Mal and Talon took lead and the rest of us crept after them, along the corridor and then up a set of stairs at the end. We were underground—I swear, it's always underground with supervillains, or maybe that's just the traditional location for dungeons—and we came up into a dark, windowless room. The room wasn't that large, but it was empty, making it seem larger. Despite the pitch black, I saw just fine with my second sight. I could see where everyone was as well as the outline of a door at the end of the room, but it was the flash of arctic blue betrayal that caught my attention immediately.
“It's a trap!” I shouted. “Run!”
Above us, sprinklers came on. Sprinklers full of tranquilizer. As I fell to the floor, one thought filled my mind:Braxis is innocent.
Chapter Thirty-Five
I groaned awake. I was back in my cell, the door chained shut and padlocked—as was everyone else's—and my magic suppressed. I looked to my left, a little surprised to see that he was there. He must not have realized that his cover was blown. I stumbled to my feet and glared at Talon.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Talon got up and faced me through the bars.
“You know why,” I growled. “You're a plant, a spy, and I totally fell for it.”
“What?” Talon snarled.
“It's all making sense now. You didn't defend me because you treasure women. And Bishop didn't stick you in the cell next to mine just to screw with me. It was all a part of your plan. I'll bet they never suppressed your magic either, and that's why I had to remind you that we didn't have our magic when they opened the cells the second time. Did they hit you with blanks?”
“Amara, I don't know what you're talking about,” Talon protested.
“Bishop was terrified when he saw you but not just because you're a Fury,” I went on. “He kept looking at you; he knew you were going to kill him. He tried to keep your secret but when we got too close to exposing you, you used the excuse of honor to kill him. Bravo, we didn't suspect a thing.”
“What's happening right now?” Rain asked groggily.
“We were betrayed,” Malik growled. “Again.”
“And it wasn't Braxis,” Kyrian murmured in surprise. “Amara, how do you know it was Talon?”
“I saw his aura just before the sprinklers came on,” I snarled as I continued to glare at Talon. “Arctic blue betrayal. It was you. I should have been suspicious when those guys started speaking German. You don't have any parents here, do you? This is your home. And I'm betting that phone call you made the other night was to Ugela. Wasn't it, Cinneod? Cinneod Natalonus—that sounds very similar to Talonius Diocinne. Just turned around a bit. You were playing with us the whole time, giving us clues.”
Talon grimaced and shouted, “You can let me out now; they know!”
After only a minute or so, the sound of footsteps came from the corridor.
“No way,” Leo whispered.
“You fucking bastard,” Kyrian growled.
“Immortality,” Talon said with a shrug. “No one wants to die.”
“For this, you'll die sooner than you should have, Talon,” I said sweetly. “I'm going to smile while I watch Malik break your wings.”
Talon blanched but lifted his chin. “You and your Bleiten Prince will never leave this room alive.”
“Holy fuck!” Rain shouted as Ugela came into the room with her German brigade.
Ugela waved a hand at Talon's cell, and one of her minions opened the padlock, then unwound the chain securing the door.
Talon strode out of the cell and stretched his neck. “They're able to pool their power.” He waved at my men and me. “Be sure to dose them with the suppressor every four hours just to be safe.”
“Yes, Sir,” the human minions said.
“And we'll have to start over,” Talon said to Ugela, his whole demeanor shifting into cool disdain. “We won't be able to get her immortality from her magic. We need to focus on her blood again.”
Again.
I gaped at him. I'd been wrong. Ugela wasn't the mastermind, Talon was. This whole time, I'd thought it was a Triari when a Fury had been running the show.
“How long have you been a part of this?” I asked Talon. “How long have you been hunting me?
