Page 91 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals

But I can’t tell my siblings that now. Not after so much work. Not without another answer.

Holding it between my forefinger and middle, I gesture to the camp. “We’ll take the raid to Wulf’s village. As much as I don’t care about Humans, we can’t risk more attacks before Max is mine. At least there, we can relax before making the next move.”

Just the thought that she could be mine twists my gut with anticipation.Fuck, I want her. I want the piece inside of her that calls to me.

“I’ll tell Father where we plan on being, but I won’t tell him what we have or when. I can’t risk an interception before solidifying the connection with Max.”

Fee nods, agreeing silently as she returns to her tent.

Wulf’s village is high in the singular mountain range along the edges of the Eternal Night Forest, where someone can traverse a snowy, steep path or through Erebus’Hollow to reach it.

The Erebus’ Hollow is a long tunnel built into the mountain range with a direct exit at the foot of the village. Unfortunately, it’s guarded by a beast blessed by the gods. Anyone who has ever attempted the passage never returns.

It’s a three-day journey to the village. Which means we’ll be vulnerable for another attack. Not a great possibility with how the last fight left me.

Reid leans back, sighing deeply, legs out. When I glance at him, he’s watching me, brows furrowed as if he can peel back my skull to read my thoughts.

Out of anyone, Reid probably can.

“What, Reid?”

“You’re the planner,” he says slowly, rubbing his hands on his knees. “You’ve seen how this ends, right?”

I nod, though I don’t tell him how I see this ending differently than what I originally planned. If I did, both my sister and brother would force me to abandon this and high-tail it back to the Black Palace.

Right now, Reid needs to be reassured. He doesn’t want to use Max because he’s kept his heart after all the darkness in the world. But he’s loyal, and will follow whatever command I give him.

Only now, after she gave me her blood, her trust, I’m inclined to agree with my brother.

“I have and everything is going according to plan, little brother.” I lie.

Chapter 32

Max

The Dark Fae announce our campaign is to seek out the Phoka village, the clan of shifters in the mountains. They say it’ll take three days of hard travel, through thick brush and dangerous paths.

It takes almost five.

Once we reach the base of the Man’s Peril, I look up into the snowy tops as the remaining volunteers drop from exhaustion. We’ve barely slept, forced to move at every sound, afraid of anything finding us before we find the army. Everyone is on edge.

Glancing to the side, in the dark leaves, my skin crawls. Something is watching us. My magic has been off, surrounded by the volunteers for so long, so I can’t pinpoint anything out there.

But it’s there. Watching. Waiting. I bite my lip, anxiety pulling down my center like a lead weight.

The heir moves past me and my body tenses, smelling his scent, feeling his warmth. Aching, I turn away, unable to even look at him.

The harsh travel has left us little time to talk and frankly, that suits me just fine.

The sting of rejection still burns my cheeks. He sent me away to teach me a lesson. It’s notmy fault we share this intense connection, but he certainly lays the blame on me.

My fingers twitch, my magic feeding off my aggravation.

Tay comes up to my side, clearing his throat. “The village is just through the pass. It’s well hidden and dangerous, but accessible.”

Nodding, I cross my arms, the chill of the forest driving through my leathers. “I heard. Snow bears and rock trolls live in the mountains. Getting pass them will be difficult.”

He shrugs. “It can be done. The Blackwoods Witches trade with the shifters regularly and make the journey.”