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Andrues kept a steady pace at my side, watching me closely out of the corner of his eye.

“What?” I asked, the question landing with a sharpness I didn’t intend.

He smiled softly, gently inclining his head in my direction as we stopped a few feet from Royion’s door. “Your shadows—I have never seen you let them free like this.”

My eyes fell to my hands, momentarily widening as I saw the black tendrils seeping from my skin. I hadn’t noticed they were loose but I didn’t pull them back, instead I let them breath in the open air as I pulled my gaze back to Andrues.

“I guess they are trying to make a point,” I said, a smile curling at the corners of my lips. “Let’s see if it works.”

I pulled in a deep breath then pushed the door open, not bothering to knock. It swung open, hitting the wall with a resoundingthudas we stepped inside. Royion stood near the hearth, his back to me as he gazed into the flames. The others were already here, gathered around him in the small sitting room as their sight turned to me.

“I was wondering when you would come,” Royion said, his voice low and steady. He turned to face us, his eyes raking over the shadows filling the air around me. A flicker of something crossed his features before he schooled them back into a veil of indifference.

I took another step forward, my mouth opening to speak then halted. Anger collided with panic, both flaring between my ribs and up my throat as Andrues took a sharp step in front of me.

“Did you really think you could reject me that easily, dearie?” Cain’s voice rang throughout the packed house as he slid from behind Royion’s large frame, a mocking grin slathered onto his lips.

A snarl rippled from Andrues’s throat. “Another step, and it will be the last you ever take.”

“Ah, Andrues, still the loyal dog, I see. I believe the last time I saw you, you were also spewing hollow threats.” Cain chuckled, but didn’t move as his eyes refocused on me. “I have no interest or need for the mating bond and if I am being honest, I was as displeased about it as you.”

“Then why are you here?” I snapped, moving to Andrues’s side, shadows curling around me like a second skin.

“I come bearing gifts from Ammord.” Each word fell off his tongue like a leaden threat, pulling my heart into the pit of my stomach. His fingers flicked into the air and a box materialized at my feet. “Call it a welcome gift from the High Priest.”

I forced my features into an impassive mask as my eyes flickered down at it. Dread pumped through my arteries, eating away at each vessel as the box stared back at me—taunting me. My gut twisted, knotting around my spine as I swallowed back the itch of bile starting to rise.

“What is it?” I croaked, my voice giving me away.

Cain’s head inclined, his smile widening as he clicked his tongue. “Well that would ruin all the fun.”

A growl tore from Andrues’s chest and my shadows reacted, cutting through the air and wrapping around Cain’s throat like a noose as the others molded themselves to the walls. From the corner of my eye I could see Siggy’s widen as she stared into black tendrils that seemed to glare back.

“I asked you a question.” The words came out on the edge of a snarl so threatening even Andrues seemed to recoil. “What is in the box?”

“A”—Cain gasped—“warning.”

I loosened his bindings just enough to give him the air needed to answer and he swallowed it down in one greedy gulp.

“Malik . . . he betrayed us.” Cain panted as I nodded my head toward it, my eyes flickering to Andrues in silent command. My heart took off running as Andrues squatted beside me and slid his hands over the box, inspecting it. I swallowed back the adrenaline as Andrues’s fingers curled around the lip of the lid and pulled it open.

Relief flooded my system, disgust taking over as I stared down at a severed head I did not recognize. Bloody caverns where eyes should have been stared up at me, his mouth gaping open in a silent scream.

“It is Malik,” Andrues confirmed, his voice hollow as he looked up at me. He slid the lid back over the opening, but the image still burned into the back of my eyelids as I slowly turned my head back to Cain. With one small flick from my wrist, my shadows tossed him across the room, furniture cracking underneath the weight of him as he collided with the floor.

If they sent me the head of a traitor as a message, there was no telling what they would do to Landers, to Ata. But Dukovich—if he was truly on our side—his would be the next head sent if I did not get them out. I didn’t have time for him—for this—but I needed answers.

I lifted my boot, stepping over the box and let rage fuel my next words as I walked toward Cain. “I am going to ask you questions, and you will answer them. If you don’t, I’ll kill you and take your head to them myself.”

I didn’t give him a second to respond, to stand, before I was crouching to his level. Shadows pulled his chin toward me as I pushed death magic through their tendrils.

A deafening hush fell over the room as I asked my first question.

“Are they still alive?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Where are they keeping them?”