Page 17 of The Daughters of Nyx

Rowan scowled. “What? We need her to come with us willingly! I’m taking some initiative to ease her into the decision. You really want to ask her outright when she doesn’t knowanyof us?” He looked between me and the Prince. “Wolfy over there already made a bad impression by being a complete dickwad.”

From the couch, Elias growled, but I held up my hand. We were already readjusting from the fact that the apartment we were supposed to be living in while convincing her to come with us was still being vacated. Earlier, Rowan, Adrian,

and Elias had gone to inspect it to make sure it was almost ready. Apparently, the previous tenant had left it in such bad condition that they thought it wouldn’t be ready for a couple more days.

The time at the hotel was meant to be used to solidify our cover story. Why we were in Forthampton, what we did. Rowan and Adrian were far more versed in the modern world than I was, more than even Elias.

We’d had only her potential location: the apartment building. It had been our only lead, thanks to Seer Sable and her visions, and Rowan’s magic to back it up. From there, we were meant to track her down.

Arriving at theCamilla, we’d had no intention of seeking her out. Her energy, the magic that made her a Daughter of Nyx, was linked to the tablet Queen Greer spelled for us. It had taken a moment to update, but once it had, Ivy’s magical energy had linked.

We only confirmed it when Elias tracked her scent at the apartment building.

I closed my eyes for a moment and rubbed them tiredly. “What do we know about her?”

“Ivy Wilson, aged twenty-two as of two weeks ago,” Elias started, voice tight with irritation. “Born to mother Kerry Wilson, now Sullivan. Ivy’s father is not on the birth certificate. Kerry was nineteen when she had Ivy. Married eight years later to Andrew Sullivan, who was caught with his secretary and disappeared soon after the youngest, Maisie, now six, was born. He hasn’t been heard from since.”

I released a breath and took Elias in as he continued to read the file in front of him. Frustration radiated from him,

though I was no longer certain it was because of Rowan’s nickname or the jabs towards his attitude. “Ivy works at theCamillaand has since she started college. She graduated with a degree in English Literature. Moved into her apartment in late June with Theodora Riley, also twenty-two. They attended Blakeview High together. Ivy has a personal, privateInstagram, as well asFacebookandTwitter. Both are not private, and from what we can see on those, she doesn’t have a close relationship with her mother or siblings. We did find an LLC for her, which uncovered the name: Ivory Wilson. With this, we located several public accounts, which revealed her second line of work as a self-published author.”

“So, she has many ties to this area,” I replied, staring at my second. He finally looked up from the file and nodded. “This is going to be much harder than Queen Greer let us believe.”

Elias dropped the file and crossed his arms. The plain black t-shirt he wore revealed the coiled muscles of his forearms. “What ever happened to just…kidnapping her?” he asked darkly, eyes narrowed.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could get a word in, the Prince scoffed, and all attention turned to him.

“If we do that,” Adrian replied, standing from the leather couch, “we risk her trying to run. Hurting herself, and likely, a whole lot of other people. Her power is going to start manifesting now, which means she’s going to be volatile until she meets her mates.”

Something about those words didn’t sit well with me, though I tried not to let those thoughts show on my face.

“Adrian is right. We cannot risk it. Her safety is our priority.” And yet, I wasn’t entirely sure we hadtimeto wait for her.

Queen Greer’s warning played in my mind again.Return her to Avalon safely by the winter solstice, she’d said, though it had been Seer Sable to deliver the rest of the warning.

I shook my head. “Rowan, do you think you have created enough of a connection to befriend her?”

The mage sat up and taped his chin. “I think she enjoys my presence. She certainly finds me attractive enough.”

Beside him, the Prince rolled his eyes. “Rowan has a problem withboundaries,though.” Their eyes met; Rowan’s narrowed into a glare, while Adrian smiled sweetly. Their friendship had always been a strange thing to bear witness to; I’ve known them since they were children, running the halls of the palace and compound while their mothers attended to the upkeep of our entire civilisation. Adrian was unlike his siblings—though he wasn’t the first to join the Phoenix training centre, he was the first to remain and rise through the ranks. Rowan, however… he was powerful and brilliant, but he lacked structure and discipline. It was a wonder he’d lasted as long as he had.

“You said you asked her out, what did she say?” I asked finally, head cocked.

From the couch, Elias rolled his eyes. “Probablyno.”

“She saidyes,” the mage snapped, smirking. “Though she may have been joking…”

I looked from Rowan to the Prince. “Have you properly introduced yourself to her yet?”

He shook his head. “No, not yet. She seemed too flustered earlier, so I didn’t say anything.”

“Do it. She knows your face, now give her a name. Don’t be forward with her, but befriend her.” I turned to Rowan, who slouched on the couch, frowning. “Continue what you’re doing, but don’t cross any lines. And do not useanymagic on her. We need her trust.”

Turning to Elias, I said, “You and I need to remain vigilant. We’ll take a fact-finding mission later. Return to her hometown and scope out her family. See if we can learn more about their relationship. That may be the key to whether she comes with us or not.”

A knock sounded at the door to the second room; Elias straightened, eyes narrowing. “It’s her.”

I breathed in; although I didn’t need to breathe, the motion allowed me to take in scent, which allowed me to hunt. But this wasn’t about capturing the scent of my prey.

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