“Your last High Queen gave her magic to the first Queen of Nyx,” I replied. “Do you not remember that? And even she had a weak usurper. A male who thought himself powerful enough to rule. But do you really want to know what happened to him?” I cocked my head, but his eyes flickered away. “He went mad. From that skull. It killed him in the end. Slain by his nephew because the power consumed him. And he never had the chance to steal Pandora’s power.”
“Lies.”
Shaking my head, I sighed. “Believe it or not, I do not care, Hyperion. Soon enough, your blood will be cleansed. And once I am done sifting through your memories, I will leave you to rot down here alone, until Nyx comes to claim your soul.”
I mademy way into the war room, where the rest of my bond mates sat around a long table. Spread out across one end was a map of the Luna Court, an illusion built by a nearby witch. And surrounding the map were not just the team, but generals of Wrath.
Perhaps before all of this, I would have shown my respect for the legendary leaders. For four hundred years, the three brothers had ruled House Wrath with clear precision and without contention. No other Wrath demon dared try for their throne. Their age made them deadly, but also a liability. Demons aged much slower than creatures of Nyx. Could live hundreds of years longer than even vampires.
But I walked past them towards Elias at the end of thetable. Dark circles bruised his now dull green eyes. Yet despite that, he wore his gear, clean and repaired. The only thing he hadn’t done in days was shave.
Sitting across from one another was Adrian and Rowan. The former looked like hell, smelling of honey wine and despair. The latter was eerily quiet, dressed in his gear, which smelled of washing detergent.
They weretooclean. Too pressed.
I still had blood on my hands from Hyperion. My nails were caked in it. I hadn’t stepped foot in a shower in days, using simple spells to clean myself when needed.
No one looked disgusted as I joined them, taking a seat. My eyes flickered down to the map of Luna. The Courts of Faery were normally hidden; you were granted access by the courts, or you weren’t. There were maps of the lands, but even those were questionable at best. The Queens who came before Ivy had tried to pave paths of peace, of easy communication and movement between all the realms. But none had succeeded, and here we were. The courts betraying Nyx and their Queen for a bastard with an ego. Aligning themselves with someone who killed their own mates for power.
“Do we have any idea if this map is correct?” I asked, crossing my arms.
Adrian barely looked up from the mountains that made up Luna. Elias rested his hands on the edge of the table, leaning into the wooden surface. Rowan sat back, arms also crossed, face unusually blank. Rhadamanthus stared out the window overlooking Elysian, his back to us. And the three demon generals said nothing.
Finally, after a shake of his head, Elias sighed. “We can’t be sure. Rhadamanthus’s informant is going to be documenting what he can when he arrives.”
I glanced sharply at the king. “You’re sending someone in?”
“He owes a great debt,” one of the generals replied. This one had snow-white hair and ice blue eyes, a scar running through his left eye down to the corner of his lip, which pulledin a smirk. “And he’s loyal. He won’t want to find out what happens to disloyal demons.”
I made a sound in the back of my throat. They had plenty of disloyal demons; just like there were too many disloyal vampires and mages and Fae. I had to wonder, if with the right motivation, their demon informant wouldn’t betray them for our enemy.
Perhaps I was cynical after dealing with Hyperion for so long, for having to hear his motivations, hisreasonsfor seeking power. Or maybe it was hearing the way my mate completely shattered at the perceived death of her first love that made me doubt the general’s words.
“I suppose we will see,” I muttered in response, unable to summon anything better.
I felt the wary, perhaps even concerned, stares of my bond mates on me. There was more conversation about their spy going into the Luna Court, the primary location he was meant to search being the Titania Mountains. It was our only lead; the one slip up Dante made when going on this power-hungry spiel in front of Ivy, Adrian, and Rhadamanthus. Something about an old temple where he found a letter addressed to the first usurper.
There was more, but I drowned it out, their voices nothing to the echo of Ivy’s scream in my head. I barely even noticed when the generals left, leaving me with the demon king and what remained of Ivy’s mate circle.
It started with the four of us.
Four brought together by the tricky hands of a Seer pulling too many strings.
Four sent to find our future Queen and protect her from those hunting her.
Four who failed in their basic mission. Who did not deserve the woman they’d lost.
Because of us, the realms were doomed.
4
Adrian
It should have relieved me knowing there was a scout entering the Luna Court in search of my mate. It should have given me hope knowing there was someone going out to dosomething.
But only shame burned within me as I left the war room. An emptiness I couldn’t escape burrowed deep within me, chipping away at what strength I had left.
Ilet Dante take Ivy. I’d been too weak, too lost in my own desire for revenge to actually be prepared. It was my fault she was gone. I’d been there with her, in the cottage standing across from Dante. But I’d let her down.
