list, but saving him is a bit more complicated.”
Conan’s voice comes from the other side of the room, asking what we’re all thinking, “What the hell’s a Seer?”
Archer’s head tips back to stare at the dirt ceiling. “She’ll be back soon. Do what she wants. It’ll get you the opening you need.”
Then he heads for the cell’s exit, and as if connected by a cord, Carina lurches to follow. “Wait—are you saying kill one of them?”
Archer falls silent, propping himself against the doorway with one leg bent over the other, his arms crossing over his chest. A bored expression takes over, and his tongue plays with his lip ring—an entirely new persona for his mother.
One that didn’t just betray her.
“I won’t,” Carina whispers, agonized eyes returning to me.
Steps echo from down the hall, and then Sloane and her daughter return.
Fifty-Six
CARINA
The moment Archerreplaced the cuffs with fake ones, I feltit.
Cooling waves rolling through me, crashing against my insides as my elemental magick returned. Twice in the past week I’ve gone without it for nearly a day, and both instances made me incomplete.
