Page 22 of Hunted By Darkness

We didn’t have a traveling stone to get in this time. We were infiltrating old school, with the tunnels he’d used to get me out last time. We’d have a long trek from where the tunnels spat us out and the area we’d find the book in. Since Lev took part intheir security detail, he was fairly confident he could figure out the placement pattern after identifying a few guards. It’d lay out our path once we did.

The Dark Fae didn’t know Lev was involved, but they also conveniently thought he was dead. That he’d been taken when his mother was killed. So the three of us took extra measures to keep our identities hidden. We couldn’t risk them knowing it was us. It wasn’t clear what Rilas did or didn’t know, or who he’d employed to feed him intel. The more precautions we took, the better our chances to catch Rilas by surprise.

Lucky for us, most high-ranking Dark Fae wore some sort of cloak and mask that covered the upper half of their face on missions. Nothing like Silas’s, but the outfits were aimed to conceal their identity, at least in part. It wouldn’t seem odd for us to be wearing one. They couldn’t halt their ongoing initiatives. Assignments were vital to their survival. As long as they didn’t stop us and ask questions, we’d go through the halls undetected. Just two Dark Fae on their way to execute orders.

Silas took a knee in front of me and snatched my hand, his mask concealing everything but his silver eyes. “Be careful, love, or I’ll be forced to kill them all.” He lifted the mask just enough to drop a kiss on my hand, then he was gone in a sparkle of blue.

“Show off,” Lev mumbled cutely before making his way toward the place we’d once called home.

11

Nika

Lev popped his head out of the secret door in the eastern corner of the main compound. After a moment, he motioned for me to follow. We both entered the hallway and secured our cloaks. A few corridors, and we’d mix with the general population.

He led the way, his shoulders back and posture that of any high-level Dark Fae roaming these halls. It was the Lev I’d grown up with, his mother’s son. It never failed to impress me how quickly Lev fell into the role he was born into. How easily he gave off aristocratic airs and dominance—the mask he’d worn all his life. It was the farthest thing from who he really was,but the pivot from one Lev to the other was as seamless and as remarkable as it had always been.

If not for me, he would’ve been chosen as the next Council leader. It was the position he was always meant to take, and it was the one Yuma trained him for. And with him, maybe the change my father sought by staying all these years would’ve happened one day with Lev’s leadership. But the greedy part of my heart was glad he’d left that life and chosen this one. Leaving him behind was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

Following his lead, I lifted my chin, and we exited the hidden hallway into the main corridor. We slowed to a leisurely stroll as if we had all the time in the world. We didn’t, but people in the Dark Fae Society didn’t rush. They didn’t run. They didn’t hurry at all, honestly.

I didn’t expect the crowd we were met with when the hallway curved into the center of the building. It was where most of our gatherings took place, the Entertainment Hall. I didn’t expect anything to be taking place tonight. Most events were held on certain days of the week. Today wasn’t one of them. So Lev and I made every effort to blend in with the people we’d escaped over half a year ago.

Dark Fae were everywhere. Many I knew by their hands, their eyes, their mouths, the rings that they wore. Many who’d used those very things to torment me over the years. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening. They never congregated like this on a random day of the week, but then I realized the grave mistake we’d made by coming tonight of all nights.

They were holding a ceremony for the new Council they’d selected.

One look at Lev confirmed I hadn’t read the room wrong. Because standing on a platform was Lev’s cousin. The guy who’d made my life hell for decades. The man who was the first to scar my back so it didn’t heal.

The arrogant Dark Fae had donned the official Council uniform, his shoulders decorated with gems and precious metals. Some dark hair was braided around his head, but the rest hung loose around his shoulders. In this light, he was the palest Fae in here. And while his skin might be white, his heart was one of the blackest with Yuma and the rest of the Council gone and buried in the ground.

Zephyr’s yellow eyes scanned the crowd, lips lifted in a condescending smile he’d worn plenty of times while staring down at me. He’d given me the same look before tearing all of my nails from the root. After battering my hand and breaking every finger when I refused to answer his questions. After tying me to a table and stripping me down to nothing, then using a jagged knife to cut my flesh to pieces.

I’d made myself his target from the moment I smirked and flattened him out in front of all his buddies. He'd tried so hard to break me, and it was his greatest regret that he never could.

He’d never gotten a word from me in all the years he tried despite claiming to be the best interrogator the Dark Fae Society had ever seen. While my pain softened the sting to his pride every time I refused to give him the thing he craved most—my secrets—it hadn’t made the annoyance go away.

If it was one thing Zephyr hated, it was someone who didn’t bend to his will.

Seeing him again, the pain of every injury he’d inflicted over the decades came creeping back in. My jaw clamped shut, and I refused to give into the memories of everything he’d done to torture me.

The asshole standing at the head of the platform, whose name was at the top of Silas’s list and circled several times, as if Lev made it a point he was the one Silas wanted most, had clearly claimed the coveted position Lev was always meant to take.

“Shit,” Lev murmured as the crowd cheered. “You don’t think Silas would be ballsy enough to—”

But he wasn’t given time to finish because Zephyr raised his hands and silenced the congregation. “Brothers and sisters of the darkest plight, tonight we celebrate a society renewed and reenergized. Rebirthed from the ashes of our fallen brothers and sisters. Tonight we take a step into a grand future where our society reigns. A society rising to its truest and greatest potential.”

Lev smirked and tossed me a little look. “Bet he spent hours rehearsing that in a mirror.”

“Count on it,” I whispered, pursing my lips. “Pretty sure he had someone else write it for him, too.”

Lev harrumphed, nose crinkling. “I didn’t know he could pronounce all those words. I’m not even confident it’s really him standing up there after all that.”

I hid a laugh behind my hand, taking care of our surroundings so we didn’t unintentionally reveal ourselves.

Zephyr’s condescending gaze moved across the Fae gathered, full of pompous shit like always. “We’ll find that bitch of a traitor and crucify her on this very platform. Her blood will be the fresh coat of paint this sacred place deserves. You have my word.”

“That’s more like it,” I whispered with a snicker.

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