My stomach chooses that moment to make its unhappiness known with a low growl.
“And I need sleep,” I continue, accepting my exhaustion, both emotional and physical.
“And then?” Halle asks.
“Then I’m going to see your brother,” I say.
She stares at me in surprise. Then her eyes narrow. “To ask for information or to kill him?”
“Not to kill him,” I say.
“A shame.” She huffs before she glares daggers at Jonah. “Well. Good luck finding him.”
Ignoring the jotunn, who is eyeing me cautiously, I give Halle a smug smile. “I already know where he is. He’s with Elijah’s mother.”
Halle’s eyes widen, her dead iris flaring with amber light. “On Mount Greylock? No, surely not. He would never be so foolish as to venture there.”
I resist the urge to glance at Jonah, maintaining a deadpan expression as I return Halle’s shocked gaze. I don’t know exactly where Mount Greylock is located, but I’m sure my pack will help me.
“Youcertainly can’t go there,” Halle says, staring back at me. “That’s a very bad idea.”
I’m not sure why she’s suddenly so worried until Anarchy leans in toward me. “Mount Greylock is a dangerous place to visit.”
“As dangerous as Saber Lane,” Lucian says, his golden eyes filled with a worry I can’t ignore.
“Saber Lane?” I ask.
“Assassin territory,” Lucian replies. “Mount Greylock is under the protection of the Assassin’s Legion.”
Hmm.That isn’t happy news. Mom warned me about the Assassin’s Legion. Their base is hidden in Boston and she told me to do everything I could to avoid them.
Riot speaks up, his voice as serious as always, but there’s a depth of concern in his tone that, like Lucian’s worry, I can’t ignore. “If the same women who controlled Mount Greylock before we were imprisoned do now, then they don’t need protection.”
“I saw one of those women when we took Elijah to safety,” Anarchy says. “I’m glad we kept our distance. Even the keeper was on edge around her.”
“Who are they?” I ask, intensely curious now.
The four dark elves speak in unison. “Furies.”
Oh.Fuck.
Riot elaborates. “We don’t know much about the current state of affairs because of how long we were caged. But Mount Greylock has been their stronghold for millennia. You don’t go there unless you have a death wish.”
If the women who control Mount Greylock are furies, then he isn’t exaggerating. My mother was clear about them: Furies are vengeance incarnate.
But in some ways, that only feels more fitting to me.
It’s their nature to see inside a supernatural’s soul and identify every awful thing that supernatural has ever done—and then deliver terrible retribution for it.
I quickly recall what my mother told me about their abilities. They’re self-healing, they have the power to inflict pain and disease, they carry whips that can flay the flesh from my bones even more effectively than light magic, and they wear multiple poisonous snakes around their bodies.
They usually live in threes, which triples the danger.
Anarchy chews her lip, revealing the sharp fangs she can use to immobilize prey. “You’re strong, Darkness. But furies are built to take down any supernatural, no matter their strength. They are unique in that way.”
“Judge, jury, and executioner,” Lucian says. “They’re a contradiction—dark creatures who kill dark creatures.”
I consider my pack one at a time. Each of their concerned faces.
