Page 106

“Hadeon will want you to consider mercy,” she said. “To direct your spirit of vengeance to stop the Twilight Court queen from hurting the fae in her search for immortality or starting another war.”

If you don’t spare the Twilight Court, Hadeon will keep me from allying with you.

“Consider mercy for the Twilight Court,” she said as Arden opened his mouth to speak. “And I’ll consider my role amongst the shadow fae.”

For a moment, Arden cast his gaze at the far wall, nodding as though deep in thought. He crossed his arms behind his back as he took one step forward and then another. Without turning around, he gestured toward the cave entrance. “Perhaps you’ll think differently when you speak to Hadeon, yourself.”

Fear sliced down her center as a dozen shadow fae warriors dragged Hadeon into the cavern. His gloved hands were bound in front of him, and his face was covered in bruises. There wasa gag in his mouth. Dark eyes stared at her with a ferocity she’d never seen before.

It was then she registered that Breckett and Jessamine stood beside the warriors. Their hands were bound, and they had gags in their mouths as well.

Arabella noted the faintest shake of Jessamine’s head.

“Why are they tied up?” Arabella demanded.

“Breckett told us of Hadeon’s plan to leave the Abyss—without us,” Arden said, his voice laced with venom. “The erox and the enchantress are restrained as a… precaution.”

Arabella’s eyes narrowed.

Arden knew as well as she did that Breckett could escape at any time he wanted with his ability to shadow jump and his invisibility powers. It would be easy for him to evade the shadow fae. But perhaps he was complying with them in hopes of securing their good will—and escaping the Abyss with them. If what Arden said was right, he’d aligned his fate with theirs.

But Breckett wouldn’t know that Arabella was the key to getting out of the Abyss.

“I would have preferred that you told me about the map, yourself, but we can move past that,” Arden continued. “We are new to you. You didn’t grow up amongst your kind as you should have. In time, you’ll learn to trust us.”

She leveled her gaze on Breckett.

Once the erox had been pissed at her for acting on her own. But now, he’d done the very same thing—acting without her. Had Jessamine approved? Breckett knew that letting the shadow fae back into the fae realm meant demons would be unleashed. Arabella didn’t disagree with his actions. She wasn’t even certain what she intended to do. But she wanted to understand his reasons.

“I want to hear from Breckett his reasoning,” she said.

Arden nodded to one of the guards, who lowered Breckett’s gag.

She didn’t look away, didn’t flinch, as she said, “Why?”

“Outside of the fact that Jessamine and I can’t keep Hadeon at bay by ourselves for long,” he said, his eyes full of fierce determination. “We need an army to defeat Magnus, and I refuse to go home without one. Not when he could rip my free will from me at any time.” A muscle pulsed in his jaw. “The real question should be—why are you hesitating? They’re offering you everything you wanted. Could it be that you don’t want to rescue Elias after all?”

She flinched as though slapped. “Of course, I do.”

“Then what else is there to consider?” he demanded.

Fists clenching, she opened her mouth to reply, but Arden spoke, pulling her attention back to him.

“There’s one other thing you should know—about your mother,” Arden said. “Myla was a prisoner in the Twilight Court for hundreds of years. The king had captured her at the start of the fae wars and kept her as his personal assassin.” He turned to Hadeon, who’d been forced to his knees by the shadow fae warriors. “Isn’t that right, Hadeon? You knew Mylapersonally.”

Lines formed between Hadeon’s brows, but he didn’t shake his head or try to deny it.

The room grew quiet as her heartbeat drowned out all other sounds.

She’d known that her mother had been captured and held captive in the Twilight Court. And logically, if Arabella was in her thirties, her mother would have been alive in the recent past. That meant Myla would’ve been in the Twilight Court at the same time as Hadeon.

She shook her head.

Why hadn’t she thought of that? She should’ve put the pieces together.

“Has he told you about the potentialcostof immortality?” Arden continued. “His mother is pursuing immortality for not just herself, but her entire court. Which means the cost will be even greater—especially with a spell of that magnitude.”

Belatedly, she realized her mouth hung agape, and she snapped it shut.