Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Z
E xplaining to my mates that I’d been sucked into another trial right under their noses had, unsurprisingly, not gone over well.
“So time moves differently there,” Devlin murmured, scrubbing a hand down his haggard face.
“Wherever there is,” Bash muttered.
The eight of us had returned to our tent shortly after our conversation with the vampire representative—a conversation that had, frankly, not gone over well.
Nobody trusted them. Not really. An uneasy, acrimonious tension hovered in the air like a blade poised to fall.
“Lilith sent us.” The vampire was tall and slender, with pitch-black hair that contrasted strikingly against his pale skin and blood-red eyes.
When he spoke, I detected a hint of an accent, the slightest softening of vowels that made every word he said almost lyrical.
“We are here to serve the true king and queen.” His eyes flicked to a shell-shocked Jax first before landing on me. The edges of his lips tilted upwards. “Let me know how I may serve you.”
We, of course, didn’t allow them into our protected camp, but that didn’t mean jack shit. They obviously knew where we were, and if they secretly worked for the enemy, they could strike at any time—find a way to weaken our defenses, chip away at them like they were papier-maché.
“We gave the mages a chance,” Mali had said softly when we discussed everything with the council, her gaze lowered. “Why can’t the vampires have one as well?”
I hadn’t known how to respond to that, mainly because I didn’t understand what the fuck was happening. It seemed too…surreal that an entire species would willingly change sides in the war to come. Vampires hated humans, and vice versa. For as long as I had lived, they had seen us—or them—as nothing but cattle. Food. Blood bags.
Did Lilith have the power to change people’s opinions and allegiances? The prospect was terrifying.
I shoved all thoughts of vampires and mages and Lilith aside and focused once more on the conversation with my mates.
“It could be a pocket dimension,” Lupe was saying, thrumming through the pages of an old text, his glasses balanced precariously on the tip of his nose. “Or a place in hell.”
“Great. Just great. I’m traveling daily to hell.” Sarcasm seeped into my tone.
Jax, who sat next to me, gave my hand a squeeze.
My vampire had been silent since we’d returned here, though that wasn’t necessarily uncharacteristic of him. I imagined he was thinking about our time in the maze, when he’d hunted me while consumed by bloodlust.
We’d unanimously—and quietly—decided not to tell the others about what exactly happened in the maze. That was between me and Jax. I knew my other mates would understand, but some of them would be upset at first, maybe even pissed. Jax didn’t deserve their anger. He was already drowning in guilt.
Without pulling my gaze off the others, still talking amongst themselves, I brought Jax’s hand up to my lips and kissed his palm. A shiver rattled his body, and when he slid his eyes to me, there was so much love and heat in his gaze that I felt buoyant.
Then I crashed down to earth, to reality, with Devlin’s next words.
“So what do we want to do about the vampires?” He leaned forward until he could rest his elbows on his thighs.
It was a decidedly…casual pose for someone as put together as Devlin.
Jax shifted, the hand still gripping mine tightening. “Do we trust them?”
“I don’t think that’s the question we should be asking.” Killian absently brushed at one of his horns. “We should be asking ourselves—do we trust Lilith?”
Another silence permeated the tent, this one fraught with tension.
Bash squeezed his hands into fists. “What reasons do we have to trust that bitch?”
“She seems to be helping us.” I hated to speak in favor of my…mother, but it was the truth.
But was this “gift” really a bomb wrapped in pretty paper and tied together with a ribbon?
“What’s her endgame?” Bash’s lips twisted in a snarl. “How do we know she’s not just moving the pawns where she wants them to go in order to declare checkmate?”
“I suppose we don’t know.” Ryland hovered a few feet off the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. “But what will knowing change?”
He floated a few steps closer to the group.
“What do you mean?” Dair’s blond brows furrowed.
“If Lilith is playing us, then wouldn’t it be smarter to keep our enemies close? Watch them? Maneuver them where we want them to go?” His blue eyes gleamed wickedly in the darkness of the tent. The flickering candle flame didn’t quite reach him where he stood, not with the shadows so thick and cloying around him. “And if they’re truly on our side, then we’ll have an even bigger army to go against Aaliyah.”
The mention of my sister caused an uneasy feeling to slither through my chest like an angry, hissing viper. I placed a hand directly over my breastbone as if that could somehow calm my heartbeat.
“Do we have any more information about this supposed army of hers?” I didn’t direct my question at anyone in particular. All of us had been in contact with different leaders of the rebellion.
Devlin shook his head. “Nothing yet. But what do we want to do once we get intel?”
“Curl into a fetal position and cry?” Bash arched an eyebrow.
“Ditto,” Dair murmured.
“We can’t let them release the kings.” I kept my tone firm and absolute.
“Maybe we should…” Killian bit his lower lip and directed his attention towards the ground.
His right hand began to twitch erratically where it rested on his knee.
When he didn’t continue speaking, Lupe arched an eyebrow. “Maybe we should…?”
He gently closed the book he was reading and removed his glasses. One of his huge hands came to rub at his forehead, directly between his brows, and I wondered if he was attempting to massage away a migraine.
“Kill the kings.” Killian spoke the words so softly, so quickly, I honestly thought I’d heard him wrong at first.
My tension spiked, as did my heartbeat, as my mates exchanged uneasy looks. Only Ryland seemed relaxed, and I imagined it was because his father was the only king safe from execution.
“I considered that,” Devlin agreed, his voice a hushed murmur. His violet eyes flickered to my face, and his jaw set. “Those bastards deserve to die. And once we complete all of the trials?—”
“You know why we can’t kill them. We’ve been through this a hundred times before.” Dair kept his voice placating, though a tiny bit of bitterness still seeped through.
I knew that Dair hungered for his father’s death. I never would’ve expected when I first met him that my sweet mermaid would have a taste for vengeance, but it made sense that he did, especially after what he’d been through. And I imagined it would grow and fester until he finally completed his task.
“The nightmares that we don’t have on our side—which is a shit ton—will declare war immediately,” Lupe pointed out. “Shifters, incubi, mermaids, shadows, and genies… They’ll all attack. Even if the vampires and mages are truly on our side, it won’t be enough to stop them.”
“We could keep it a secret,” Bash insisted. “Everyone could believe that they’re still rotting away in the dungeons, but we can take care of them.” A malicious gleam ignited in his emerald-green eyes, darkening the color to an almost grassy color.
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Ryland drawled. “Waltz into the capital and slash their necks?”
“Tempting,” Dair murmured.
“Is the capital even safe for us?” I inquired.
I knew that the nightmare council was sniffing around. Did they pose a threat to us? Would they attack us, imprison us, kill us? I had no idea. I would like to think we were stronger than them, but I wouldn’t risk my mates’ lives on it.
And what about the mage and vampire representatives? Had they chosen to join our side with the rest of their species? Were they some of the nightmares who refused to turn away from the old ways?
I could see that my questions were circulating in the others’ minds as well.
Instead of answering, Devlin said, “We need to get in contact with Atta or Axel. See what they know. Discover what’s happening there.”
“It’s strange that they’ve been so silent,” I agreed, a thousand tiny needles dragging across my skin.
My throat felt clogged.
Lupe’s jaw tightened. “Atta should’ve reached out by now.”
His hand curled into a fist, his knuckles so white I could see the outline of his veins.
Jax gave my hand one last squeeze and then released me. Without prodding, I stood from the bed and went to stand beside Lupe.
“I know you’re worried about her.” I wrapped my arms around his waist. Or at least attempted to. He was so large that I barely got my arms halfway. “But Atta’s a badass. She takes after her big brother.”
“And Axel will protect her,” added Devlin resolutely.
Lupe gulped in a harrowed breath and returned my hug. He held me so tightly that my breath pushed out of me. It occurred to me then—he always held me as if I was the only thing keeping him grounded to the earth.
As if I was his lifeline.
I tightened my grip around him, fear laddering up my ribs.
I wanted to be that for him, but it terrified me. I didn’t know what would happen to him—to all of them—if something were to happen to me.
And I knew that it was a possibility.
This impending war wouldn’t be easy to win. We were fighting a creature forged from hell itself and her malicious army. There was a high probability that not all of us would survive this battle.
But I made a vow, right then and there, with my arms encircling Lupe and my mates’ presence around me, that it wouldn’t be them. I refused to allow that to happen. They would survive this, no matter the cost.
No matter the consequence.