They put my bondmate further at risk. Theydared.
My mind was filled with static as I flew toward the portal that led directly to the seelie realm. The edges of my vision narrowed until all I could see were the steps I would take to kill any who opposed me.
Taraghlan made a deal. It was up to him to take the artifact from his subjects.
And the fact that he hadn’t been successful meant he was either incompetent, or was once again delaying and betraying me.
Neither would be tolerated.
A change in the wind made me glance over my shoulder. Ag. At my back, as always. His expression made it clear he was unimpressed by this move, and in spite of the situation, I had the strangest urge to laugh. I took a mental snapshot of his annoyed-yet-resolved expression to show Danica the next time she was asleep.
I was through the portal five minutes later, dodging the seelie guards five minutes after that.
Oh yes, they’d known I was coming. Behind me, Ag fought with a fury few realized he was capable of. Most people were used to seeing him rely on his strategic brain.
“You may wish to think this over,” he called to me as we flew, dead fae littering the ground below us.
While I’d allowed Taraghlan to send his people, my spies had kept me updated. I knew exactly how to get to bubak territory. From there, I could reach Alychia by flight much faster than those desiccated scarecrows could by land.
Ag was still talking. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “There is no other choice. They chose to run. That means they chose bloodshed.”
“If Taraghlan didn’t betray you, slaughtering his subjects is a declaration of war.”
“I won’t kill all of them. Just any who attempt to keep that fucking artifact from me.”
I was owed the artifact and the pocket realm it held. Taraghlan was the reason Danica was in the underworld in the first place. If hehadn’tbetrayed me, then he should have kept a closer eye on his people.
It took hours to fly toward the artifact, and I strained my wings, racing against time. Finally, in the distance, a sea of white came into view on the open plain below. I landed on a hill with Ag next to me, and we both took in the sight.
Here it was. The proof Taraghlan had circled around the truth. He may not be able to lie, but there were plenty of ways he could deceive when he needed to. One of his regiments was posted here, hundreds of them. And all of them blocked my way to the bubaks, who had likely already fled.
Any respect I’d had for Taraghlan as a ruler disappeared. He’d known I would come here, known I would slaughter any who prevented me from getting to my bondmate. And he’d chosen to throw his people away, obviously seeing them as nothing more than a distraction—a way to waste our time.
A muscle jerked in Ag’s cheek. “We’re going to need more of our people,” he said. “We can’t afford for both of us to be drained.”
We stood in silence, watching the seelie go through their drills. Both of us knew what this meant. Killing the seelie and hunting the bubaks would take time.
Time Danica didn’t have.
* * *
DANICA
Lucifer’s expression was darker than I had ever seen it.
He glanced at Namiros. The demon had backed away from me the moment the door opened, but it didn’t change the fact that Lucifer had caught us literally at each other’s throats.
Behind him, Pischiel stood in the doorway, his face ashen. From the look in his eyes, he fully expected to watch me die.
His hand wandered down toward the dagger at his side and I widened my eyes at him. If he attacked Lucifer, he’d die with me.
I swallowed, squaring my shoulders. Lucifer was still watching Namiros, clearly contemplating how much the demon was worth to him.
Namiros’s expression was stone, but you’d have to be blind to miss the fear in his eyes.
“I need you,” Lucifer finally said. “For now. But I don’t need you to be able to fly.”
He glanced at Namiros’s wings, and they burst into flame. The smell of burning feathers hit first, followed by the acrid scent of burning flesh.
