Page 76

Ivy

T he others caught up, and together we retreated further into the forest where no one would follow us.

For whatever reason, the soldiers weren’t entering the woods, and we took that as our only sign of safety.

Dante had shifters and a few soldiers patrolling the road leading out of the forest, but they weren’t directing their guns into the darkness the trees offered.

It was clear they were more worried about something else.

My heart pounded as we moved into complete darkness, only guided by the light of the blue orbs, as far away from the army as we dared.

“Now what?” I asked, running a hand over my hair as I paced the length of the road. “I don’t think I’ll be able to find the cottage without actually getting into the village. ”

And I was the only one who knew what to look for. Panic tightened in my chest as I turned back to the others. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to sense it. There’s too many of them.”

“We saw how big the shifters were,” Maeve murmured, crossing her arms. “Whatever Dante has been testing, those are his best results.”

A shudder rolled down my spine. “Did you see the bear?”

At first, we’d barely noticed him. The largest brown bear I had ever seen. There were a few bear shifters at the academy, and from what I knew, one of Greer’s mates had also been one.

But the ones here were…different. Like all of the shifters being controlled by Dante.

He had been the largest there, likely towering over eight feet tall if he stood up. On all fours, he’d been huge. At first, I would have thought him a really big boulder. But then he’d moved, creeping closer and closer to where we hid. Every so often, he’d lifted his head to scent the air.

At first, I’d worried he’d caught our scents, despite the charms we all wore.

It was only because we realised the unknown shifter wasn’t as protected as us that we’d left.

I’d woven another charm into the twine bracelet, but since we hadn’t been followed into the forest, I had to assume we were safe from the bear.

My magic ached for some reason; a strange thrum that made me rub my chest. “I don’t know what to do, other than try to draw them away from the village. Especially those shifters. We might be powerful, but I don’t think we’re a match for whatever Dante has done to them.”

“I need time,” Adrian said. He sat with his knees against his chest, tired eyes finding mine.

“I know I’m close, Ivy. To having something we can use against not just him, but others, too.

” Desperation filtered down the bond, coming through thick.

It made my heart ache knowing that he was draining himself for this.

I tore my eyes from his and turned towards the village. We couldn’t see it from where we were located on the road, but there was a new, almost anxious energy around us as we waited. For something.

For me to have a plan.

I had no doubt Dante was using whatever he had left of the power he stole to find the skull. Which meant I needed to know where it was first.

I rubbed my sternum and released a breath. “We need a plan.”

“This will end in a fight,” Damon said, his voice chilling.

I nodded. “It could also end how Rowan foresaw.” A lump formed in my throat as I turned to my mage, who stood off to the other side. Despair lined his features, darkening his hazel eyes as they met mine. “But I can’t let it end how it happened in mine.”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed, and a frown tipped his lips. “What do you mean? What happened in your vision?”

“They had all of you,” I replied quietly. “And you were dead.”

The air was heavy with tension as Maeve, Hawk, and Elias laid out a plan of attack.

It was a jumble of diversions, sneaking around, and getting to the cottage first. We would have to split up into three teams: I would be with Damon and Adrian.

The former needed to ensure I was taken back to the forest safely, and the latter was too weak to be in the diversion teams, but Adrian was more than happy to be with me if it meant he had a chance at going for Dante.

Then there were the two diversion teams. Maeve, Elias, and the shifter were going in one direction to draw the zombie-rats to the village to distract the army.

Hawk, Rowan, and Orion were diversion team two, and they were going to deal with the soldiers on the other side of the village. Setting fires, drawing them away from the ruins—and hopefully Dante.

My stomach tightened. I twisted my fingers in my lap as we gathered around a ring of witch lights that was our version of a fire.

In the early hours of the morning, we would go to war.

I couldn’t get past the feeling that something would go terribly wrong. That we weren’t going to make it out of this one.

Silently, I wove additional charms upon everyone, taking the threads of our bonds and carefully stringing together new protections while staring into the light.

“If anything happens,” I said, glancing up at the others, “get the hell out of here. I mean it. Dante only wants me, and I can’t…I can’t think of a world where any of you aren’t in it.”

The bonds warmed with a ferocious protectiveness, but I held up a hand.

“There’s no point in you all being captured.

I know what happens to you guys, and it’s death.

He’ll keep me alive.” I met each darkening stare; Maeve’s nostrils flared with anger, while Elias clenched his jaw.

The desire to refuse was at the tip of everyone’s tongues.

Hawk looked away when I met his eye, and although I didn’t know what he was thinking, it was clear he wanted to say something .

Damon scoffed, and I met his stare sharply. “I’ll shadow you out before he even has a chance,” the demon king said.

“I want you to get them out, first,” I whispered, my chest aching as I tore my eyes from his to take in Orion, Adrian, and Rowan, who sat around me.

“He might hurt me, but I think that’s the worst he’ll do.

He can lock me in a cage, whatever, he doesn’t want me dead.

But he doesn’t care about you. And he’ll use you against me.

I can’t—I can’t risk losing you when you guys can actually do so much to help Avalon survive what’s coming. ”

“We have no idea what he’s capable of,” Rowan croaked as he reached for me hesitantly. “Please. Don’t do this.”

“I won’t put my life in unnecessary danger.

” If I could avoid being taken by Dante, then I would.

Not only could I not leave my mates, but I wouldn’t make my sisters lose someone else they loved.

But if I couldn’t be there for them, then at least they still had the team. “But we know what Dante wants.”

Dissent rolled down the bonds; they were angry—pissed we had to come up with a plan that split us up from one another, one that pulled them away from me. There was a reason Damon was with me and not with them, but that also meant they couldn’t protect me from Dante if he did somehow find us.

Tension and silence closed in around us. I went back to staring at the witch lights as pain radiated through me. If Dante found a way to block our bonds again, and they were hurt…

I’d managed to unknowingly save Rowan before our bond even appeared. I had to hope my magic would protect them if I couldn’t .

I wouldn’t be able to help Damon with my magic. But for Hawk and the shifter, at least I knew without being mated, I could still protect them if they were dealt killing blows.

“We can’t assume we’re going to be safe,” Adrian said, voice rough. “Dante has a way to hurt Ivy. He can hurt us, too.”

My stomach dropped as my prince laid his head on my lap.

Through the bond, his exhaustion became all too clear as his blocks fell.

Running my fingers through his golden hair, I said, “I won’t let him hurt you.

Any of you.” I glanced over at the giant shifter, still in his wolf-man form.

“You need to know how dangerous he is. He has old magic, the type that can weaken our bonds. There’s a chance he might be able to hurt you, and my magic won’t be able to save you. ”

The shifter growled, though he didn’t say a word.

It was his idea to draw out the zombie-rats—he said they had a name, but that it meant cursed being .

Use his enemies against our shared one. The rats were a blight to his people, and if he could draw as many out to fight our battle, then he saw some use in them.

We also had to find a way to block the road going into the forest. Leave their souls to the witch, Damon said.

The shifter looked at me, and for a moment, something danced in his eyes. Uncertainty, mostly. But not fear. He wasn’t afraid of what was about to happen. Though, neither were my mates. They were more afraid of what would happen to me .

“You are worried about me?” he asked, cocking his large head.

I nodded. No point in lying; whether I liked it or not, he was my mate, too. As sudden as the bond was, neither of us were going to be able to escape it. My magic yearned for him, a pulsing need to be joined.

“My magic has the ability to protect you, even if we aren’t bonded,” I replied.

“It saved both Rowan and Adrian before we completed the bonds—before we even knew about them, actually. So, because I recognised the bond with you, I know that if they do hurt you, the bond will protect you, even without being completed. Same goes for Hawk.”

The shifter only stared at me for another long moment. I wanted to know what he was thinking. I hadn’t realised until now how much I relied on the bonds to understand what they weren’t saying aloud.

But with this unknown male, I couldn’t read any part of him.

I didn’t know what to think. He’d sounded surprised when he’d asked if I actually cared about him.

And although I didn’t know him, a part of me did.

Just like I did Hawk, who wanted to refuse our bond, and even Damon.

I couldn’t explain it other than my magic, but I knew it was more than that.