Page 53 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

I looked back at the dark demons who looked more like a couple of grumpy grandfathers than rulers of an underworld. “I want to see my father.”

Age merely grinned. “Such entitlement. She’s got his personality, hasn’t she?”

Eld sniffed. “That’s impossible,” he told me.

“Why?” I shot back. “You’re here. Why isn’t he?”

“A deal was made,” he said simply. “If you want to know what it was, ask your mother. We’re done here.”

They stepped back toward the flames.

“You owe me a debt,” Sonoma said. “I didn’t give up your secrets. And your brother stayed away. Now it’s time to do your part. Protect this place until she can free them.”

Both males looked at me again, assessing.

“If we help you,” Age said to me, “do you swear to take back what that bitch stole from our brother?”

I swallowed hard, my heart thudding wildly. I knew exactly who they meant. Heliconia. “Why can’t you do it yourselves?”

Eld snarled at that, but Age merely grinned. “A bargainwas made, niece. Neither the Fates nor the Furiosities have true power in this realm until the darkness is extinguished. It’s up to you now. Will you accept your duty?”

I nodded, worry carving a hole in my chest at the thought of going against Heliconia alone. But if it meant protecting Sevanwinds until I could free them, there was no question. “Yes.”

Eld turned back to Sonoma, nodding as if satisfied at what he’d found in me. “You’ll have what you need,” he told her.

“And the heir?” Sonoma pressed. “Will you provide a way for her when it’s time?”

Age scowled at me. “Our reach into this realm is limited to the bargain owed. There has been a certain measure put in place for aid, but… she’ll have to find her own way home.”

And then they were gone.

Sonoma sagged, reaching for the back of the chair to steady herself. I stared at her, shocked and reeling from everything that had just happened.

She didn’t look at me as she said, “I know you have questions.”

“Damn right I do.”

“I promise to answer them, but first, I could use a whiskey.”

She looked at me expectantly.

With a snarl, I stalked over to the bottle I’d left out and poured her a glass. The contents sloshed over the edges as I shoved it at her. She drank, draining the entire thing.

It might have been impressive if I hadn’t still been reeling.

When she was done, she took a ragged breath and said, “We’ll start with the biggest one, I guess. Go ahead. Ask me.”

I hesitated only a second before demanding, “How could my mother possibly cheat on my father—with a prince of Hel?”

Her expression was grim, her mouth set in a hard line as she said, “She didn’t cheat.”

“But you just said Tyrion wasn’t my father?—”

“And Celeste isn’t your mother.”

I blinked, stunned.

Without a word, I reached for the bottle of whiskey I still held in one hand and drank deeply. The alcohol burned my throat, searing through the shock roiling inside me.

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