“How do you not know?” The anger in Halle’s eyes makes me wary. She’s looking at me as if I’m some kind of traitor. I remember the way she accused me of being “on the wrong side of this” when I first fought her.
My senses are suddenly going haywire.
What does she think I know?
“Because Galeia didn’t tell me anything,” I snarl, breaking away from my family to advance on her. “She certainly didn’t prepare me for the shitshow I stepped into when I finally found Taiven Nostra—my father.”
Not a lie since it wasn’t her in the prison with me.
Halle takes a step back, her eyes widening and her focus darting from me to the others, appearing as if she’s reassessing the entire situation.
In the background, Jonah’s amber eyes are blazing at me. I mean, fuck, I didn’t even know he existed. I didn’t know that Halle and James Vanguard are old gods. And I sure as fuck didn’t know my biological mother had a mechanical heart.
“I tell you what, Hel,” I say to her, at the same time slowly moving my left hand behind me to gesture to my family to move back. “Now that you’ve chosen to be here, why don’tweplay a little game? Just you and me.”
“What game?”
I wait a moment for my family to edge backward, although I don’t miss the unhappy looks they’re giving me. Especially the keeper, who has quickly morphed into his enenra form—the same smoke-and-ash form he previously used to survive Halle’s deadly vines.
I remove my sunglasses and drop them onto the pavement with a clatter, after which I allow my claws to descend. “For every cut I make, you’ll give me a truthful answer.”
Her jaw clenches, but she doesn’t immediately protest. “I assume that works both ways?”
I incline my head. “Indeed. For every cut you make, I’ll giveyouan answer.”
“Accepted,” she snarls, darting toward me.
CHAPTER FORTY
Black vines shoot from Halle’s fingertips as she flies across the short distance between us.
Each vine has a sharp tip and whips through the air, aimed at my face and side.
In the past, I would have cut them with my claws—and that seems to be what she’s expecting, because she’s clearly trying to distract me with one hand while the vines shooting from her other hand sail toward my legs.
But Anarchy taught me well.
I dart to the right and throw myself into a slide, away from the vines coming for my legs. The pavement cuts up my pants, but I’m healing even as the cuts are made. The strength of my slide takes me right up to her left leg before she can adjust her aim.
My left hand catches her ankle and with a forward push in the direction of my momentum, I upend her. A scream flies from her mouth as she lurches forward. I’m already at her back, reaching for her nearest arm and wrenching it toward me.
She has no hope of regaining her balance and she can’t turn fast enough.
I catch sight of her widening eyes a second before she hits the ground, face planting on the pavement.
Oomph.I sense the air rushing from her chest as I land with my knee against her spine, pinning her down.
Before her vines can whip at me, I slice through them with two efficient cuts on either side, and then I yank her wrists together, forcing her palms flat against her lower back, immobilizing her arms and ensuring any vines she conjures now will only pierce her own body.
“Damn,” she gasps against the ground, her voice breathy. “You’ve been practicing.”
“I’ve used my time wisely.”
In the background, Orlan has lurched forward, but Halle shouts to him, “Don’t interfere.”
Shifting my knee to pin one of her hands, I lean down over her shoulder to where her face is turned to the side.
Carefully, I use my free hand to very deliberately prick her cheek with the tip of my claw, drawing the tiniest spot of blood. “How did I end up in that prison?”
