“What’s that?” I asked, frowning.
“Different fruits all cut up and mixed together,” she replied.
Understanding hit me, and I nodded slowly. “We call that something different,” I replied. “But that is a much simpler way to explain it.”
“What does her power have to do with Rhadamanthus?” the wolf asked, bracing his hands on the island.
“We have stories about the Queen and her mates,” I explained, crossing my arms. “About how her magic is tied to each of the realms. I thought it odd that our fated doesn’t have a mate solely from the Underworld. Hawk is from two realms, not just the Underworld, and none of your other mates are from there. So, I thought Rhadamanthus had to be a mate.”
Ivy stared at me for a moment before shaking her head. “He doesn’t have a mate,” she reiterated, giving me a look I couldn’t read. “It’s not possible.”
Despite her words, doubt flickered in her eyes as she went back to preparing the fruit salad quietly. I glanced at the wolf, who watched me with an unreadable expression. It was when he bowed his head that I felt like I could breathe. Like I wasn’t the only one having the same thoughts.
My knowledge was little, that I couldn’t deny. But I doubted the King of the Elysian Fields would be here otherwise. He wouldn’t be reacting the way he was. Even with their marriage deal, he was far more invested than most would be.
Maybe Ivy didn’t believe it, but there was some truth there. She only had to open her eyes and see it.
73
Rhadamanthus
“Anything?” the vampire asked, stopping in the doorway of the old study I found hidden down one of the many unfinished hallways.
I glanced up from my own research: the books the Fae prince stowed in the trunks. There had to be a reason he’d brought them to the island in the first place, though from what I could see, there was nothing uniform about the tomes.
With a sigh, I sat back. “Nothing from Sao about our imprisoned soldiers, and nothing amongst these pages.”
“Why would he bring them? If not for Ivy, of course,” she murmured, stepping into the study, eyeing the crates. Any weapons had been moved to a secure room, and if there were other hidden secrets within the trunks, I had yet to find them.
I shrugged, picking up one of the lengthy textbooks on witch history. “I doubt he intentionally chose them with her in mind, unless she loves history.” Which I had a feeling she enjoyed, but not enough to fill an entire room.
The vampire stopped in front of my desk and picked up an old text on pack registration from nearly two hundred years ago. “Orion wouldn’t have risked bringing these to the island if they weren’t important.”
“Unless they were already here, and he was storing them so they wouldn’t be damaged?” Though even that didn’t makeenough sense. Most of these books were charmed with specific enchantments to protect the pages. They didn’t need to be stored.
She just shook her head as she flipped through the pages, a sigh falling from her lips as she did. “We need those reports,” she murmured, setting the book aside and meeting my eye. “Something. Anything to get that collar off.”
I clenched my jaw, grabbing a piece of parchment. “I’ll tell Sao to hurry, but the dungeons are filling. Every time they return to the Luna Court, they find another soldier on the run. And now, our people feel bold. If they find one of Dante’s scouts, they take them, too.”
“Tell him to focus on the soldiers we pulled,” she said, planting her hands on the table, eyes on the paper before me. “I just want them. But also get photographs of Hyperion’s hands. He might have hidden runes beneath his skin. Something that signifies him being one of Dante’s High Council members so we can identify the others.”
With a single nod, I wrote her words into a brief letter to Sao, highlighting the importance of unlocking any hidden charms and runes. Greer’s mate would have likely ensured by now that any charms on their persons were void, the magic useless, but we needed to check none had been erased in the process—or altered.
It took only a few moments to have the letter finished, sealed, and sent away. And within those moments, there was only silence between the vampire and me.
Within the quiet, I could only think about the rage. It was one of the few emotions that was truly potent. I thought of my Queen in the dark hallway, her wide eyes sparkling with fear as I stalked towards her. I’d seen her strength from the very beginning, and yet, I could also see it waning with each passing day. Not her physical strength, but the inner power she held.
She tried so hard to hold onto the frayed threads of it, but they were slipping from her fingers.
Before I could break the silence, a letterappeared on the desk before me. Sao’s bitter magic teased the air for a moment before disappearing like it’d never been there.
“That was fast,” the vampire murmured, moving to stand directly beside me. Her scent of copper, sea air, and vanilla tickled my nose as I picked up the letter.
My King,
I have made Elara Blackwood aware of your needs and have alerted Sir Theon of his task.
But I am afraid we have gotten word from our scouts in Avalon. Dante is rallying his army and sending teams out to hunt our Queen. He is burning homes of those suspected of still being on the side of Nyx and has taken to destroying temples. Oberon Academy is under another full attack, and Headmistress Sylvia is not sure how long she will last with the students. She is not sure her wards will hold.
