Page 6

Elias

H er power should have brought a sense of fear to any who stood in her presence.

But by the time she was done with the agents, they were in awe just like the rest of us.

All the fear and anger I felt slipped away as I watched my battered and terrified mate come into her power.

Right before my eyes, her entire demeanour changed; she’d been slowly transitioning into the powerful Queen she was always destined to be, but now it was there in the way she took each hand and drew the poison from their blood, in the way she whispered to them they were safe.

It was in each charm she placed on them to protect them from further infection.

And with each male, she showed them kindness, a softness that would draw anyone to her side. She might not have been the Queen they expected, but she was showing them that she was the Queen they needed.

She showed them that she would protect them, regardless of where they placed their alliance.

Ivy stepped back, wearing her destroyed dress and crown with pride. The wound in her side had long since healed, and now the tear in her gown revealed her blood-stained skin. Yet despite how she looked, each agent gazed at her with enough reverence it didn’t seem to matter.

Ivy was a powerful force; the Goddess incarnate standing before them. And she had saved them all from a slow, excruciating death at the hands of the usurper king.

Through the bond, I caught exhaustion rearing its head. Ivy needed rest, and yet she rolled her shoulders back, not showing any sign of tiring.

“Tell us your purpose,” Ivy said, her voice carrying a chilling command. “Why were you going to the palace?”

The first male, the one from the safe house, shakily rose to his feet. “We were called in by Sir Ya’Dahir. He claimed there was an Aura level breach.”

“Then he was right,” I replied, the eyes of the mage falling on me. “Queen Greer is dead. Prince Dante has claimed himself King of all Nyx’s creatures.”

The agents all shared looks of shock and rage.

Good. They should’ve understood the severity of the situation with just the breach code.

But it was clear they were finally piecing together just how bad the situation was.

I saw it play out in their expressions; in the subtle shift of their scents, in the pounding of their hearts as the words settled in the air.

“Do you know if any more agents are on their way?” Archer asked carefully.

They all shook their heads. “We were ordered by Jay to evacuate anyone we could find. So, we’re the last team,” another male said. He glanced quickly at me before resting his stare on Ivy. “We are under your command, my Queen.”

There was a twinge of discomfort from her end of the bond, but she lifted her chin. “I want you to take my friend and deliver her safely to her mother.”

The witch stepped up and shook her head. “I’m not going to leave you,” she stated. “I can help.”

Ivy turned, eyes soft as she took in her friend. “You aren’t safe with us. And you said it yourself. There are people who can help, who are still loyal to Nyx and her Queen. You need to be here to help with that, Vanya. Your mother works for the compound. She should be able to help, right?”

Vanya Blackwood pursed her lips, eyes shining with unshed tears. But after a moment, she released a shaky breath and bowed her head. “Okay.”

The relief poured out of Ivy as she turned back to the agents. “Do you have news of her?”

One of the males shook his head. “No. Only Sir Ya’Dahir has made contact. But the traitors are making themselves known. Agent Blackwood so far isn’t one of them.”

Ivy nodded and blew out another shaky breath. “Good. Good. Take Vanya back into the city. Find somewhere safe.”

“What about you?” The mage from the safe house took a step towards her, but I cut him off with a growl. The male moved back, bowing his head. “I apologise.”

Ivy spared me a look, her eyes telling me she wasn’t impressed by that.

It’s instinct, I said.

But rather than responding, she shook her head, turning back to the mage.

“You don’t need to apologise for worrying,” she said softly.

“We are at war. Nyx knows it. And now, so does everyone else. Dante killed Queen Greer in the hopes of taking her crown and ascending the throne. But he failed. He may hold the palace, but he doesn’t have the power to lead.

But I know what he’s planning. And we need to stop him. ”

Ivy’s words were a stark reminder that everything we’d done came down to this moment.

Dante wanted control, and he believed he needed something to maintain that. But it seemed only Ivy knew what that thing was.

And she wasn’t ready to tell us.

The SUV was eerily quiet as we took darkened back roads towards the docks. The only thing she’d revealed was that we needed a boat. I trusted my mate with everything, but it burned not knowing what she had planned.

I wanted to help her, but she wouldn’t let me— us .

From the corner of my eye, I watched her. Finally, she’d taken the placeholder tiara off her head. Ivy held it between her hands, staring down at the gemstones like it held all the answers to her questions.

I’ll explain it all soon , she said, glancing at me warily. I promise .

I grunted, shifting in my seat to take one of her hands. It was a cramped fit in here. I was almost ready to say fuck it and pull her into my lap to make the car ride easier. But I held back.

When the ocean came into view, lit up by the gradual rise of the sun, Ivy released a heavy breath. Her fingers tightened around my own, and I offered her whatever strength she needed to tell us the truth .

“He’s going after Nyx’s crown,” Ivy said finally, her voice breaking the silence. Tension thickened the air as she held her placeholder crown. “When Dante went for Queen Greer, the crown disappeared. He thinks it’s the key to his rule. That with it, he can be King without consequence.”

“How can you be sure?” Kingsley asked stiffly, voice threaded with emotion.

He sat on Ivy’s other side, though he didn’t reach for her—wouldn’t look at her.

I couldn’t blame him for wanting to come to terms with what’d happened, but I felt Ivy’s guilt over the entire situation, and she needed to know it wasn’t her fault. That Greer’s death wasn’t on her.

Ivy lowered the crown to her lap and glanced at Kingsley, sadness radiating down the bond.

“He asked about it, and she told him that only a Queen of Nyx will see the crown.” She turned her eyes forward and ran her free hand through her tangled hair.

“Nyx, when she appeared to me in my dreams, wore the crown. Sometimes, she appeared without it. I don’t know why.

But I know that’s where we need to go. We need to find it. ”

“Shouldn’t you be able to summon it?” Fae-bastard asked. “It’s part of your power. A manifestation of your magic.”

“I wish it were that easy,” she murmured. “But I don’t think it is.”

I frowned and met Grey’s confused expression. “What do you mean?” the vamp asked.

Ivy’s eyes closed, her head falling back against the seat. Hesitation grew from her end of the bond. Based on the impression her thoughts, it was clear she was trying to figure out what she should say.

“The truth, Ivy,” I demanded. “No more secrets. No more hiding things from us. We are your mates.”Her eyes popped open, a flash of hurt filling the brown of her irises, but I held firm.

“We are all in this with you. You might be the Queen of Nyx now, the ruler of Avalon and all of Nyx’s Domain, but we are your knights, your council. Where you go, we follow.”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want any of you to get hurt,” she said, voice thick with emotion. “Dante doesn’t care about you. But you are everything to me. I can’t let him hurt you again.”

My throat tightened, but I pulled her hand into my lap and brought my other to cup the side of her face. “I love you too much to let you keep any secrets from the rest of us. You should know that by now.”

“That’s what I’m scared of,” she whispered.

“That you’ll do anything to protect me, but not enough to protect yourselves.

If Dante can’t hurt me, Elias, he will hurt you.

Don’t you realise that? I need to protect you.

Protect all of you. Because if I don’t, he will try and kill you.

He doesn’t care who you are. He will do anything to get power and maintain it. ”

“We’re threats to him and his chance at being king,” Kingsley murmured. “But Elias is right. You need to trust us more, Ivy.”

She flinched away from me as Grey pulled the SUV into a dark lot by the docks.

There were already creatures out preparing for the day.

Were they aware of what happened? And were these people loyal to Ivy, or the false king?

Were we making a mistake coming here now?

I couldn’t ignore the rising tension in the vehicle, the way it rolled over all of us.

“Well, I can at least guarantee that we would never be safe in Faery. There are far too many loyal to Dante, who recognise his claim. He has them either in his mind traps, or they believe—stupidly—that he will give them their own ruler—a King of their own,” the mystery mate stated.

Man, I fucking hated the prick.

“And how, exactly, do you know that, Orion ?” Archer asked, turning in his seat.

The Fae male, who was perched across from us, gritted his teeth.

The entire drive, he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Ivy.

We’d been lucky that the mage and his team were able to get us a second, larger SUV for what we needed.

There wasn’t much else they’d been able to give us, but they’d promised Archer they’d send supplies at sunrise.

But the prince of Luna remained steady in his adoration of Ivy.

It was clear in the way he watched her now, that he would never take his eyes off her again.

It had been a shot in the dark, trusting him so I could find the rest of the team.

And as much as I wanted to beat him for what he’d done previously to my mate, it was clear he had no intention of hurting her.

And if he could be believed, then he could prove useful in this war.

“The soldiers who were holding us called him something. They feared him,” Grey said, speaking up from her position behind the wheel.

Orion smirked, the twist of his lips darkening his eyes. “They referred to me as ‘ The Shadow Knight of Nyx’ ,” he replied, a glint of malice flashing across his face. “I made sure that if I could not be with Ivy, I would make them regret their betrayals.”

Beside me, Ivy shivered. “What exactly do you know?”

His eyes softened when she met his stare. “I know that the Luna Court is under Dante’s thumb. My father, Hyperion, sided with him out of revenge against Queen Greer. ”

Kingsley leaned forward. “The hell do you mean? My mother did nothing to your father.”

“I know that, but he has a warped sense of entitlement, as do some Fae who are taught the old ways. The ways before Nyx. He thought he would be one of Queen Greer’s Knights.

A mate.” Orion shook his head, a bitter laugh falling from his lips.

“I only learned of this recently. It was his whole motivation initially. But then Dante got involved, and my father saw a new possibility: him on a throne as the High King of Faery, a ruler of all the Courts.”

Nash muttered a curse under his breath. “That’s why he has no known mates, isn’t it?”

I froze, sharing a look with Grey. Basic training in our field meant knowing the major players; Nash knew that, which was why he asked. High Lord Hyperion of the Luna Court had never revealed who his mates were.

“I always wondered why no one questioned the bastard.” Orion shook his head, silver hair falling over his forehead.

“Hyperion is going to build his own Court of chosen mates, if that is what you are asking. A Princess from each Court who is now loyal to Dante. Abyss, Winter, and Spring have yet to bow to the false king. They remain loyal to Nyx—but I fear it won’t be for long. ”

Ivy blew out a shaky breath as she pressed her free hand to her abdomen. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she muttered. “How long have they been working towards this?”

“Too long,” Orion replied darkly. “Longer than we have been alive.”

“Abyss has been loyal to Nyx for thousands of years. I doubt a con artist like Dante can sway their judgement,” Nash muttered. “But I am surprised about Aither. How did they change sides so quickly? ”

I’d almost forgotten he was a bastard of the Unseelie Court.

Where bloodlines were most important, he would have never fit into their court politics being a halfling.

But he served well as a soldier, and that was likely all they cared about.

It was all the Phoenix Compound cared about, too.

Which was why it bothered me that so many could already be on Dante’s side.

Sir Ya’Dahir oversaw all the training. So how did so many disloyal agents infiltrate us?

I shook my head as the Fae prince shrugged. “It was before I ever found out. But some High Rulers were tempted by the idea of taking back the old kingdom of Fae. With our own Queen. Only my father decided if he were most loyal to Dante, a Queen would not rule the Fae Realm—he would.”

Ivy’s curiosity had been piqued, and she cocked her head. “They stopped having Queens when Nyx created the first Queen of Nyx, right?”

“More or less, though there are many different stories as to how that came about.” Orion looked Ivy over with worried eyes.

“It isn’t important, though. We cannot trust the Fae.

Not even the courts who aren’t loyal to Dante.

Even they are intrigued by the idea of having their own monarch, to reinstate the High Queen.

They just don’t agree with Dante— yet .”

Ivy’s hand tightened in mine. “But you’re all sure the demons are loyal?”

I nodded, as did everyone else. “The demons have always been Nyx’s most loyal. The chances of Dante reaching them are slim,” I replied. “But we can’t be sure.”

For a moment, Ivy didn’t respond. She pressed her lips into a firm line, staring down at the crown now lying by her feet. Though I could hear the sound of her heart, it didn’t race with nerves like I might have expected. Instead, her heart rate remained steady, and her resolve seemed to strengthen.

“We need to go to the Old World,” Ivy said finally, lifting her eyes off the crown. “That’s where Nyx would keep her Crown. That’s where we’ll be able to stop Dante.”