Page 33

Ivy

A shiver rolled down my spine as his words settled between us. A new kind of tension filled the air, one that had my heart skipping a beat from fear.

Could Dante take not only my power, but Damon’s?

I stared up into the red eyes of the demon king and prayed to Nyx it wasn’t possible.

I didn’t know much about his position—hell, I hadn’t known about his inability to get laid, so there was likely a whole lot no one had briefed me on when it came to his role as the Elysian King—but there was a part of me that knew it wouldn’t be good if he could be overthrown.

Swallowing hard, I turned away from Damon and moved to set the glass tumbler down on one of the tables.

There was a large fire pit in the centre of the room, surrounded by black leather sofas.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much to the room other than the bar, a few shelves, some hallways, and the gaping hole in the wall that showed off the city.

But I was exhausted. My body weighed a ton. And my magic itched with the need to be with my mates.

“What do I need to do in order to secure passage to the Old World?” I asked again, turning back to the demon. He had his head cocked, black hair falling over his forehead. “And what do I need to do to have my mates back?”

For a long moment, he watched me. His expression was unreadable, but I was sick of going around in circles with him.

I hated to think it, but he had all the power here.

He would be the only reason we got out of this unscathed.

And it wouldn't hurt, having someone as powerful as him on my side. I’d been warned countless times that I would need allies.

That if I wanted to survive, I would need other powerful creatures by my side.

Maybe it was desperation, or fear, or even loneliness, I wasn’t sure.

But I knew I needed him.

“Do you want to remain King of the Elysian Fields?” I asked, keeping my eyes on him as I slowly approached his looming figure, heart pounding hard against my ribs. “Do you want Dante to take your power—take this throne, too?”

Damon clenched his jaw. For a moment, it appeared as if he were considering it. I stopped in front of him and craned my neck to meet his eye.

“Or do you want to stop Dante from ever even trying to take what has been yours for over three thousand years?” I said, voice low.

Damon’s lips curled into a smile. “What did you have in mind, my Queen? ”

“I can offer you an alliance,” I said, shoving my worry aside. “Unwavering support against him and his false claim. But I don’t think that’s enough for you, Damon. You clearly want something. So, say it.”

His chuckle was dark, deep; my stomach tightened at the sound of it. “Alright, my Queen. I have an idea.”

It was too late to wonder what I had gotten myself into as he proposed his deal. Too late to think about the consequences. Because in exchange for what he wanted, I would get my mates back and his power to take us to the Old World.

It was easier to beg for forgiveness, then ask permission.

And in this case, I would be grovelling for life.

For the first time since Damon assumed the role as Elysian King, he would be opening the doors of the great palace built into the mountain for all his denizens. Demons from all the Houses were invited to see the spectacle that was his marriage .

Oh, Goddess above, my stomach was tied into so many knots. My heart wanted out of my chest. And every time I thought I would throw up, I remembered why I’d agreed to this farce of a deal in the first place.

I twisted my fingers as I paced the length of the chamber I’d been shown to.

I was entirely alone, save for that magnificent view of the demon city and the fields beyond.

It was almost exactly the same as the view from Damon’s window, leaving me to think he’d put me in a room close to his.

The buildings were alight with fires and even from here, music drifted from a large square near the palace .

The sight and sound made me shiver. My magic itched to be a part of it, and even my own curiosity had me wanting to understand the demon world better.

It felt different to being in Avalon, yet not so much.

The Underworld was still enriched with thousands of years’ worth of life, unlike Avalon that was still new and growing in comparison.

Someone knocked on the door to my room, and I turned in time to see a demon with almost silver skin and deep black eyes standing in the doorway.

“My Queen,” he said, hand moving his chest. “Your mates are here.”

My heart stopped as he moved out of the way for them.

Adrian appeared first, his golden hair rumpled, eyes bruised and lines of stress marring his features. The sight of him made my heart ache. I rushed to him without another thought, throwing myself into his arms.

“Oh, thank the Goddess,” he breathed, crushing me to him. “You’re okay.”

Tears burned my eyes as I buried my face into his chest. “I was more worried about you guys,” I said, pulling back enough to see the others enter the room.

Adrian released me, and I immediately went to them. Maeve’s face went from hard stoicism to sudden relief as she pulled me into her arms. She wove her fingers into the hair at the nape of my neck, the other holding me to her chest as she breathed in deeply.

“I do not like that you smell of…others,” she whispered. “But you aren’t hurt.”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, squeezing my eyes shut. “I’m okay.”

Maeve, very reluctantly, released me into Rowan’s arms. Tears brimmed his hazel eyes, and as soon as I was in front of him, he buried his face into my shoulder, arms winding around my middle. I looped mine around his shoulders and held him close.

“Fuck, waking up without you—knowing you weren’t here—feeling that loss—” He stopped and shuddered. “I should have known you would be able to take care of yourself though.”

If only he knew , I thought.

Slowly, I untangled myself from him to meet his stare. “Are you able to feel the bonds?”

Damon had assured me the sleep spell that had kept me from reaching them should have worn off a while ago, but as I reached for Rowan’s thoughts, I felt a slight push back from his end of the bond. Frowning, I cupped his cheek and searched his eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He leaned into my touch, pressing his lips to the inside of my palm. “Of course. But just in case, we’ve all replaced our blocks. We know Dante was coming here.”

I shuddered, turning to the others. Elias bowed his head, and when he reached for me, I accepted his hand with relief. He tugged me into his chest, dropping a kiss to the top of my head.

“You have no idea how worried we were.” His arms tightened around me, chest rising and falling with a sigh. “Fuck, Ivy.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “We’re together again. That’s all that matters.”

Elias released me with a look that told me he didn’t fully believe me. “You have your blocks up, just as strong as the rest of us, Angel. What are you hiding?”

I glanced at my remaining two mates. Orion had a perfected mask of indifference, though the tell-tale signs of distress—something I’d picked up on when we were young—played in his violet eyes.

He wouldn’t let the others know what he was feeling, but I knew, even with the bond quiet, something was wrong.

Hawk, on the other hand, looked at me like he already knew what I’d done.

“I had to make a deal with King Rhadamanthus,” I said, stepping away from Elias, wringing my hands once more. “A deal that’s not only going to get us to the Old World, but a guide, and a really strong alliance with him.”

I tried to ignore the weight of their stares as I started pacing again. All the anxiety that had escaped me at seeing them again came back full force now. “I need you guys to trust me on this.”

“We always will,” Adrian said, frowning. “But what deal did you make?” His eyes dropped to the very obvious snake tattoo circling my arm.

Actually, all eyes did, and I held my arm up so they could see. “This was more a deal to protect me,” I said, heart pounding. “But there’s a second one.”

And Damon had put it in the worst place imaginable.

Releasing a shaky breath, I hiked up the skirt of my silk dress to reveal the new band wrapped around my thigh. Another snake, this time with different details, but it had its own tail in its mouth. The Ouroboros.

The little I knew about the symbol came from lore back home. And Damon had no intention of explaining what it meant to him when he’d placed the shadow tattoo on me.

Elias’s nostrils flared, eyes darkening as they met mine. “What did you promise him?”

“My hand,” I said, “in a unifying marriage.”