“Many fae are in this room,” Ozias said. “They have a…smell.”
Ben glanced over his shoulder at Koios. Then Koios realized the ass was biting back a laugh. He wanted to snarl, but even thinking it hurt his chest.
“Most fae smell of flowers and something other,” Ben said.
Ozias grunted. “Like I said,theyreek.”
“Oh for fucks sake,” Iris snapped. “Enough. Can you help my brother or not?”
Ozias shrugged. “I know not, Harpy. You are an odd one. Harpy and….”
“I’m going to rip his tongue?—”
“Easy, Iris,” Bailey said. “This is information you don’t have, right? Yeah, the prince is more like a toad, but uncouth or not, having knowledge is always better than not.”
“You’re quoting my brother,” Iris said.
“Well, he’s the one who wanted Ozias to come here. I figure he has his reasons.”
“These two are siblings,” Ozias said, wrinkling up his nose again. He gestured to Koios and Nyx as he spoke. “Harpies don’t normally mix with dwarves. They are an oddity.”
Koios glanced at Nyx, who tightened her hold on his hair. Ozias made her nervous, and not much bothered a woman who spent her days surrounded by screaming toddlers.
“We’re all siblings,” Nyx countered.
“Of choice, not blood,” Ozias said. “Except you and the broken-winged one. You are blood. The golden child has the same…harpy mother.”
“I swear to the goddess,” Iris began, but Bailey moved in front of her and stood in between her and the hell prince before she could finish her threat.
Ozias turned his attention back to Koios. “There is something else, something…I must look with my magic.”
Ben looked at Koios again. “Do you want him to look?”
Koios hesitated for only a second. “Yes,” he gasped, hating how weak he sounded.
Ozias moved to Ben’s side. His eyes swirled the darkest of blacks for a split second before he let out a gasp. He stepped back quickly, and from the horrified expression on his formerly haughty face, what he’d seen wasn’t good.
“Valravyn,” Ozias hissed. “I cannot interfere with this curse. It will be the end of me and mine if I do.”
“Curse?” Ben asked.
“Valravyn?” Solomon bellowed. “There are no valravyn in the human realm.”
“Perhaps not now,” Ozias said, “but there once was. What price did the broken-winged one pay to the dark one?”
“He didn’t,” Solomon said. “He’s one of the kids, like the ones at Nick’s.”
Ozias shook his head. “Impossible. The valravyn don’t barter with…children.”
“What?” Ben asked. “What did you just think of?”
“They barterforchildren,” Ozias added. “Solomon, I must leave this place. I cannot risk the wrath of the valravyn. It is forbidden to interfere with the death maker’s curse.”
“That makes no sense,” Logan said. “If it’s a curse, then it’s not good. A hell creature curses someone from another realm and you can’t do anything? Are you that terrified of it?”
Ozias’s magic swirled in his eyes. “I fear nothing in this realm.”
And then Ben stepped in between the danger yet again. “Ozias, will you explain it to me differently? You’re using words like curse, and in our realm, curses are bad. That’s the alpha’s confusion.”
