“And?” Adrian asked, leaning forward. “It must be important if he reached out first. We haven’t sent him anything in a while.”
Damon scanned the page silently, revealing nothing in his expression. Only once he was done did he let the paper fall to the table again, eerily calm. “Sao has located the runes we have been searching for.”
I stiffened. It took all my strength to not reach for the collar. To not get my hopes up about them finding a way to get this thingoff me.
Rowan, sitting across from me, leaned forward. “What is it?”
Damon finally looked up from the table, shaking his head. “He will be sending through all images as instructed. But a boat made it through the Underworld carrying five supposed agents of Dante. Amongst them was the brother of your ally, Cato.”
Brother. I hadn’t even realised they could have been relationships. The one I’d called Jack Frost was still with Dante? Or was he a prisoner?
I shuddered, crossing my arms. “There has to be more, Damon. Spit it out.”
The demon looked conflicted, but eventually he sighed. “The one they call the Charm is also there. And he demands a meeting with his son.”
“Son?” I frowned. “Who? And who is the Charm?”
“He’s a powerful charm mage working with Dante,” Rowan explained, running a hand through his hair. “But why would he be asking for a meeting with some random person? Why not you?”
“Because the son he seeks is notrandom,” Damon replied, pushing the paper towards my mate. “You are the son, Rowan Archer.”
The room fell silent as Rowan read the letter himself. My heart pounded. I remembered Rowan telling me he had no clue who his biological father was. It was something we’d bonded over—Kerry never revealed who mine was, either.
Maybe, like me, he thought his father was dead. Missing. Gone.
But this was somehow worse. Knowing he was tied to Dante was one thing, but knowing he was one of Dante’s greatest allies?
I couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind.
Only anger appeared in Rowan’s hazel eyes as he set the paper down. “Have a healer compare his signature and DNA to mine. He’s not coming anywhere near me or us until we know he’s telling the truth.”
If I could reach across the table and take his hand, I would. They sat fisted either side of the letter. “Are you okay?” I asked gently. “Ro?”
My mate didn’t look at me as he shook his head. “Not really,” he replied, voice strained. And then he laughed.
Laughed like this was the funniest, most painful thing in the world. The room fell silent, though I heard the pain in each cackle, in the way he tried to keep himself from breaking.
“Of course, my mother wouldbreedwith someone working with our enemy,” he said, wiping his eyes. Rising, I moved around the table, barely holding back a flinch as he slammed his fist against the table. “If this is true, then my mother would have known. She would have had to know.”
Gently, I ran my fingers through his dark red hair and cupped the back of his neck. “Maybe she didn’t,” I murmured. “He could have been hiding himself the same way Dante was. You never know.”
Rowan stiffened, glancing up at me with dark eyes. “And yet, he still helped put you in a cage.”
I flinched, breath catching in my throat. “He did,” I replied, nodding once. “But that has nothing to do with you or Sable. He chose to do that. And now, he might be the only one who can get this thing off.”
A tick formed in his jaw as he stared at me. I wished I had access to his thoughts, his emotions. Wished I could give him more comfort through the turmoil of emotions he was probably experiencing.
Slowly, he wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me into his lap. As soon as I was seated, his head fell to my shoulder. “If he really is my father, I want nothing to do with him. I want him to rot with Dante.”
A shiver prickled my skin. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it,” I murmured, arm going around his shoulders. “He’s with Cato’s brother, and three others. Do we have anything on them?”
The letter drifted to the air to Maeve, who skimmed itwhile Damon shook his head. “They were the only important ones of note.”
“It is possible the others were working with Sunniva,” I said. “She told me there were others like her in the compound, and they’re the reason why so many were able to escape in the first place.”
“Did she tell you anything else?” Maeve asked, setting the letter down with a frown.
I shook my head, breathing a sigh of irritation. “I don’t think she was working with Sable. That was the only impression I got from her. Otherwise, surely Sable and Nyx would have known about Dante sooner.”
