Page 105 of The Broken Prince

He gripped me before he let go. “Always.”

Nightshade stepped forward, releasing an irritated breath from his big nostrils. I feared for your life as well.

“I know you did.” I moved toward him as he lowered his snout, my hand moving to his cheek.

He closed his eyes. I chose the path of a coward and left you.

You did exactly what I wanted, Nightshade. They would have taken you if you got too close. And I wouldn’t have been able to live with that.

He kept his eyes closed as I rubbed him.

You’re here now.

He moved his face into my body, rubbing me and nearly knocking me over.

I chuckled then patted him on the head before I turned away. “How’s Avice?”

“Distraught. Inconsolable. Broken.”

That was like a sword in my heart. “Then we should hurry back.”

Huntley drew close. “I guess you were right about these people. They were here all this time—and you found them.” There was a note of pride in his voice. “Perhaps this is exactly what we need to win this war.”

I almost didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. “Let’s go inside… We have a lot to talk about.”

* * *

We entered the mountain and gathered at one of their tables. Ale was passed around, along with baskets of bread.

Huntley moved for the ale, and I subtly touched his arm and shook my head.

“Poison?” he whispered while barely moving his lips.

“No. Piss.”

He did his best to suppress the smirk on his face as he went for a piece of bread instead.

I spoke first. “The remaining free people of Palladium wish for us to bring them to our lands across the mountains. Since there’s no way for them to travel without being caught, the dragons are their only option. Since they saved me, this is a reasonable request.”

Huntley had barely swallowed his bread before he reacted, his eyebrows arching high up his face. A cloud of confusion was there, reaching every feature. “I don’t understand.”

Now came the hard part. “They’ve informed me that the demons are not only immortal…but invincible.”

“That’s incorrect,” Huntley said. “Because we killed thousands of them—”

“They’ll come back,” I said hopelessly. “They’re reborn underground, looking identical to how they were before…but with more scars. Palladium has seen the same demon many times, a demon they’d killed more than once.”

Huntley didn’t have a comeback or a question. All he did was stare at me—and through me.

“Yeah…I took the news hard too.”

He slowly turned to Paul across the table. “How is that possible?”

“Magic,” Paul said.

“Magic?” Huntley said blankly. “And where does this magic come from?”

“From the little information we’ve been able to gather,” Mary said, “it’s from crystals. Crystals underground. But let us be clear—this is a guess. We aren’t completely certain.”