Page 108 of A Deception of Courts

Tension hummed throughout our group as they joined us. I realised quickly that Rafaela’s open wings were more of a warning to us that she protected the boy. Her knuckles tightened on the handle of her weapon, the squeak of flesh against leather piercing the silence.

“Then I thank you for your support,” I said, offering him a smile, trying everything to make it reach my eyes.

Daveed glanced timidly up at Rafaela, who was focused on Lucari perched on my shoulder. Her lips peeled back from the gleaming white of her teeth as she watched the murderous hawk with hungry intent. Rafaela had made it clear what she desired to do with the bird that tore Gabrial to shreds. She just hadn’t been given the opportunity –yet.

“Tell them what you’ve shared with me, Daveed,” Rafaela said sharply, speaking to Daveed all without taking her narrowed eyes from Lucari.

“I… I’m sorry. For all of it,” Daveed croaked, his high voice cracking like stone. “I never wanted this, a lot of us hadn’t.”

“Be more precise. Help them understandwhywe can trust you.”

Daveed took a deep breath in as his cheeks flared red. “The Hand is not giving us a choice. I never wanted this life, and I don’t want it even now. He… makes us do as he wishes. I can hear him in my head every time he is close. Whispering for me to do things I… I…”

“Take your time,” I said as Rafaela placed a hand on his shoulder. I watched the calming effect it had on him.

Daveed took another deep breath in and blinked to clear the haze of panic haunting his sky-blue eyes. A chill spread up my spine as I waited for the boy to continue. His bruised face was scrunched in turmoil as he faced unseen battles within his mind.

“How did he capture you in his web?” I asked, drawing his attention to me. “The promise of power, or the promise of a world in which you would thrive. Which one is the answer?”

Daveed grimaced as though my suggestive comment had physically struck him. “Neither. They took us from our homes. In the room of mirrors, he killed us with a blade of blood, but we did not die. He made me into this…” Monster. He didn’t say it, but I knew that was what was coming. “Aldrick turned me and used me. I just… I just want to go home.”

“You will go home as soon as this is over,” Duncan promised, oozing a fatherly calm. He strode forward with the confidence that made others stand back. “I understand what has been done to you, for the same has happened to me. You are pulled on both sides. But if you help us as we ask, I vow to get you home myself.”

“Daveed has a family,” Rafaela added, wide-eyed. Those four words had as much power as the ice that crackled in my blood. We all knew the importance of a family. Some more than others. “Aldrick has threatened them if Daveed does not comply. By aiding us, he is proving himself in a measure that we cannot begin to understand.”

Duncan nodded, lips pulled into a tight line as he regarded the Nephilim. “I will ensure that you return to your family, Daveed.”

“No,” Daveed barked. “The Hand promised… he said he would kill them if I ever went back.”

“That will not happen,” I added, feeling his panic slam into my chest. Rafaela wrapped her arm around the boy’s quaking shoulders and held him close.

“Together.” Duncan took my hand once again. “We will make sure Aldrick is never in a position to threaten anyone again, human or fey.”

The young boy hardened his expression. He held Duncan’s stare, searching for any reason he couldn’t believe him. Then he bowed, satisfied there was nothing sinister to uncover. We all witnessed as Duncan’s words fuelled Daveed with a confidence that was previously lacking.

Daveed squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. “Make it hurt,” he said. “When Aldrick faces his judgement, I want him to know how it feels to die.”

“Aldrick will know pain unlike anything he could imagine,” Althea added, sympathy hidden beneath her mask of fury. I saw it through a crack of emotion that lasted only a moment. “That is a promise.”

We all felt the scolding heat in her words.

“How many of us can you take at one time?” Althea walked through the parted crowd, a helmet carried in the crook of her arm. A long blade tickled the ground at her side. Garbed in the leathers that fitted her slender, hard body, she looked all the warrior with a whip of red hair twisted into a braid across her shoulder.

“Three,” Daveed replied, doing his best to hold her gaze. “Four, at a push.”

“Three will be sufficient. I’d rather you did not burn out by trying to take too many. If that is what you can do without pushing yourself, then there is no good to come from depleting your energy.” One wave of Althea’s hand and the group of Cedarfall fey split into groups of that number. I recognised Lady Kelsey among them. There was no stopping her from joining our small army, she too thirsted for the same revenge as those she stood among.

“But Daveed, understand that if you betray us, it will not only be you that burns but the home Aldrick stole you from.”

Daveed flinched at Althea’s warning. Rafaela’s wings folded slightly around him.

“I know you have no reason to trust me,” Daveed said firmly. “But I promise… I promise you safe passage into Elmdew.”

Althea watched him for a moment, then stood back. “Then we are at an understanding. As soon as you deliver us safely into Elmdew’s borders, I want you to get out of there. Return here and my people will protect you. Aldrick will kill you first if he knows you are the one dropping enemies behind his lines.”

“You must take us directly to Aldrick,” I said, trying to cool my tone. “It is important that he doesn’t suspect anything.”

Daveed buzzed on the spot, wringing small hands before him.

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