“I don’t think so.” Riven glances at his feet; his eyes flitting over everything but me. “Crag will have caught our scent on the cliff by now, but he’ll have nothing to track since we used the stone to leave.”
That’s good news, but Riven’s brow is creased.
I tilt my head. “Then why are you worried?”
He sighs. “They’re covering ground faster than I expected, and the demon’s right—those numbers... almost every veydran on this realm is canvassing the forest. They’re motivated.”
I sink onto the couch beside Ciprian and tug at the sleeve of my sweatshirt absently. “That’s my father’s specialty. He inspires no loyalty, but makes up for it through fear.”
“He must have a hold over them. Some incentive to keep them in line.” Malach appears at the edge of the living room. His curls are plastered to the side of his head, and his green eyes are dull and sunken. He looks worse than I’ve ever seen him.
Riven’s hands curl, then his face warps.
“What is it?” I sit up straighter.
“The families on the mainland.” Riven begins to pace. “All veydran are required to serve the arena for five years, but some choose to stay longer. It’s lucrative work. Most send money back to their families on the mainland.”
“A built-in weakness,” Malach murmurs. “S’lach’s favorite kind.”
“Many of the veydran here go home several times a year on leave. If that were taken away...”
“He’s gotten to someone at the top,” I say. “Someone in a position of power.”
My shoulders dip. I’m not my father; I know that, but his actions cause so much pain, and I can’t help feeling ashamed. When I was younger, I thought he was content to only hurt Mom and me. Now, I’m not sure. His obsession with control is only getting worse.
From his iron grip on thethatshaclass to his cruelty in the lower echelons. It’s endless. And now he’s manipulating shifter politics on the monster realm to torment me. When will it be enough for him?
I roll my shoulders back and hold my head high. There’s no point drowning in the reality of my father’s evil; we need a game plan. “If that many veydran are busy searching for us, who’s left to guard the portal?”
Riven stops pacing. “Not many, unless they’ve added another line of defense I’m unaware of.”
“We’ll fight our way out if we have to, but it would be safer to sneak out.” I glance at Luca. “Provided our bonding works.”
Ciprian lifts his head and grins. “You talked him into it?”
I nudge him with my shoulder. “You know I can be persuasive.”
He licks his lips, winks at me, then looks at Riven. “Alistair and I are about to have a very loud, very heated argument. Where is the most convenient place for us to do that?”
“Downstairs,” Riven says.
I raise my eyebrows and study Alistair. His blue eyes are locked on Ciprian, his expression carefully blank.
Hope flickers to life inside me, and my wings explode from my back. Ciprian leans forward to make room for them, stroking the feathers of the closest wing gently.
“I didn’t know there was a downstairs,” Luca mutters,glancing around as if he expects a staircase to appear out of thin air.
“It’s not much,” Riven grunts.
Ciprian hums cheerfully, braces his hands on his thighs, and stands up. “When you talk about it that way, I imagine the dank basement of a ship. What do they call that?”
Riven sighs. “I have no idea.”
“The hold.” Malach shrugs when we all look at him with surprise. “Imani and I had a pirate-themed vocabulary day.”
My heart pinches. I miss my best friend. She’ll be worried sick by now. About me and Luca, and Malach too. I hope she’s been staying hydrated.
What will my life be like when we get back?
