Page 84

Hawk

A shudder rolled down my spine as I cut down another Fae traitor. His body hit the ground hard, blood pooling from a slit in his throat made by my blade.

There was something about this scene that made me turn in a slow circle; Archer held his own against a mage who wielded a crossbow, which had been damaged in their fight.

Blood dripped from a cut on Archer’s lip, which hadn’t even started the process of healing.

There was a fire in his eyes, a burning desire to keep the male he was fighting down, to maintain control.

The Fae female I’d fought earlier was up and trying to tear at Orion Black with a vengeance.

Anger rolled through me at the sight of her, but there was something about it that triggered a strong sense of Déjà vu . Not because I’d been here before, but because I knew something was going to happen .

I hadn’t an ounce of divination blood in me. The Fae didn’t see into the future like the divination witches and mages did. And neither did the demons.

That was a power uniquely witch born.

But I knew I had a feeling of being here before. Of seeing this.

No . Not seeing. Hearing .

Sable, in a vision, had warned me that a fight would either be my death, or my doom. A battle between two forces vying for the same thing. This was when she’d first pulled me into the fold of her mission. I’d had the memory wiped—by her and someone else, at the time—but now it was back.

Everything she’d been preparing me for.

The visits to old temples and scouring the remains for hints of a world long since hidden. The missions she would send me and my team on, where they had no idea what I was doing in the dark of night when they were asleep. Scouring the Fae Courts for signs of them .

Not Dante and his traitorous followers. But the remnants of an old society that had been born of a need to protect something valuable.

The ache of battle disappeared as Sable’s voice filled my head.

Only you will know when the time is right, she’d said, sitting on the couch in her office, the one she used to have at the compound.

Three days later, she’d had it dismantled, and I never understood why.

Until now. It became Maeve Grey’s office when she’d been appointed a leader after being abandoned for years.

Doom will bring death upon all, and your death will mean protecting everything. I know you will choose wisely. You are not a selfish male, she’d continued. When you recover this memory, it will be time. You must protect the first .

The sound of battle hit me, forcing me from the buried memory and back to the present. It was only a moment. I blinked hard as my vision blurred between the fight and sitting in that office.

“Nash!” Archer shouted, his voice jarring me out of those thoughts. Before I could move, his gun went off, and someone behind me fell to the ground.

I barely glanced back to see a panther shifter now lying dead in the grass behind me.

Turning back to Archer, I blinked hard as he stormed up to me. “What the hell is your problem?” he snapped.

I rubbed a hand over my forehead. Sweat lined my brow, and when I licked my lips, I tasted salt on my upper lip. “I don’t know,” I said. “But I had a…memory.”

Archer frowned. “What type of memory?”

“It was the reason why your mother recruited me,” I whispered. “It was for…this. For this moment.”

Archer’s frown deepened as he reared back, shaking his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“She wanted to prepare me for now ,” I said, voice hoarse. “To sacrifice myself for…” I trailed off, my eyes darting off towards where Orion Black was meant to be fighting his father.

But the pair were gone.

“I have to sacrifice myself to save the first,” I muttered, eyes widening as I turned back to Archer. “I’m meant to die instead of Orion Black.”

The mage’s eyes filled with understanding and horror. “Fucking hell, it all makes sense now. Why you wouldn’t bond Ivy,” he whispered. “But my mother didn’t know you would also be her mate.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to complete the bond with her.

It was the only thing I really wanted. But I’d been bound by duty, by the memory Sable wiped from my consciousness.

Deep down, I’d always known I wouldn’t live long enough to be the mate she deserved, and so I never let myself get close to her.

I didn’t want her to love me and then lose me.

But I never expected to be the one to fall in love with her . She consumed every part of my heart, body, and soul. She was my fated mate.

And I had to choose who she would lose.

Me, or the first.

You are not a selfish male , Sable had said.

But I wanted to be. I wanted to be able to walk out of this and claim her.

To make her mine. To finally know what it would feel like for her to claim me as her own.

To have my mark seared across her skin, claimed by my Fae side—and my demon half.

I wanted to brand her like the Pride demon I was, right where everyone would see it.

I wanted to take her into the clouds and fill her with my seed, like Aither begged for.

I wanted her claim on my skin. A bite on my neck, a brand on my heart, anything she had to offer.

I wanted to taste her again. To feel her lips on mine. To know the press of her body intimately.

I wanted to make it up to her. Wanted to prove I was worthy of her love. Her heart. I wanted to show her that I never wanted to reject our bond but claim it.

And yet I would not take that from Orion. Not when he had all of that with her, had given everything for her.

Because I couldn’t be a selfish male. For her, I wouldn’t be.

“We need to find him,” I said, my voice thick with desperation. “Now.”

I was pretty sure Archer understood what that meant, so he didn’t fight me on it. Instead, he followed as I ran in the direction of the flames, towards where I hoped Hyperion had taken him.

The rats had found their way to this side of the village now, too.

Their rotting stench mixed with the smell of burning flesh.

Some of the army were throwing the rats into the flames.

Others used the fire against them. It gave Archer and I enough coverage to be left ignored as they tried to save their own lives.

Fear triggered them to fight what they assumed was the bigger threat.

I could have taken to the sky, but thunder rumbled across the dark clouds. The storm, one I knew was created by Ivy, had been a hanging threat for a while now. But there were no violet strikes of lightning. Nothing to indicate that she was in a fight.

That realisation made my stomach twist with worry. Fear. Everything within me revolted at the idea that I was too late. That I would lose her.

Sable had warned me that if I didn’t do this, it would mean death for everyone. But I had a feeling it meant death for her .

My breath rattled in my lungs as I ran. The smoke made each breath burn, but I gulped them down, relying on the pain to keep going.

In the distance, I spied the hulking figure of the creature Ivy claimed as her mate.

Tufts of fur had been ripped from his body, and there was blood matting what was left.

He was in a race with one of the giant bear shifters, running after Beckham and Grey, who were moving towards the ruins of a large building, near a set of tents Archer and I hadn’t burned.

Magic pulsed from the building, a beacon of something bad waiting for us.

It’s too late, I thought, pushing myself harder. Faster. My legs throbbed, but I ignored it as I caught up to Beckham .

The shifter barely looked at me, but the shift rippled across his body. He was barely containing it. Barely holding the wolf at bay.

We passed the large building, our footsteps echoing like thunder.

Lightning struck the sky, a mix of violet and silver-white.

A scream tore through the air.

It was too late.

I’d failed.

I truly was a selfish male.