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A look of what seemed to be concern crossed the seraph’s face, but he shrugged and pointed to something on the map. “After this is done, you plan to travel here?”

“Yes. When Gehenna is at my side, we can work on finding the lock. They won’t dare try to come there. Not right now.”

Mordecai looked up, his feathered wings shifting behind him. “And then?”

Alaric’s lip curled back in a feral sneer. “And then we rip the Wards down and take what’s mine.”

* * *

She walked silently beside Nuri, Briar and Mordecai ahead of them with Alaric leading them all along the corridors. Talwyn had never come to this area of the prison. She’d never interacted with the Sorceress at all. The Sorceress was the bedtime story that caused nightmares. Fae children feared her as mortals feared spirits of the After. Talwyn knew of her history. That was all she’d needed to know. She had never planned on interacting with the female. Her bargains were dangerous, and her knowledge was deadly; yet here she was, about to be revealed in front of the being.

She’d known full well when she stepped inside the prison it was likely the last time she would see the sky. She’d breathed deep, taking the fresh air into her lungs, and letting the warmth of the sun dance across her face before going beneath the sea. The corridors seemed to get darker as they went deeper beneath the surface, no windows in the halls to even show the mer-guards who patrolled beneath the waves.

“Do I really need to come down here?” Nuri groused. “The Sorceress is unnerving.”

Talwyn turned to her, nearly gaping at the female. She was Death’s Shadow, and she called the Sorceress unnerving?

“You wanted to come with,” Alaric growled from the front of their company. “Now you complain about being here?”

“No,” Nuri countered. “I said you should have another with you in case Scarlett had something planned. How would you know if we are all beneath the sea?”

“I have seraphs in the skies,” Mordecai said, eyes fixed straight ahead.

“As far as I know, Scarlett is the only one of them who can fly with that shadow dragon,” Nuri drawled. “Besides Cassius, I suppose. And the dragon shifter. But the others are all stuck on the earth.”

“Nuri!” Alaric snapped, whirling to face her. Everyone else stumbled to a halt. Mordecai and Briar stepped to the side as the Maraan Prince stalked towards them. “You have succeeded in getting on my last nerve earlier than usual today.”

“I will note the accomplishment in my daily report later this evening,” she replied.

Alaric’s hand shot out, the slap across her face echoing in the corridor. Briar winced. Mordecai’s wings rustled. And Nuri? Her maniacal laughter echoed too.

“Leave, Nuri,” Alaric gritted out. “I do not want to see you the rest of the day. I will deal with your insolence tomorrow.”

She sketched a mocking bow before she turned on a heel and disappeared into the shadows of the prison.

Great. Now Alaric was in a foul mood, and it was about to get worse when he realized Talwyn couldn’t release the Sorceress. Before, he might have simply killed her. Now, he was likely to take out all his frustration on her and draw it out.

Alaric prowled back to the front, barking an order to follow. Mordecai fell back to walk beside her, and Briar cast a troubled look over his shoulder before turning and following Alaric.

She worked to steady her breathing when they began descending the steps to the Sorceress’s cell. She may not have been to this area of the prison before, but she knew the layout. Even if she didn’t, Briar had gone even more tense in front of her.

The Sorceress was not what she was expecting when she finally laid eyes on her. She was at the bars, her fingers curled around the shirastone. Violet eyes watched them all curiously as they filed in, and they stopped on her and Mordecai, her head tilting with interest. Dark inky hair slid over her shoulder, and a smile that reminded her of Nuri’s insane grin tilted on the corners of her dry and cracked lips.

“More gifts?” the Sorceress asked, gaze sliding to Alaric.

“Have I not given you enough?” Alaric asked, his tone lighter and conversational now.

“You know what I desire, Prince of Nothing,” she answered, her focus shifting to Briar. “Prince of Water.” Briar said nothing, mouth in a taut line. The Sorceress’s smile grew, and she pressed herself closer to the bars. “Father of those who should not be. There will be consequences,” she sang. When he still said nothing, her smile morphed into a pout. “I prefer your lover. She at least spoke to me.”

“She is far more tolerant than I am,” Briar said pointedly.

Her smile returned at getting a response from him, and seemingly satisfied, she moved on to Mordecai. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “You smell of the one of other worlds.”

Talwyn looked up at the seraph. He hardly blinked at being addressed. “I am not from Halaya.”

Halaya? That name nudged at a memory, but Talwyn couldn’t remember where she had come across it before.

The Sorceress shook her head, her smile going serpentine. “No, Seraph of Chaos. You smell of another who smells of other worlds.”