“Letters sent through the shadows should do the trick.” Damon moved to the centre island and set down a piece of paper and a pen. “We’ll make the list and give them an hour to gather our supplies. We will need weapons?—”
“No need,” Elias cut in. “Orion already made sure we’d have plenty.”
“There are trunks upstairs full of them,” Maeve added. “As well as some limited supplies down here. It appears he left certain things for later, never getting the chance to unloadthem. I’d imagine he might have a supply of other necessities somewhere.”
Knowing Orion and how well he thought through all of this, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Maeve grabbed the pen and paper and started her list. I couldn’t read what she wrote, but I had a feeling it was more than just coffee, clothes, and blood bags.
“What else?” Maeve asked, looking up from the page and glancing around the room.
Rowan and Adrian shared a look I couldn’t read, which annoyed me more than I expected it to.
I was so used to Adrian and Rowan being at my side when things were hard, that them running off felt like a betrayal. When there were plans to be made and battles to be fought, it was usually Elias and Maeve disappearing to handle it.
The reverse felt strange, and although I liked having Elias and Maeve at my side, I also wanted Rowan and Adrian there, too.
“A note to my father,” Adrian said quietly, eyes finding mine briefly. “Ask him to write out the runes he remembers from Ivy’s cage and chains. Whatever he saw, he needs to tell me what he knows. What he thinks they meant. That’ll take him longer, that’s okay, but we need to know what he saw and felt specifically. He might know more about the magic than us since he was there.”
My heart dropped into my stomach as I stared at them. “Why do you need that?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.
For a moment, I saw a flash of the bars. Their thick metal, old yet carved with runes I didn’t recognise. The power they’d radiated, the energy they’d sucked from me. I hadn’t realised before howweakI’d felt inside the cage until I was out of it. The cage in the Pit had been nothing compared to my cell in the shifter prison.
A shiver rolled down my spine, so I tightened my arms around myself, looking away from my mates and down at the checkerboard flooring.
“We’re going to reverse the runes so we can get the collar off, Ivy,” Rowan said. “I should have done this before we rescued you, and I’ll blame myself for the next five hundred years for making you stand there with that thing around your neck for another moment longer. But we’re working on a way to get it off.”
I swallowed hard, glancing towards him, taking in the desperation darkening his hazel eyes. “It’s not your fault,” I sighed, shaking my head.
“The Goddess gave me those visions for a reason, and I still wasn’t prepared,” he replied, taking me by surprise. “But I’ll work day and night to get that off you and heal your scars.”
“We will need healing balm for your back,” Damon said, looking sharply at me. “And the potion Cyrus has been making to stop the spell Dante placed on you.”
An hour later,Damon used his shadows to summon our supplies. The large area in the back of the house went from empty to full of a different assortment of things I didn’t expect.
“Who put this together?” Rowan asked, scratching the back of his neck. “We didn’t ask for that much, did we?”
“Sao likely added his own flare to ensure we asked for nothing else,” Damon muttered, taking a step towards the pallet of trunks, boxes, and things. “Ah.”
He pulled something off the top, which looked like a note. Unfolding, Damon read aloud, “To my King and Queen, I have ensured all you asked for is present, as well as additional medical supplies, clothing, weaponry, and the tomes Sir Rowan had been working his way through in the palace library. There is food, as well as the potion. Sir Theon is working on his end of the request and assures me he will have it done within the day. Your loyal servant, Sao.”
“Do they know we’re hiding elsewhere?” I asked, moving to the pallet. “That we aren’t in the Underworld?”
“Only a select few know we aren’t there,” Maeve replied, joining me. “To everyone else, we returned. That way, if Dante asks around, he’ll think we’re there.”
My stomach twisted uncertainly as I grabbed a duffel bag. “Which means he’ll probably attack the Underworld.”
No one responded right away, but there were wary looks shared around the room.
The thought of him going after innocents just to get to me made bile rise in my throat. I was about to lose my appetite all over again.
Before I could do more with the duffel, Damon grabbed it from my hand and swung it over his shoulder with a smirk. “No heavy lifting, wife. We can handle this.”
“It was a bag of clothes, probably,” I replied, hands going to my hips. “Nothing strenuous.”
“Until we know the state you are in and your health, no risks will be taken,” he stated, head cocked. “We’ve no idea the effect this potion has had on you, and until we give you the reversal, we don’t know what state you are in, the trimester—anything. Lifting a bag could put you into early labour for all we know.”
I wanted to roll my eyes and call him ridiculous, but a small part of me was terrified he was right.
