I sigh and scratch my fingers through her thick fur. “You and me, huh?”
Anassa’s ears twitch around, and she perks up. Her eyes land on the door.“Your friends are approaching.”
“Oh, finally,” I say lightly, and head to the door. I called for them hours ago. I hear Anassa stand and shake herself and then pad back outside.
I open the door just as someone knocks and am nearly knocked off my feet by the sheer force of Izabel throwing herself at me.
“I’ve been hit enough times today, Iz,” I say with a laugh, gently disentangling myself from her.
Pulling back, I survey my best friend, making sure she’s safe after the shit show earlier. Her long, black hair is in a tight ponytail, exposing the elegant line of her neck—not a scratch on it. She narrows her deep brown eyes, clearly doing the same thing I am.
“Are you okay?” we ask at the same time.
“Wow, you’re like twins,” Tomison says with a playful smirk as he enters the room. He throws an arm around Izabel’s shoulders that she quickly shrugs off, tossing him an irritated look.
Venna steps up, rolling her eyes. “Ha, ha.” She’s Izabel’sactualtwin—an identical mirror image, except Venna’s sleek hair is cut in a short bob and streaked through with dark blue, marking her as a member of Kryptos, unlike the rest of us Strategos pack members.
“Here,” Nevah says, stepping through the threshold and thrusting a bottle of emberwine in my direction. “Figured we could all use this after today.” She glances around my room and lets out a low whistle. “They just keep upgrading you, huh, Cooper?”
I grab the bottle from her and lead my friends into the main sitting area of the room. While they loudly admire my new chambers, I uncork the bottle and pour us all glasses. Then we sit down on the rug by the fire.
The moment I’m settled, Izabel grips my shoulders, looks me in the eye, and says, “I’m going to execute Killian for what he did.” My eyes widen. “I’m serious. Blood everywhere. They won’t find his body.”
“You don’t want to send a message with it?” Tomison jokes.
“Okay, they’ll only find hishead,” Izabel says, a disturbing expression on her face.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so warmed by an offer of brutal murder, but I am. “You’ll have to get in line,” I tell her with half a smile.
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, but at least leave mesomethingto stab.”
“Noted, keep pieces of his body for target practice.”
Nevah crosses her arms, her face troubled. “How did he even get out of here, anyway?”
I fill them all in on what happened between us in his chambers, making sure to face Venna—who’s hard of hearing—so that she doesn’t miss a word. Then I remind them of the memory I shared to all the Bonded of him disappearing in a swirl of shadow.
Venna tilts her head, her hair just brushing her shoulder. “It sounds almost like rifting. You know, how we Kryptos manipulate light and shadow to mask our locations and hide ourselves.”
She’s right—just like in the arena, when the older Kryptos woman was disappearing and reappearing. “That’s what it’s called, rifting? But that’s just a cover, right? You can’t disappear and reappear in a different location?”
“No,” Venna says, her tone contemplative.
“Killian said…” His name tastes foul on my tongue. Shaking it off, I continue, “He said that the pack’s powers were ‘rent from my own.’ I wonder if this ability is like some heightened, extreme version of what Kryptos can do.”
Venna nods. “That would make sense.”
“Only one way to find out,” Tomison says. “Give it a go!”
Izabel smacks him in the chest. “You idiot. How can she use a power she doesn’t even understand?”
“I agree with Iz,” Nevah says. She bites her lip in concern and then continues, “After what happened in the arena, Mer—”
I raise a hand, cutting her off as I grow faint from the reminder. All that power, wielded so casually. All those deaths on my hands. I’ve barely let myself think about it since Stark found me in his office this morning.
Images of their bodies rise before my eyes, and I scrub my hands over my face, willing away the panic that quickly follows.
“I know,” I say, my pulse pounding. “My power—my strength—is dangerous. Fatal, even. And I don’t have control of it yet. I shouldn’t attempt anything too far outside of what we know the packs can do. I’d possibly risk my own life and others’.”
