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A knowing smile traced the corners of his lips. “I see you’ve made your decision. We’re glad to have you as one of us.”

She ran the tip of her tongue over her receding fangs until they were normal size, which made her think of Rowan back in Shadowbank. “Vampire fangs. Interesting.”

Glancing down, she noted that her black nails didn’t retract. Instead, they stuck out in sharp points just over the tips of her fingers.

Arden shrugged. “Where do you think vampires got it from?”

“I suppose I assumed they always existed,” she said honestly. “That they weren’t a product of demons.”

Perhaps some foolish sorcerer thought to make them in hopes of using and controlling them just as Magnus had with the erox.

“I need your help to learn my new abilities,” she said. “Teach me how to control the dead.”

“I wish I could help you,” Arden began. “But since I don’t possess demon blood, and the other fae-demon hybrids amongst us are only children, there’s no one I could call upon to teach you.”

Well, fuck.

All that effort to gain power she’d have to figure out on her own.

Nodding, she moved to the next portion of her plan. “What would you do if you could get out of the Abyss?”

A fire bloomed behind Arden’s gaze as though a deep fury reawakened in him.

“That’s a question I’ve pondered for years—just what I’d do if given the chance.” Arden’s gaze fixed on the far wall where the Everdark’s deeper shadows had been. “The Twilight Court must pay for what they’ve done to the shadow fae.”

Part of her understood his thirst for revenge. If someone marched on Shadowbank, she wouldn’t stop until they were wiped from the earth. But she didn’t have time for his thirst for revenge—not to mention what it would do to her crumbling alliance with Hadeon.

In a softer tone, she said, “Would you consider helping me save my mate?”

Gaze shifting to her, Arden’s brows furrowed. “I told you the only way out of the Abyss is with the aid of my map, which was lost to me many years ago.”

She had to navigate this with caution.

One wrong move and Arden could try to kill her and take the map. Did he know that her magic was the key to open the gateway? And at some point, Hadeon would find her—and use his bargain to stop her.

It was at that moment she realized her abilities far exceeded Arden’s. His power felt like a trickling stream compared to the torrent now pulsing in her veins.

“If I find a way out of here, will you help me rescue Elias?” she asked.

The prince crossed his arms. “What are you not telling me?”

Exhaling, she said, “The Everdark revealed I’m the key to getting out and opening the gateway. But I need your help, and so does Hadeon. It’s why we journeyed here together. He wants to stop Queen Genoveva. She seeks immortality, and she’s willing to pay any price. Hadeon fears that cost. Apparently, she’s also preparing for war again. As for myself… I need help against a sorcerer—and his army. Magnus holds Elias captive.”

Turning, Arden strode toward the wall nearest the entrance. He chuckled, which vibrated strangely in the cool air. “I knew Hadeon was planning something. He always is.”

“Will you help us?”

For a long moment, he didn’t move. She watched the rise and fall of his back as he breathed. At his hip, he wore an ancient fae blade with markings in a language she didn’t understand.

Then he turned toward her, a dark shimmer in his gaze. “I would be a terrible uncle to deny my niece the aid she needs. But I can’t promise anything to Hadeon. Not when I can’t trust his motives.”

She stretched out her senses to see if the greater demon had returned. When she didn’t feel the weight of his presence, she said, “What’s your agreement with the Everdark?”

She wasn’t sure whether a formal magical bargain had been struck, but at the very least, Arden and the shadow fae had formed an alliance with the Everdark—something that allowed them to use dark magic. The moment the greater demon taught the shadow fae new abilities and impregnated their females, he’d intertwined the fates of the shadow fae with the Everdark.

One corner of his lips lifted. “You know what he wishes.”

Demons in the fae realm.