Page 15

Hawk

W hen Grey warned us she’d taken a prisoner, she hadn’t been kidding.

The female wasn’t one I knew, and based on the limited information gleaned from Orion Black, he’d never encountered her.

The elemental witch Grey apprehended was tied to a beam in the hold of the ship, blood trickling from a wound on her temple.

If I had to guess, she was from a low bloodline of witches; elementals were pretty common, which made her expendable to Dante, and useless to us.

The chances of her knowing anything was slim, but I had a feeling, just like everyone else we’d come across, she had some kind of protection on her that would hurt Grey if she tried to access the witch’ s memories.

But I had a hell of a lot of rage burning through me, especially after learning about the betrayal from someone I cared about. Someone I thought had been on my team. The whole time, though, he’d been working alongside the fucking false king.

My hands curled into fists as Grey, Beckham, and I stepped in front of our prisoner.

“Still unconscious then,” Beckham growled, eyes glowing with the proximity of his wolf. His lips curled in a snarl as he crossed his arms. Despite not making a move towards the witch, I could tell he was moments away from ripping her throat out.

Maybe he realised she was just as useless as the other ones we had in our grasps.

Dante wasn’t going to give up any of his key players. He likely hadn’t planned for the fact that Hyperion Black’s son would be mated to Ivy and had been playing him for a while. And now that he knew, that could mean some integral changes within their organisation.

Grey knelt beside the witch, eyeing the female critically. “I want to unlock whatever I can from her memories. But I need to disable the charms that were put on her.”

“I can help with that,” Black said, walking out of the shadows. His violet eyes were locked on the witch, but he had a small vial in his hands. Within was a red algae, something that grew commonly in the Abyss Court, but also frequently around Avalon—only if you knew where to look.

Grey rose and took a step back from the witch without a word as Black approached. Even after everything, they had some respect for him.

He might have been the mate that stayed away, I thought, but he was there when she needed him .

And what the fuck was I doing? Hiding?

Protecting her in my own way . I had nothing else to offer her, not a bond or my heart. But at the very least, I could help her actual mates with this.

Black activated the algae with a drop of his blood. It glowed softly as he shook it out of the vial and onto the witch.

We watched quietly as the plant did its job.

The few charms Dante had put on her fell away, fading from her skin within moments.

I wasn’t entirely sure how many charms they had on her, and what all of them were, but one by one, they were disabled.

I had no idea if the one that would keep her memories hidden from Grey was taken away, or if there was poison running through her veins, like the agents from Phoenix. I wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk.

By the looks of the witch, she hadn’t been affected by a poison.

Her skin wasn’t clammy, and she didn’t sweat.

She hadn’t even woken up yet. Her dark hair was tied back from her face, revealing her sharp features, skin a similar shade of brown as mine.

There was a gold ring in her nose, one I eyed warily.

When the algae stopped glowing, and the charms disabled, Grey moved to kneel in front of the witch again. She lifted her hand in a blur, and the witch’s neck snapped to the side. Red bloomed across her cheek from the slap, but she was at least awake now.

Dark eyes flickered across the room. Even without the heightened hearing of a vamp or shifter, I could tell the witch was afraid.

Sweat beaded down her brow as her eyes landed on Grey first, then Beckham, Black, and lastly, me.

They widened, and she bucked, trying to free her hands from the chains holding her to the beam .

“Don’t bother,” Grey said, voice even. Dark eyes snapped back to her, and her lips curled in a sneer. “Your charms have been disabled, and you were checked earlier for any poisons. Death can be avoided. Talk.”

The sneer dimmed as the witch laughed. “Whatever,” she snarled. “Just kill me. It’ll be better than what’s waiting for me if they find me.”

I crossed my arms as Grey cocked her head. “You really think we won’t be worse after what your leader did to our mate, the new Queen of Nyx?”

The colour drained from the witch’s face, and she reared back, head slamming against the wooden post. “Just kill me. I don’t know anything. He never?—”

A blade of shadow sliced through her arm, and she let out a cry.

I glanced sharply to my left where Black stood with his hands curled into fists.

“Even the lowest of you know something ,” he hissed, taking a threatening step towards her.

When she chanced a look at him, she let out a whimper. “Pawns generally do.”

A shiver rolled down my spine at the clear rage in his voice, the unhinged spark in his eyes.

I hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to the three mages who attempted to attack Ivy.

It wasn’t any secret that he had a cruel streak at the academy, and on the days where I’d been on guard duty patrolling the grounds, I’d heard a lot of whispers about him and his victims.

The three mages hadn’t been the first creatures he’d strung up for whatever reason. I got why he’d done it to them, but it made me question why he’d taken out the others.

The Fae prince had a quiet cruelty about him now, one I knew he carefully hid from Ivy.

The witch’s wide eyes darted from Black to land on Grey again. “I swear to Nyx I don’t know anything. ”

Beside me, Beckham snorted. “You think that actually matters to us?” He took a step towards her before lowering until he was almost at eye level with her. “You forsake Nyx when you sided with him against my mate.”

“I didn’t want to,” she whispered, shaking her head. “But my father, he—” She cut herself off with a wince, and I took a step towards her.

I hadn’t taken my eyes off the nose ring, which now emitted a soft glow. “Her jewellery,” I muttered. “It must have additional charms.”

The Fae prince growled. “They would have been deactivated.”

“Not if they were prepared for your trick. How many times do you think you would be able to get away with using it before they picked up on it?” I asked, barely glancing at the young male.

For someone who worked on the inside with the enemy, he should definitely know better.

Especially if he really was someone they feared on the outside.

They would definitely have protections in place against him specifically.

The Luna Prince bared his teeth at me. “Your opinion is no?—”

“Enough.” Grey grabbed the nose ring and pulled it from the witch’s flesh. She screamed at the pain, but Grey tossed the metal ring to me without looking back.

Despite being covered in blood and the skin of her nose, there were engravings so small on the metal, it shouldn’t have surprised me that they would cover their bases. “Runes,” I muttered. “A lot of them.”

I handed the ring to Beckham, who simply crushed it before tossing it aside. “Now, speak,” he said.

The witch sobbed pathetically as blood ran down her face.

“He made us,” she said, hiccupping. “My father. He was unwell after my mother, his mate, died. He-he was an agent. Said he was unappreciated by the others. By you lot.” Her dark eyes, swollen red with tears and pain, flickered up to Grey.

“He thought he was worthless, that Nyx was punishing him. But they promised him more. Better. Said that if he was loyal, he would get back what he’d lost.”

My stomach twisted. Running my clean hand down my face, I considered what would have had Zeph siding with the enemy. It wouldn’t be for Corbin. He’d been slaughtered during the fight. Had it been Zephyr who had brought Dante’s soldiers to the safe house in the first place?

Fuck. If he had…then he’d killed our friend. Almost killed Ivy.

Grey’s words rang in my ears. She told me not long after she found out; that not only had Black revealed his knowledge of a list that had both our names on it, but that my own team member was helping the enemy.

“What else do you know?” Grey asked calmly. “Anything. Even the smallest of things can help.”

The witch dropped her chin as she continued to cry quietly to herself. “I don’t know.”

“You were the team leader,” I snapped, drawing her attention. “You had some power. You should know something .”

She shook her head, the blood from her nose covering her lips as she tried to speak.

“I swear. I was only appointed a leader before the ball. He was rushing, that’s what the others were saying.

They claimed the ball would be it. He would become the true king.

But when it didn’t happen, the plans had to change. ”

Beckham and I shared a look. That aligned with Ivy’s assumption about the crown, but had he really thought it would be that easy? Had he really believed he could just…ta ke the crown and that would be it? Dante was smarter than that, surely.

I had a feeling Beckham was thinking the same thing. Someone who had been planning this for a while would know better than that.

The witch’s eyes closed on another broken sob. “I never knew most of the High Council. That’s—that’s what they called his most trusted advisors and helpers.”

“That’s true,” Black muttered. “He mimicked some of the old ways of Fae when he decided to name himself King.”

“There was something off about today, and it really pissed some of the generals off,” she said, chest heaving, like she was struggling to breathe.

“And it wasn’t just about the ball. It happened before the ball.

Some sort of fight. I don’t know. But that’s why the teams were changed.

I thought I was making my father proud when I was elected team leader. I thought?—”

She was cut off when blood spilled from her lips. Grey jumped to her feet, grabbing the witch by the throat as she seized. Beckham growled, and Black moved with more of the red algae in his hand, but it was too late.

Her head lulled to the side, eyes open wide and unseeing as she stared into the shadows of the hold.

“Fuck.” My hands formed into fists as I took a step back. Grey dropped the witch and moved to stand beside Beckham. They spoke in hushed tones, barely glancing back at the body. But my eyes were drawn back to her. The smell of blood permeated the air, washing away the briny salt air of the ocean.

How did she get a poison past us? Past Grey and the charm disabler?

What the fuck happened?

If that had gotten past us, then what else had ?

My thoughts went to Ivy again. To her potential disappointment over not having answers, and even her sadness over the death of the witch. Even if the female was a threat to her, Ivy would still have some compassion, knowing why the witch had done what she’d done.

The Fae prince eyed the body angrily, his jaw ticking. He had his hand on his belt, like he was planning on pulling something from one of the pockets, while the other tapped against his thigh. Violet eyes flickered to mine, and he shook his head.

“What?” Black demanded. “Something you want to say, Nash?”

I hadn’t before, but Grey and Beckham halted their conversation, and glared at us—no, at me .

Shaking my head, I crossed my arms. “Your father is probably one of those on Dante’s High Council, ” I pointed out. “Wouldn’t you know something about the sudden change in plans?”

Black’s eyes narrowed. “I think you forget: Hyperion was the one who knew things, not me. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

I stiffened. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he hissed, “that you are putting my mate in danger every time you try to ignore your bond. They know it, she knows it, but she won’t push you—even if it’s the only way she’ll survive any of this. You are so fucking selfish?—”

“Leave, Orion. We’ll handle this,” Grey muttered.

But my ears rang with the word. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish . He was right. I was being more than fucking selfish. I knew a part of me wanted to accept the bond, and yet…

I shook my head, ignoring Grey and Beckham as I left them in the hold with Black and the body of the witch .

Maybe he was right, but I couldn’t do it. As much as she tempted me, as much as my magic begged for her, no matter how badly my heart yearned for hers, I couldn’t.

And that made me exactly what Orion Black claimed I was.

One selfish, unworthy bastard.

Exactly what she needs me to be.