Crone spins back to Arga, whom we’ve been ignoring and, judging from the angry flush across his high cheekbones, he didn’t like it.
“My decision is made,” Crone says. “Arga, you will return to the Citadel and prepare for the Purification, as will your brothers and sisters.”
After a final snarl at me, Arga spins on his heel and saunters back to his siblings.
Crone calls for Tyrus and his seven soldiers. “You and your men will redeem yourselves by escorting the prisoners to their cells.”
Tyrus’s expression is unreadable as he bows to Crone before ordering his men to circle around behind us. I push the soldiers’ presence out of my mind, focusing on my sisters, knowing that every moment I spend with them now is precious.
They step in close and I squeeze their hands, my shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
Malia wraps her arm around my shoulder, a comforting gesture that only heightens my sadness. “You kept us alive, Nova. This world is not for us. Whatever you have to do to survive—you do it.”
“We’re more worried about you now,” Taniya says, leaning in on my other side while my demon wolves nudge against me one by one. Taniya’s harpy’s fury is nowhere to be seen and that concerns me more than if she were angry.
“I’ll win the first trial,” I promise them quietly. “I don’t know how, but I’ll get you out of here. Out of this whole damn Underworld.”
“We know you will,” Malia murmurs. “You’re our alpha.”
Another group of soldiers approaches us—a much larger group of nearly thirty demons, all of them carrying spears. Now that I know the soldiers aren’t allowed to hurt me, my biggest fear is for my sisters. A number of the soldiers form a row in front of us, while the rest of the group joins Tyrus and his men behind us.
Before they can encircle us and my wolves completely, Roman strides through the gap between them. The soldiers halt where they stand, keeping their distance from him. All of them bow their heads and many murmur a greeting as he passes. “Lord Rune.”
My jaw clenches as he approaches me. When we first arrived, I felt betrayed by Roman. Confused by his motivations. But now… He would have known that bringing my sisters to his world would get them killed. He knew the rules.
As deceived as I feel, I can’t help remembering the way he’d pressed his fingertip to my lips when he placed the immobilizing rune on me back in the Vegas desert; the way he’d told me that by the time I could move again, the demon would be gone, my sisters would be safe, and I could go on with my life as it was; the way he’d looked at me as if he believed it would be the last time.
He tried to stop me from following him to that final battle with Koda. I’ve been so fearful for my sisters that I’ve overlooked how hard he tried to keep me from coming to the Underworld. And there’s no denying that he attempted to aid us here on the bridge—his offer to place a rune on my sisters was one he didn’t have to make.
The conflict of emotions inside me now is intense.
Tyrus orders us to move, and I fall back a little so that Roman is just behind me on my left. At the same time, I remain close to my sisters, who proceed a scant step ahead of me where I can keep them in my sights and within touching distance. I’m comforted that my demon wolves actively spread out around us, which forces the soldiers to give us more space.
Roman’s sea-green eyes are increasingly shadowed, and a few strands of his dark blond hair fall across them, shading them even more. He seems oblivious to my gritted teeth or the emergence of my claws—or maybe he’s just ignoring the danger signs.
“You did well, Nova,” he says, his voice low. “The soldiers won’t forget that you let Tyrus live—”
“Let’s get something straight,” I snap, keeping my voice equally low. “I don’t need your approval. What Ineedis to know everything about this world that will help me survive and keep my family safe. But I have a problem. Because right now, you’re my only source of information, but you’re a practiced liar, and that means I can’t believe anything you tell me.”
Roman doesn’t look away. He’s quiet for a moment before he says, “I misled you. About a lot of things.”
I wait for him to continue. Because I can hear a ‘but’ coming from a mile away.
“You have no reason to trust me,” he says.
My forehead creases when the expected justification isn’t forthcoming. My breathing is ragged and still I wait for him to try to validate his choices—to try to placate me—but he doesn’t, and that throws me.
“Whatever anger you’re feeling toward me right now,” he says, “amplify it a thousand times and direct it at your brothers and sisters.”
“My sisters?” I ask. “You mean the demons I never met until today. Thosefemale demonsare not my sisters. And those assholes are sure as hell not my brothers. My true sisters are the people this world wants to kill.”
Roman remains quiet as he says, “I know you will fight to the death to protect your family. As you should.”
I press my lips together, my throat constricted—even more because he still isn’t trying to justify himself and I can’t risk him disarming me with his unexpected honesty.
Roman’s eyes darken. “Without your intervention, Crone would have torn them apart. You’ve made a dangerous deal, but it was the best you could have done with the knowledge you have.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He tried to tell me I made the right decision letting Tyrus live. Now’s he’s trying to tell me I secured the best deal I could have. It unsettles me that he’s still trying to counsel me at a time when he knows I don’t trust him.
