"Shut the fuck up." I stepped toward him, and he stumbled backward—but he stayed. The fact that he was still standing there, still breathing the same air as me, made my blood boil. "You sold us out. You handed Alice to that monster. Do you have any idea what Alanna did to her?"
"I know. I know, and I'm sorry?—"
"Sorry?" A bitter laugh tore from my throat. "Sorry doesn't fix the scars on her back. Sorry doesn't erase the sound of her screaming."
Tears spilled down Rabbit's cheeks. He dropped to his knees on the marble floor, his hands clasped in front of him like he was praying. Praying to a vengeful god who had a choice—mercy or no mercy.
Looking at him made me sick. This sniveling, pathetic creature had handed Alice to Alanna. And now he wanted forgiveness? My nails bit into my palms. It took everything I had not to kick him in the teeth.
"You don't understand." His whole body shook. "Alanna has ordered my family—my wife, my children—to work in the Shadowsteel mines. Along with Flint and Steel."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
The Shadowsteel mines.
I'd heard stories. Everyone had. The black ore was used to forge harpy collars—those twisted bands of enslavement that had imprisoned the harpy Alice saved. But mining it came with a terrible cost. The ore was cursed, saturated with dark magic that seeped into your mind. Miners who worked there too long went mad. They clawed at their own eyes. Attacked each other. Some simply walked into the darkness and never came out.
And Alanna had sent Rabbit's family there. His wife. His children.
My anger faltered. Just for a moment.
"Your children? But the oldest one is seven, isn't he?"
Rabbit nodded, a sob escaping his throat. "Marcus. He's seven. The girls are five and three." He looked up at me, devastated. "Three years old, Darius. Lily is three years old, and she's in those mines right now. The queen promised to release them once you two are wed. That was the deal. Betray you and Alice... and my children get to live."
“Fuck.” I dragged my fingers through my wet hair, water dripping onto the marble floor.
Rabbit slowly rose to his feet, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “I’m supposed to help you get ready for court.” His red-rimmed eyes swept over me. “You’re still a mess. Let me help you.”
“Do you think I give shit how I look?” I grabbed the towel around my waist and threw it at his feet. “I’m about to destroy the woman I love in front of Alanna’s entire court.”
“Think of Alice.” His voice was quiet. Strained. “She’ll pay the price.”
The anger in my chest twisted, shifted. Away from Rabbit. Toward the real monster pulling all our strings.
“I hate that fucking bitch.”
“I know.” Rabbit picked up the towel, folding it with trembling hands. “But until we can find a way out of here, we’re trapped. All of us.”
I studied him—this broken, terrified man who had sold us out to save his children. He was hoping Alanna would honor her deal. But I knew her. Honor wasn't in her vocabulary. She'd string him along, keep those kids in the mines, and use them as leverage until they weren't useful anymore.
He'd damned us all for nothing.
Part of me still wanted to kill him. But another part understood. What wouldn’t a father do to save his family?
“What happened to Chester, Caterpillar, Grump, and the others?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you betray them too?”
Rabbit shook his head quickly. “No, I was able to spare them. I led them away from the grotto before Alanna, Ari, and the guards arrived. Told them to wait in the forest near the Whispering Hollow until dark, then rescue Brynn, Flint, and Steel.” He swallowed hard. “It was the only way I could keep them from being captured too.”
A small mercy. My friends and the Uncrowned were still free. I knew Grump. He and the others would be working on a plan.
It was too late for me. Any rescue attempt would only make things worse—Alanna would punish Alice for it. But if they focused on her, if they got her out before the wedding...
Grump could still save his only daughter.
“Where’s Brynn?”
“She’s still a servant in the castle. Alanna hasn’t harmed her—yet.” Rabbit met my eyes. “But that could change any moment.”
