Beneath me, Rowan stiffened. “You think someone else is helping?” he asked carefully as he pulled back.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. The thought of another player in this twisted game of power made my skin crawl.
“If there is another team at play, then this is so much bigger than just runes and skulls,” Elias said from the other end of the table. “We’re talking conspiracies not even Nyx or the Seer know about.”
Tension hung heavily in the air, silence settling over us. Nyx and Sable had been working together, likely for years, so Dante wouldn’t get my power. They’d been making changes to everything around me to ensure I survived. They’d been moving us around like pieces on a chess board, and we always assumed Dante was the other player.
Sable’s mention ofthe Order of Emrisreplayed in my mind. It’d been brief, in reference to the war that stole the Old World from the Queen at the time. But I remembered the name from somewhere else.
“The Order of Emris,” I murmured, glancing around the room. “What about them?”
Rowan stiffened, his hands going still. “What?” he asked, voice breaking.
“It was something your mother mentioned in my dream,” I said, looking down at him. “She mentioned the order in referenceto the war, but…I don’t know. I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
“That is because the Order rose from Eryx’s uncle, Emris,” Damon said, his voice dark. “He went after Pandora’s power, tried to steal his sister’s crown. Emris wanted to be the High King of Faery and he intended to tear the realm apart for it. When no heir presented herself to take the High Throne, he decided it was owed to him. Instead, Eryx lopped his head off.”
“That sounds awfully familiar,” I replied, tightening my hold on Rowan, as a chill rolled down my spine. “But the Order?”
“Rose from Emris’s death and had something to do with the war, I think,” Rowan said, voice strained.
“Is there a chance that Dante is working with someone from the Order?” I asked.
Rowan shook his head. “It should be impossible. But we don’t know.”
“We might think it impossible, but there is no way to tell what came to Avalon after the war. Members of the Order likely made it through, and their manifesto with them,” Damon said darkly.
“But why now?” I asked, voice shaky. “Why help Dante? Why make themselves known now?”
“Maybe Dante was easy to manipulate,” Adrian said, shrugging, drumming his fingers on the table. “He said he found something about Emris, right? While he was out partying. A letter or something from a maid about what Emris was doing, and that’s what put his plan in motion.”
“They would have chosen now because of Greer,” Maeve added, her expression blank as she folded the letter and placed it inside a file. “They had a figurehead with Dante, and Greer’s reign was coming to an end. The pieces they needed were falling into place.”
“But the only problem with this is, Thor and I have no recollection of hearing anything to do with Emris or the order,” Hawk said, voice tight. “Unless you do?” He looked at Xerxes, brows furrowed.
We all turned towards my Primal mate, who scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t believe I did,” he said, sighing. “And I cannot recall any history passed down about the Order, though the Elders of our clans might.”
“Even if the Order is involved, chances of Dante allowing any of it to spill out into his soldiers or captives would be low,” Maeve murmured, shaking her head. “But that does not answer the question of who your rescuer is working for.”
Eyes turned to me, making my stomach twist. The Order of Emris answered how Dante was able to do so much over the years, how he was able to plan any of this. How he could even get his hands on something as powerful as God Runes and information on the skull.
But Maeve was right. We had answers about Dante, but not Sunniva and her plans.
“You doing okay?”I asked, finding Rowan in the bathroom. His shirt was halfway off, revealing the strong, lean lines of his body and the runes marked across his hips, as well as the pink scar from when he’d been stabbed.
He pulled the shirt off completely, sighing. “Could be better,” he said, tossing the shirt and stalking towards me. “It’s not every day you learn your bio dad might be a villain out to get your mate.”
I pressed my lips together, stepping into his waiting arms. “Have an open mind,” I replied, melting into his embrace, enjoying the heat of his body way too much. “A lot of crazy things are possible.”
Rowan kissed the top of my head. For the first time since the escape, it felt like we were…good again. Like we were in a familiar place.Of course, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
“You are too good to people who don’t deserve it,” he said against the top of my head.
I stiffened. “I’ve murdered people.”
Rowan snorted, giving me a squeeze before pulling back. “You’ve protected yourself and the people you love. I wouldn’t go as far as murder. Self-defence, maybe.”
“Say that to the dead people.”
