Page 136 of Third Offense

Raven had used her gift to check us all over, despite being exhausted. And she’d spent the longest time on Layla.

However, there was no mending a broken heart.

Or a shattered soul.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Novak muttered, pacing and breaking me from my thoughts with his unexpected commentary.

Byhim, I assumed he meant Sayir. Maybe King Sefid.

Either way, I’d help. They both deserved death after everything they’d done. Hearing Layla cry… was the most heart-wrenching experience of my life.

I would burn the fucking world for her.

Starting with Sayir and King Sefid.

We just needed a plan. Which required information.

Important answers.

A path forward.

I blew out a breath, staring up at the sky. Then I walked back to the terrace that led to my study to check my messages again.

Nothing.

My jaw clenched.Someone has to have survived.

But there had been a ton of warriors.

Fuck, I thought, gripping my desk.Fuck!

The guards should have swept for bugs when Layla and the others had arrived. This whole fucking mess could have been avoided.

“Clyde?” Novak’s surprised voice echoed back to me, drawing me from my study and back onto the patio that led to the courtyard.

A little Blaze Demon scampered across the grounds, chirping like a mouse at Novak, causing the male’s eyebrows to draw downward.

“I see,” he murmured, crouching down and holding out his hand for the little demigod to crawl onto his palm. He continued to chirp, making Novak nod, his eyes seeming to come alive in a flash.

Whatever the little demon had to say intrigued Novak, and it seemed to inspire violence as well because his wings turned over into razor sharp edges before flipping back to their softer plumes.

I’d never possessed the gift of talking to animals, but I wished I harbored that gift right now.

Because Novak clearly understood every word.

When he finished, I stepped back into the yard and asked, “What did he say?”

Novak’s icy irises flashed as he met my gaze, his jaw tightening. I almost expected him to tell me to fuck off with a flick of his wings.

But instead he replied, “Auric’s alive.”