Page 54

Ivy

I recognised where I was immediately.

Somehow, I felt oddly happy returning to my nightmare world. It reminded me of simpler times—before Dante and magic and the threat of losing everything.

But neither the hands nor the beast were present as I turned in a slow circle.

The trees were familiar. Their gnarled roots and low hanging branches twisted around each other reminded me of something whimsical, and not the twisted scene I usually associated them with.

They were still dark, the forest eerie, but I only felt comfort being in here.

“You made it home,” Nyx said, her voice jarring me out of my thoughts.

I spun to find her a few feet away, her shroud in place—minus the crown .

That felt a little ominous. I tried to ignore the shudder that raced down my spine, but it was impossible when our entire journey relied on this.

“We aren’t the only ones,” I replied carefully. I took a step towards her, sighing in relief when the ground didn’t try to swallow me like last time. “Dante is here.”

The Goddess made a sound in the back of her throat. “I still do not see him. He remains hidden from me.”

“And what about the crown?” I asked, fear tightening in my chest. “Do you know where that is? Because I don’t. I dragged everyone here for it, and now I don’t even know if I made the right choice. Should I have stayed in Avalon?”

Nyx cocked her head, face still covered. “You’re on the right path, my Daughter,” she replied, voice even. “You are doing exactly what is needed of you.”

I shook my head, exasperated. “What is needed of me, Nyx? Because I’m starting to feel like I abandoned my people in Avalon to Dante’s army.”

Even in a dream, my heart pounded, anger rising within me. Guilt followed it, a war between both emotions—and I wasn’t sure which one would win.

“Trust that in this time, they can take care of themselves.” The shroud disappeared, and I shrunk back as I was met with the skeletal version of her face. “You are exactly where you need to be.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stand taller. “But where is the crown?” I pressed, taking a step towards her. “Where am I meant to find that? Because if Dante gets it first ? —”

Nyx took a step back, as if she intended to leave. “He won’t. He can’t . You know where it is. Follow your magic. It is guiding you. Taking you back to the beginning.”

My lips pulled into a frown as I reached for her, desperate to make her stay—to have her tell me more. “Nyx ? —”

But before I could finish, the Goddess disappeared, leaving me in the old forest alone .

Usually, I would wake up now. But I turned in a slow circle, finding myself trapped.

For a reason , I thought. I’d never moved from this place; other than the first time I encountered the fleshy beast.

If the nightmare reflected the Old World, then maybe there was a reason it was always this forest.

Maybe it was a long shot, but I was determined to figure out where the hell her crown was. Not even Nyx wore it, which must have meant it had been tied to Greer when she’d been alive.

I started in no particular direction, following the path through the trees.

Once, it might have been a road. The closer I looked at the ground, the clearer it became.

There were old track marks in the dirt from carts, maybe some from horses.

I couldn’t tell which way was which, so I kept going, following the dark forest.

It felt like I walked for hours. The trees were never ending, but I knew I couldn’t go into them. Just the thought made my stomach twist. Although I knew this was a land that represented the Old World, it was still my dream—my nightmare place.

And only I knew what lived in the very darkness of my mind.

Tonight, I was not tempted to go there.

The path changed, growing harder until there was stone rather than hard packed dirt. I didn’t slow, heart racing as I picked up my speed. The trees were still thick, the darkness worse, but the path twisted, turning into ? —

I stumbled to a stop, my stomach bottoming out.

A cottage appeared before me, with a thatched roof and light stone exterior. There were two windows in the front and a plain wooden door. Flowers grew on vines over one of the windows, and it looked like small fruits dangled from those vines.

Something in me reached for the building, like it knew where I was. But for whatever reason, I couldn’t make my feet move.

It meant something, the cottage. It reminded me of something , but ? —

I shot awake, my breath catching in my throat as the forest from my nightmares disappeared, leaving me in the tall trees of the one I’d fallen asleep in.

My heart raced from whatever pulled me out of the dream. I searched the surroundings for anything that might have triggered me, but other than Adrian who slept peacefully beneath me, there was nothing wrong.

I felt another presence at my back and turned towards a face I hadn’t expected to see.

Orion lounged against the old stone wall with his eyes closed, shadows dancing around his body, circling him like a blanket. Though I couldn’t see the blade of shadows he liked to wield, I knew it was a summon away. Someone like Orion didn’t sleep without it.

His chest rose and fell with even, calm breaths. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was dreaming again, or if he kept them away. His nightmare came back to me. Was that normal for him or had it been triggered by the demons?

I didn’t dare reach for him, mentally or physically. Beneath me, Adrian still slept, his eyes fluttering. My link to Orion’s power was weak from our lack of connection, so I could only tell Adrian wasn’t trapped in a nightmare.

“Everything alright, Princess?” Hawk asked.

I tore my eyes from Adrian’s sleeping form and sat up, ignoring the dull ache in my side.

With a grimace, I ran my eyes over him tiredly.

There was nothing to indicate that Hawk Nash felt…

anything. Tired? No idea. Bored? Who knew?

He wore a carefully curated mask similar to the ones my vampire mate wore.

And it appeared he’d gotten better at it since I’d met him.

His masks were more intricate now, better placed—when around me, that was. Like finding out we were mates had sent him into secretive team leader mode, and not just asshole-team-leader mode .

I suppressed a sigh as I shifted, climbing to my feet. “Fine. Where is everyone?”

My stomach twisted with worry as I took in our little camp. Though I sensed the others nearby, I couldn’t see them from our position in the trees.

“Patrol and hunting,” Hawk replied easily. “Black drew the short straw on resting with you and Kingsley.”

I glanced back at the sleeping pair, chest warming briefly. “Good. They need rest. But so do the rest of you.”

“I’m plenty rested, Princess.” His eyes, dark as coal and just as hard, softened just enough to make me wonder if he wasn’t as dismissive of our bond as I thought. “You find anything?”

The dream . A shiver rolled down my spine, and I shrugged as I crossed my arms. “Not sure,” I replied carefully, chewing my bottom lip. “I’ll explain once the others return.”

His eyes hardened again, jaw ticking with…annoyance?

I didn’t understand him. Didn’t get what his fucking problem was. He was the one putting distance between us. Making it difficult. I was giving him the space he so clearly wanted, and when I didn’t fall for his shit, he got annoyed.

I was not interested in being played with. If he couldn’t muster enough courage to actually have a conversation about what he wanted, then I would keep my distance from him.

Huffing under my breath, I turned back to my sleeping mates and found Orion’s eyes open and resting on me. His expression was unreadable, but as I took him in, I noticed black veins of power running along his arms, up his bare neck. I sucked in a breath, but when I blinked, they were gone .

I swallowed hard and rubbed a hand over my face. There was still a hint of exhaustion weighing in the back of my mind, but not in the I need sleep kind of way, but in the sex makes magic better way. And neither of the males were really an option—as much as our dire circumstances required it.

I would not betray my better judgement and heart for dick.

But said dicks would mean winning a war.

How fundamentally dumb . Even though I wanted to blame Nyx for that, I had a feeling it was something born of the first Queen, Pandora. I had no idea how she’d managed to make a connection between sex and magic, but it kind of sucked for me.

I sighed, moving to sit beside Adrian again. The mossy earth was drier now, so sitting became less uncomfortable. Adrian didn’t stir, and I didn’t have it in me to wake him—not yet, not until the others made their way back.

“How are you feeling?” Orion asked, his voice stiff.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “Fine. Sleep helped. I might have an…idea of where we need to go next.”

He nodded his head once, though his features remained blank. “Good.”

Good . Awesome.

I needed to talk to him. Figure out where we stood. We were mated, and the weakening state of our bond needed to be addressed.

But I had a feeling doing that in front of Hawk just wouldn’t work, and Orion wouldn’t open up to me with the others around. I hadn’t forgotten his aversion to touch, the rumours that went around the academy about those who crossed him .

And I didn’t blame him for it. After what I’d witnessed in his nightmare, what I knew of his past, I understood.

It did make me dangerously angry though. Mostly at his father. I was a little glad I’d never had the…pleasure of meeting the Lord of Luna. Especially knowing what I knew now, I doubted my magic would have been controllable.

During my brief stint at the academy, I’d learned that harm against mates was punishable. And that if one found out that their mate was being abused during the time of their bond being completed, all bets were off.

Sighing, I turned away from Orion and checked in with Maeve, Rowan, and Elias separately, making sure they were okay. I felt them; their bonds were bright, and there was no sign of anything bad. But I still needed to make sure for myself.

Rowan checked back first with confirmation that he was fine. He said he’d found more of the old ruins and was taking a look at runes marked into the stones. That he wanted to know if they were somehow connected to Dante.

That made my stomach dip, but I calmed the sudden racing of my heart with a deep breath.

Elias checked in after, telling me he was in his wolf form, and had found something to eat. I really wasn’t sure if I could stomach anything from this world, but only because the idea of eating something hunted just made me feel…weird.

Hopefully it wasn’t another zombie thing.

Maeve checked in last, a little more hesitantly.

I went back to the vampire crypt, she said, guilt coming down the bond. I just needed to be sure .

It felt like a hand tightened around my heart, squeezing until it became hard to breathe.

You shouldn’t be alone down there , I replied.

I was hurt that she hadn’t told me it was something she was worried about.

But it also scared me that she’d gone off alone.

At least Elias and Rowan were within shouting distance.

But she was alone, underground, in a place we don’t even know is stable.

I’m not alone , she replied. I breathed a sigh of relief, dropping my head in my hands. The demon is with me .

That had me stiffening, but not out of distrust of Damon. I had his soul in my hand. One wrong move, and I could…

I actually wasn’t sure what I could do with his soul, but it probably wasn’t good.

I pulled away from Maeve to find that connection I had with Damon. The one created by our deal. It wasn’t like the bonds; they were lights in my chest, threads that connected me with the other parts of my soul.

Damon, however, was a link that didn’t exist in that place.

I rubbed the marking on my hand, the snake that connected with his. I wouldn’t even dare touch the one around my thigh. I hoped it had no special side effects.

Ah, wife, is there something I can do for you? His voice came through way too clearly to be normal. Now, I wished I’d spent some time actually studying demon deals and who he was.

If you let any harm come to my mate, I will hurt you, I replied.

His laugh echoed in my head, sultry and dark. Do not worry, wife. She is safe. If not for me, she would have come alone, and I figured it would be better for you to know she was not alone in this dark, decrepit place.

I couldn’t tell if he was messing with me. But I released a breath, eyeing the dark forest like he or Maeve might just pop out of it. At least, I hoped they would.

If something happens, I will shadow us out of the crypt, he added. I am perhaps the best person to be at her side .

As much as I didn’t like having to trust the life of my mate with him, I was a little grateful it was him down there with her. He could jump them out if the dungeon became unstable, or an enemy appeared.

Just be quick , was all I could muster.

I hoped Maeve found what she was looking for. But for now, I would just have to worry quietly on my own.