Page 70

Ivy

W hen we returned to the cave where we’d left the others, the situation hadn’t changed. The shifter male was still on the ground, naked, with his arms wrapped around his legs. He didn’t even look at me. It was like he was asleep—or in some kind of trance.

I didn’t even have time to get my footing on the slick, wet rocky ground before I was swept into Elias’s embrace. I breathed in the scent of pine as I buried my face in his shoulder.

“You healed now?” His voice was muffled from where it was pressed into my messy hair, gruff but relieved.

“Yep,” I replied quietly. “All better.”

My shoulder was a little numb from the pain, but I was otherwise healed.

Elias’s arms tightened around me for only a moment before he set me down gently.

“Good,” he growled. “How bad was it?” That wasn’t directed at me, but to Rowan.

Probably because he already knew too well that I would just brush it off.

Rowan crossed his arms as he glanced at me with soft yet determined eyes. “She healed eventually. After we…” He motioned between us, like he couldn’t say the words ‘ we had sex’ . “But it didn’t look great when we got her shirt off.”

“She should have healed a lot quicker than that,” Damon added, voice tense. Through the bonds between me and all of my mates, I felt their irritation that he’d even looked at my shoulder.

But no one said a word about it. Maeve, who stood closest to the demon king, pushed off the wall of the cave. “And how are you feeling, a mhuirnín ?”

I blew out a breath, leaning into Elias’s chest. “Better,” I admitted. “But it really didn’t look great.”

No point in hiding it when Rowan and Damon could just prove me wrong. I rolled my shoulder back, wincing as it twinged. Not as bad as earlier, but the healing was slow.

Elias brushed his fingers over the wound and his claiming bite, brows furrowed. There was a slight glow to his green eyes, but he shook his head. “We’ll need to keep an eye on that,” he murmured. “You should be healing a hell of a lot faster now.”

I swallowed hard. Before anyone else could say anything, the shifter made a pained sound. His eyes flew open, but rather than being blue, they were red, bloody tears falling from the corners.

I sucked in a sharp breath as he convulsed. Elias wrapped an arm around me, growling. Maeve appeared near the shifter, her face carefully blank. Rowan and Adrian stared in horror, Orion and Hawk moving a step closer. But no one tried to help him.

Blood bubbled from his lips as he tried to say something, but it was cut off by more blood.

“No!” I shouted. I wanted to run to him, to try and stop whatever it was Dante was doing to him, but it was too late.

The male jerked, his body hitting the ground. More blood spilled from other parts of his body; his mouth, which he choked on, his ears. And we watched as he stilled, before slumping as death claimed him entirely.

The forest was quiet as we buried the shifter between two trees, where the earth was soft enough for us to dig into it, but hidden so he wouldn’t be found by scavengers.

Tears blurred my vision as we lowered the shifter into the ground. “We don’t even know his name,” I whispered. “He died not knowing it.”

Tears made it hard to breathe, hard to think. He hadn’t deserved to die. Especially not in pain, not in the way Dante had taken him.

“ He must have made sure there was a way to shut them up if anything happened to his handlers,” Adrian said, teeth gritted. “Fuck. He’s a monster.”

My gaze darted from him, to Hawk, Elias, and Rowan, who were filling the grave with dirt. I couldn’t even bring myself to answer that. How many others could he have killed in the same way? How?

“He could have killed our prisoners,” Maeve said, her voice steady. “We had three to begin with. One died. We thought they’d killed themselves, but now I wonder if he executed them instead. ”

Bile rose in my throat as I shook my head.

My gaze remained glued on the guys shovelling dirt into the grave.

Soon enough, the body of the shifter was covered, the stench of blood overtaken by the smell of wet earth and rain.

I had no idea how long his body would be able to remain hidden, but I hoped he could rest in peace here.

I wiped the back of my hand over my cheek, wiping the evidence of the stray tear away. I felt guilty for the tear, for the sadness washing through me.

“It’s alright to mourn him,” Maeve murmured, stepping up beside me. “It’s alright to mourn all of them.”

For the first time since we’d brought the body from the cave, I tore my eyes away from him to stare at her. “What?”

“The other soldiers. The ones we have killed, all because Dante manipulated them into giving their lives to his cause. The ones from your house. You can mourn them.” She brushed her fingers over my cheek, over the tears that continued to escape. “You are allowed to feel sadness for them, too.”

I’d been trying so hard to hold it all in; the regret over killing the blonde agent, despite her intention—her involvement—in hurting my family; over the male guarding the room—Kerry’s bedroom; over all the others that were killed not just by my hands, but by the hands of my mates in order to protect me.

So many lives lost because Dante decided theirs was worth less than mine—than his own.

My knees hit the ground as sobs wracked my body. Everything poured out of me. Guilt over not regretting my actions. The vengeance I’d taken for Kerry, despite all the pain she’d put me through. The pain I held onto for the children, for Thea, who were hidden away where no one could find them .

The anger I had about this entire situation left me with each painful sob.

Anger over dragging my mates into an unfamiliar world and putting them all in danger poured out of me.

The guilt and shame for leaving our friends and allies in Avalon while we hunted something that shouldn’t even exist left with my tears.

Frustration over being left in the dark about the crown and skull, about Pandora and her secrets, fell away.

Arms wrapped around me, scents familiar and comforting. But my body was finally releasing all the pent-up emotional pain I’d been holding onto, and I let it all escape me.

“You are not alone in this,” Maeve whispered, her cool fingers running through my hair. “None of it is your fault.”

I slumped into her as my tears slowed, but didn’t stop. I sucked in several deep, shaky breaths, trying to wash away the smell of his blood that seemed to be imprinted in my mind.

I wanted it to be washed away by the vanilla-ocean scent of Maeve, who held me despite the bond telling me she wasn’t entirely sure she could really comfort me the way others could. I needed the memories to be taken away by Adrian, whose own internal shame and guilt turned dark within him.

I wanted the potential hope that came with Ry and his return, that appeared when we were close.

Ry.

My eyes opened, and I pulled away abruptly to stare up at the Luna Prince. He’d been quiet since the wolf shifter’s death, blocks carefully constructed in his mind to keep me out.

“Do you think Dante set up something similar in your head?” I asked, pushing to my feet, desperation replacing all other emotion. “Ry, is it possible he could have done something to you, too?”

But my Fae mate wouldn’t look at me; at least, not right away. His eyes were closed as he leaned his head against the bark of the tree behind him. A breath fell from his lips, shaky and uneven. “I don’t know, my flower.”

My heart pounded even louder, ears ringing with his words.

I took a stumbling step away from him. Surely, Dante hadn’t.

Orion swore he’d never met him before. Had never seen the mind mage.

Hadn’t known he was the one leading his father down this path of treachery, building an army against me and the Goddess.

But what if Dante had placed something in his head? There was still a glamour on Orion, one that stopped him from speaking about everything he knew regarding their plans. What if Dante had, unbeknownst to Ry, placed a bomb in his head without him knowing? Or worse, taken the memory of it away?

It was rare, but some extremely powerful mind witches and mages had been known to be able to destroy memories. Very few could even replace them with new ones.

What if…?

My breaths became frantic as I brought my hands to my lips. Orion’s eyes opened, and they met mine, the same fears reflected within.

Strong arms wound around me, holding me up, but it was all becoming too much.

“Oh, God.” My knees gave out, but it was only because of Elias holding me that I didn’t hit the ground again.

I knew he was trying to talk to me—through the bond and out loud—but the ringing in my ears seemed to block both. Magic simmered in my chest; it wanted to be released, and yet, it remained locked within me, held back only by the tiny bit of strength I had left.

I was terrified if I let it out, it would explode, and this time, cause even more damage. Might draw Dante and his army to our location.

I knew I was on the verge of a panic attack. Could feel it with every breath that tightened in my chest, with the way my fingers tingled as darkness threatened to consume me. I almost let it; that would have been easier than the way my eyes gazed upon nothing and everything all at once.

Elias lifted me into his arms. There were words spoken, ones I couldn’t hear through my own harsh breaths.

What if Orion did have one of those kill switches in his head?

Could a mate of the Queen even die? That thought should have calmed some of my panic, but it only made it heavier.

There was always a chance that assumption was wrong.

No one had really tried to kill a mate of the Queen before, had they? At least, they’d never succeeded.

My magic once saved both Rowan and Adrian from kill blows. Had helped heal Elias when he’d been wounded.

But what if that was the one thing my magic couldn’t heal?

Darkness, this one caused by shadows, circled us and pulled us out of the forest—away from the grave of the shifter with no name.

If my mind weren’t at war against me, maybe I would have given him one. One that was worthy of him. One that could have been his own.

But once the darkness hit, I went with it.