Chapter 33
Max
Sleep eludes me.
Every time I close my eyes, I dream of blazing walls, gnashing jaws of bloody teeth and the sensation of being weighted down.
After the third nightmare, I give up, exiting my tent, looking around the Dark Fae campsite. My head pounds, my magic rolling in my belly as I rub my temples.
I don’t move far, before a mug is shoved into my face. Chicory and ewe’s milk, the familiar scent washes over me.
Blinking, I glance into the heir’s unreadable face, taking it with timid hands.
The volunteers mill about, scraping together provisions left behind from Hastings’ people, and I inhale the rich scent of my preferred beverage.
How did the heir know?
Taking a sip, I try to keep from swaying toward him. But it’s a losing battle. My body, my heart, yearns for him, even as I wrestle with the irritation of his rejection nights ago.
As if reading my thoughts, he jerks his chin. “Every morning that we stopped for a break, you made it. I thought it would help after last night.”
After watching my best friend leave me here. I didn’t give him much choice but I expected something—a care, a goodbye, something before he left.
My heart still hurts.
He’s been the only one I could depend on since I was ten, and now, I’m alone.
And what will I do when this raid is complete? I can’t return to the Coven. I was never accepted there and now that I’ve chosen their enemy, they’ll never allow me back.
Why did I choose to stay?
The men call for Kaden, wishing to discuss next steps. Being their guides, they need his input on how to proceed. Do they figure out a safe path up the mountain to Wulf’s village, or do they try to enter Erebus’ Hollow?
Fee walks up to my side, crossing her arms. “Fucking idiots.” She seethes. She turns toward me, the only two kept on the outskirts as Reid joins his brother. “They’re all fucking idiots.”
“They’re men,” I mutter, finishing my drink. Her lips twitch suppressing a grin. “What are they saying?” They’re too far for my simple hearing, but not for Fee.
“They want to take Erebus’ Hollow,” she says, sharply. “Kaden and Reid are trying to convince them of the path.”
It’s a hard sell. It’ll take us hours to walk the path. The mountain is dangerous to travel during daylight but it’s worse at night. Walkways ice over in seconds, snow falls, and the winds whip so fast that a full-grown man could be taken down the mountain within a blink of an eye.
That is, if we don’t run into the beasts that prowl the mountain.
For such a small group, it’s near suicide.
The quickest route is through the Erebus’ Hollow. A dark cave that connects where our camp is to Wulf’s village. It’s protected from the elements, with only one beast living within.
The Hadeon. A powerful creature from legends, with three vicious heads the size of a wolf, a steel spearheaded tail, who can breathe hellfire, was the loyal guardian of the hollow. They were exceedingly rare, solitary beasts, gifted by the Underworld God Seti himself.
The rumor was that Wulf’s ancestor had been given the beast from the god during The Great War for valor. It protects the village, allowing only those with pure intentions to cross.
Now, it seems, the Humans wanted to rush the hollow, attack the beast and gain access to Wulf’s village.
“Gods, there’s not a speck of common sense between the lot of them,” Fee mutters, glaring at the group of them. “There is no way those Humans will take a Hadeon. It’s too big, too fast. It’s blessed by Seti.”
I nod, though I don’t comment further. I know as much as she does.
“What is Kaden suggesting?” I ask, glancing around the forest. Kaden is glaring at the group as if they were misbehaving children.
“The path.” She points to the compressed dirt path behind the men. “But it’ll take too long. We’ll be out in the open, in the elements and available to the beasts that live up there. The Dark Fae guards will protect us but it’s a risk. The Hollow is the best route.”
“But the Hadeon is there.”
“But the Hadeon is there,” she repeats.
She stalks forward, a cloud of her subtle perfume hovering around me. It smells like ash and apple, rich but biting. Not unlike her personality.
Watching her go, I think about the creature. Another monster that’s been chosen to do its job, feared for its power and strength.
Not unlike me.
Grabbing my daggers from my tent, I head to the entrance of the cave. Perhaps he’s not a true monster, but another misunderstood being, who just needed someone to believe in him? Gods know, I needed that in the Coven.
Maybe I can reason with it? Maybe I can be of help on this raid, contrary to what Taylay thought.
Taking one step into the hollow, Kaden materializes from the side, blocking my way.
Dark eyes stare at me, his shadow magic curling around his legs. “No.”
Whipping my head back to the crowd, my mouth parts, shocked. “How did you do that?” That was fast even for a Fae.
He points to his head. “Shadow magic, remember? Where do you think you’re going?”
My mouth shuts closed with an audible snap.
“You wouldn’t be foolish enough to enter the cave without reinforcements?
” Staying silent, the heir walks around me, circling me.
“The rumors of the Hadeon state that it will incinerate anyone who the gods have deemed too terrible to live. Much like a Fury, it’s a creature of judgment.
No one can enter without the God Seti’s blessing. ”
“Does this one only go after males as well?” I quip, body quaking at his nearness. Logically, I’m still mad at being denied in his cot, but my body doesn’t remember that.
I want him. My heart beats quicker, the closer he gets and I sway, as if pulled.
I hate this feeling. This out of control need to be near him, to beg him to continue what we started in his tent.
And the way he defended me, to Tay, to all the others? I’ve never had someone protect me before, see the good in me. Accept me. My heart warms and my knees shake as he steps close, nose brushing my temple.
He inhales. “The Hadeon doesn’t discriminate. It will burn you, if it thinks you’re not worthy.”
Fire. My pulse jumps, fear and need mingling together into a tarry mess as my gut twists.
“What are you suggesting?”
“We find a different way in.” He gestures to a darkened path behind him. If not for the small dip, it would look like a wall of forested trees and plants.
“What do you know of these woods?” I ask the heir, stepping over upturned roots. Tall grass brushes my knees as I follow in his footsteps.
“Many things,” he says evenly. He takes out his sword, hacking away at the branches as we pass. “Why do you ask?’
“You and your siblings were instructed to be our guides. You made comments about beasts in the forest.”
“That you ignored and thought I was lying about.”
My lips curl as I fight to the urge to argue. “So it stands to reason you know more.” I trip over a stone, stumbling to catch up. “For instance, do you know why the beasts roam these forests but don’t step outside the boundary?”
“I said it was cursed,” Kaden replies, holding back leaves so I can pass through. “There’s a spell around the woods. The beasts can’t leave the forest, but people can come in. It makes them hungry to be without for so long.”
“Why would it be contained?”
Amber eyes flash, letting the branch snap back. There’s something there, a flicker of emotion before it’s smoothed away. He’s hiding something.
“This is the gods’ prison for unwanted creatures.
The shifters find sanctuary in the mountains, high above the creatures.
They hunt in these woods beside them. The Dark Fae travel through it.
Humans are the prey.” He shrugs, moving to lead again.
“It’s a good thing it’s contained, otherwise the beasts would be free to take whatever they want. ”
Remembering how Tay said the wards were failing around the Coven, it would be terrible if they failed here as well.
A ripple of unease skirts my shoulders as we go further, and I hunker into my cloak. The forest is so dark, I cannot see further than a few paces. Anything could be out there.
Strangely, my mind flashes to a bleary image. Of me, stumbling through these woods, hand to my neck, crashing through leaves. It was like this right before I entered the Blackwoods Coven territory.
“Where did your mind go?”
I trip, catching myself against a large oak. “What?”
Brows lowered, he scans my face. “Your eyes went distant as if you’ve seen a ghost. What were you thinking about?”
Shrugging, I tug my hair around my throat. “An old memory.” I point into the dark. “This is close to where I traversed as a child. Just over the ridge is the Blackwoods forest where Taylay found me.”
“This close?” he asks, frowning. “And you were bleeding? Traveling these woods. And no beasts came to you?”
“None.”
“Curious,” he admits, eyes heated. “That makes you so much more intriguing, kitten.”
My cheeks flush as he licks his bottom lip. Looking to my neck, I know he’s remembering our time together, his mouth on my neck and pussy as I begged for more.
I should be angry with him, but now, I just crave him close.
“Why did you defend me against Tay?”
His eyebrow raises. “Should I have let him continue insulting you?”
“No, but—”
“He’s frightened of you,” he replies, turning to push through the brushes. “A Witch who claims to revere the Mates, and yet, he cannot understand your magic as being anything but divine. He’s lucky I didn’t break his bones for upsetting you.”
My heart flutters at his possessiveness. His need to protect me. It’s been on my mind since last night.
“It’s nothing new,” I explain, shrugging. “Most people are afraid of me.”
“And most people are stupid,” he retorts. “Only weak men fear strong women. The Witch is weak. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”
Bristling at his insult to my friend, I can’t deny how pleased I am to hear him say I’m strong. At the conviction that I’m more than just evil.