Chapter 94 Elias
Elias
The shadows receded, leaving us in a familiar place. When I breathed in, I caught the whisper of our time here; from helping the children with their tutoring, to holding Ivy while she slept, all the way down to bickering with Thea over a silly board game she’d picked out due to boredom.
The suite we once called home was desolate and dark. Someone had trashed the place, tearing the furniture apart and tossing our belongings. Ivy’s clothes were scattered across the floor, toys from Maisie’s bedroom ripped open. The plates we’d eaten off had been smashed against one of the walls.
Ivy gripped my hand, sucking in a sharp breath. I felt the racing of her heart, and in the back of my mind, I thought I could hear her, too.
In the distance, the cry of wolves had my own rising to the surface. My beast clawed at me for control, but I kept him down as we surveyed the area. When I scented the air, there was no sign of life, no other creature around. The last time they’d been here would have been weeks ago.
“Let’s move,” Maeve said, voice low. “We can’t stay here for long.”
I listened to the racing beats of everyone’s hearts over my own; the tension hanging in the air had everyone reaching for weapons despite us being on our own. Even Ivy went for her belt, but she came up empty.
As we walked in quiet unison, I pulled one of the smaller guns from my belt and handed it to her silently. The bullets within were charmed, extra dangerous. Once in, they’d be stuck unless cut out. If it came down to it, she would need to protect herself if he successfully got between us.
But he won’t, I reminded myself, tightening my hold on her hand. Never again.
Tonight would end it all.
As we stepped onto the sky bridge, the moon became too clear above us. Large and shadowed by the world’s rotation, it turned red the longer I stared.
The full lunar eclipse was upon us.
Ivy stiffened beside me, but she said nothing. Her eyes were on the moon as well, but instead of fear, I saw resolve darkening her eyes.
I knew my mate better than she probably thought. And if she believed she would get away with sacrificing herself, then she had another thing coming.
I had no intention of letting her out of my sight again.
And neither did the others.
Maeve led us over the bridge, Rowan and Orion on one side with weapons drawn and pointed over the edge, Hawk and Adrian on the other doing the same. Xerxes had Maeve’s back, while Rhadamanthus had ours, Thor walking directly on Ivy’s other side silently.
We skipped the elevator and went to the stairs beside it.
Grey checked it first, weapon raised, only motioning to us to follow when she knew it was clear.
Nash went to her side with Kingsley, the Primal backing them.
Black and Archer moved directly ahead of us, with Thor and Rhadamanthus making up the rear.
Despite her resolve, Ivy couldn’t stop herself from trembling. With each step down, her heart rate picked up. In the silence of the stairwell, it was easy to hear our sharp breaths.
My skin prickled with how wrong it felt. Where the fuck were Dante’s forces? Wouldn’t he have his army watching—waiting?
We’d been in one of the tower suites for almost two whole minutes. Where were the Aither Fae he supposedly had? They should have seen us on the bridge—should have attacked.
I tightened my hold on Ivy, gaze flickering to the ceiling above us. The vines that grew along it were dead, the leaves dried up. Pixies should have been flittering between the flowers, but even they were gone.
There should have been more life here, but it was desolate.
Grey stopped, bringing our entire party to a halt. I couldn’t see far enough ahead to know what she was doing until the signal came back to us.
Three fingers raised by everyone.
We were not alone.
I scented the air, but whoever found us shielded themselves, but clearly not well enough if Grey noticed them. Aside from no scent, I couldn’t hear anything ahead. No footsteps, no breaths.
A door leading out of the stairwell opened, and another signal came down the line. Open palm. Follow.
We slipped out of the enclosed space and into a hall I’d never seen before. It was lined with doors that looked untouched. We’d left the suites entirely, which meant we were either in guest rooms, or we’d entered a staff corridor. I believed the former based on the shredded paintings.
As soon as the door closed behind Rhadamanthus, I heard it. A howl, broken and unsettled. It once again had my wolf rising within me, making my skin ripple with the threat of the shift.
But I maintained control—barely—because of Ivy.
The next howl came louder with the skitter of claws against stone. The carpet that ran the length of the hallway had been torn apart, deep gouges in the fabric appearing beneath my feet. At some point, Dante let his feral shifters free, likely to hunt.
Dried blood on the ground. Definitely to hunt.
I hoped Ivy didn’t notice it.
The skittering of claws came louder, along with a second set of paws. Fuck. Ahead, I spotted Grey raising her weapon, the pair behind her doing the same. The fur along Xerxes’s spine lifted.
I knew the moment they entered the hall. Beside Ivy, Thor went still, a growl rippling from his throat. Even Ivy sucked in a breath.
Grey didn’t shoot first, not as the wolves came to a stop, forcing us to halt.
“Well, well, well,” someone drawled. The voice was eerily familiar, though one I couldn’t place. I looked around Xerxes, who completely shielded Ivy, and took in the male joining the pair of wolves.
One of the drooling beasts had eyes a similar shade of green as mine, and for a moment, I felt myself slipping into a past I’d fought so hard to remember—but desperately needed to escape.
The black wolf with the green eyes, standing alongside the wolf with the straw-coloured fur and black eyes.
Exactly the same as the ones blocking our paths.
Only in my memory, I’d been a child, hand clutched in Cyrus’s as we searched for a way out.
For a moment staring at the two wolves, I’d felt my own rising to the surface. Recognising them.
When I blinked, the memory cleared and we were faced with the newcomer again, who clapped. “He wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said, grinning viciously. “But I said the girl couldn’t stand when punishments meant for her were dealt onto others. Said she would come running for that alone.”
Beside me, Ivy made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. Looking at her, I saw recognition and fear flare in her eyes.
I completely shoved back any part of the memory and locked it away.
“You have three seconds to move aside and allow us to pass,” Grey warned, voice even, “before I put a bullet in you and the wolves.”
Bile rose in my throat, but I shook my head. Even though I wanted to ignore the prickle of familiarity, I still couldn’t stop myself from looking at the wolf with the eyes that reminded me of mine.
The chances of it being the same wolf from over twenty years ago were slim. I kept reminding myself of that while the male laughed.
“Oh, we aren’t here to fight you,” he said. “I’m here to take you directly to your King.”
The way he said the last word made my stomach roll. He made it sound like Dante had already won.
The door to the stairwell behind us opened, and more bodies flooded the hall. Glancing over my shoulder, I counted a leopard shifter, a tiger, and three soldiers—Fae, based on their scents. One Spring, one Aither, and one Summer.
I pressed my lips together and turned back. I wanted to speak to Ivy, but the bond still wouldn’t allow it. Instead, I squeezed her fingers.
“Take us to Dante,” Ivy stated, voice firm. She rolled her shoulders back but didn’t make a move to step out of line. “But if you attack my mates, we’ll slaughter you.”
I couldn’t help the pride swelling within me. She was sounding more like a Queen, and it made me believe that she would fight and win this.
The male made an irritated sound in the back of his throat before muttering, “Follow me,” under his breath.
As we moved forward, the creatures behind us crept closer. No one lowered their weapons. Somehow, Ivy kept her head held high despite the fear in her eyes.
I squeezed her hand again, hoping she understood what it meant. I’m proud of you, I wanted to say.
Her gaze flickered to mine and softened, and she squeezed my hand back three times. I love you.
We left the hall and entered one of the open corridors that overlooked the back of the palace. Scattered around the outer courtyard were more soldiers and shifters, but I spotted Jay tied to a destroyed statue of Nyx. And he wasn’t alone.
There were at least a handful of agents being held with him. All bruised and bloody. Each one had a dagger sticking out of their thighs, but they were alive—barely.
At the sight of them, Ivy sucked in a breath. And as we entered their lines of sight, more prisoners appeared.
Students, based on their uniforms. Three from Oberon, two teenagers from the local prep school in Aster, near the academy. Children basically. And they all had bags over their heads. The two teens couldn’t have been much older than Eloise.
Anger rose within me, the shift barely controllable now. The students were placed across from Jay and the other agents, but we walked out of sight before I could see what was being done to them.
Ivy’s breaths came harder, and I could feel the familiar swell of panic rising within her. The emotion was so strong it battled against our blocked bond, and yet she somehow remained in control. Her gaze shifted to Xerxes’s back and remained locked on him as she got her breathing under control.
Good girl, I wanted to say, but squeezed her hand again just in case.
Dante had kidnapped them to make her yield. He would use them against her, because he knew she would put herself in front of innocents before anything else. Especially kids.
We descended two more floors before we hit the courtyard. The hall we’d once walked when Ivy first arrived was almost unrecognisable now; the paintings and art were shredded, sculptures smashed. The floor was cracked in some places, the ceiling plants long dead.
Waiting for us in the courtyard, Dante clutched an unfamiliar object between his hands.
I didn’t need to be told what I was looking at. Not when the bone was marked with the same purple light that appeared on Ivy’s skin when she used her magic, and especially not based on the power that rolled over my skin from its appearance.
Nyx’s skull.