Page 88 of Traitor Witch

But with this new knowledge, it all makes sense.

Of course we’re meant to be hers.

The only thing that concerns me is that Nilsa won’t tell us what happened to her human harem.

They’d better be dead.

That darkly possessive thought comes straight from mybeast. He’s felt no such possessiveness toward her other mates, his own crew. But humans? He’ll rip them to shreds.

In fact, if any man but us touches her, there’s a good chance I’ll end up shifting and flattening the city.

My beast rears his head at the thought, and I have to force my brain back on track.

“To the Solar temple then?” I hold out an arm.

Nilsa ignores it and turns to stride after Elsie.

She’s all female confidence and independence now. The side of her which peeked out during her rows with Val now out in the open for both of us to see.

Damn, it’s sexy.

My beast lets out a rumbling purr, but I force him down and hurry to catch up with her as she takes the right turn at the fork.

“As much as I admire your fine ass walking away from me,” I begin, seeing no reason to hide the truth any longer. “Wouldn’t you rather be going in the right direction?”

“This is the way Elsie went,” she retorts.

“This is the way Elsie fled to avoid talking about whatever that ring means,” I correct, stopping in front of her and sweeping one arm out. “The fastest way to the Solar temple is to go left.”

She rolls her eyes and turns on her heel, heading towards the salt wall already looming in the distance ahead of us. Ilyani’s wall is close to twice the height of Coveton’s, and still barely a third of the height of the kingdom’s capital, Cawshome.

“Why would they build it so close to the wall?" she mutters, so quietly a human wouldn’t have picked up on it.

My mate is about to get a rude awakening, but I don’t think anything I can say will soften the blow.

So I just direct her across the city, toward the wall.

When we reach the square, she just stops.

The Solar Temple of Ilyani is a crumbling ruin. Its white, salt-brick walls are greying and the golden paintwork around the entrance is peeling. One of the door handles has fallen off and the other hangs drunkenly from the wooden slab.

They have no eunuchs standing guard in livery. No constant shuffle of passers-by popping in for herbs and tonics.

No pilgrims sitting quietly in prayer before the great statue of the Sun Mother in front of us.

“They have forgotten us…” Nilsa’s face is as pale as the moon. “How could they forget us?”

She’s sprinting for the door before I can stop her.

Kier and I share a look, but follow at a slower pace, already knowing what we’ll find inside.

The cobwebs are nothing new to us. The dirt across the walls and floor expected.

But Nilsa looks at each like it’s a crime.

I suppose to her, it is.

But the mages of Ilyani believe themselves capable of everything a witch can do. When the witches aren’t needed, the Goddesses aren’t needed.