Page 131 of The Crown of Nyx

His apprehension was clearly shared by others, because Black, Nash, and Maeve all shared similar looksof unease. I hadn’t wanted to say it, but yeah. It was a little convenient that Ivy learned it from a dream. And that wasn’t on her; I knew through the bond that she’d worried the same thing. That maybe, somehow, Dante had broken through her blocks and planted that there to kick us off the path of the crown.

“I wish it were that easy,” Asael lamented, “but I remember the day Pandora nearly exploded from her power. It was too much. She hadn’t told anyone that, of course. She thought she was being strong, holding onto it and doing exactly what Nyx told her to do.” A hint of bitterness entered his voice at that. “But she was burning from the inside out. And Eryx’s uncle knew that. I was blind to it, and I will forever blame myself for not stopping it in time—not stopping him before he could be a threat. This is my punishment.” Tears shined in his eyes as they flickered around the room. “You would all do anything for your mate, would you not?”

My chest tightened, though I didn’t even need to speak to know the answer to that. Of course I would. Ivy was everything to me. She was the only hope I had left in my life. Everything I knew had been a lie; a terrible, destructive lie, but she was the only constant. The only light.

And if she asked me to do what he was doing now, I would do it in a heartbeat.

“There is a chance Eryx and I never found everything in the Fae realm,” Asael admitted. “We did everything we could. We had help from the Fae who chose to kneel to Pandora, but there were clearly still some who were determined to undermine her. To go against Nyx. That is the only thing I can think of.”

The Fae prince standing beside Ivy cleared his throat. “Is there a chance you didn’t check the Luna Court?” His eyes flickered from Ivy to the demon. “Theyhave been instrumental in the current war against Ivy. The High Lord—my father—has been working with Dante since the beginning.”

Rage coiled deep within me. Hyperion Black was one person I knew I didn’t have the authority to stop. I’d leave that for Orion. But if he wanted the charm I was working on, then I’d let him have it, if it meant stopping the bastard. Especially after everything he’d done.

Asael was quiet for a moment, before sighing. “They were perhaps loyal to a fault,” he said. “I never once got an inkling they were working against us. But it is possible. The Luna Court is heavily fortified—or it was, when I first ventured into the Court. And there was so much land that hadn’t been explored.”

Orion nodded, though he seemed more lost in his own thoughts now. Ivy glanced up at him with a soft expression; I didn’t know all of what they’d talked about in the icy city, but as much as I hated the pain that bastard had put her through, I was a little glad they had worked something out. It was clear she didn’t fully trust him, maybe wouldn’t for a while, but he had given her something.

“So, we’re no closer to figuring this shit out then,” Elias grumbled. “Can you give us something useful, demon? The fate of my mate is in the balance. Clearly, you don’t realise how much danger she’s in.” The wolf shift pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and stalked towards the dead demon. “He has things that can take her power. Not just the skull, but runes. Ancient ones.”

Asael was maybe a couple inches shorter than Elias, so when surprise flickered across his features, I rose, too. “You don’t know about the runes?” I asked.

The demon looked between Elias and me. “What runes?”

An hour passedas Rowan drew each rune from memory. He’d tried slipping into the vision so he could get a better look at the chains that had been trapping her.But apparently, we weren’t exactly in a physical place. The cabin wasn’t real.

So, Rowan had to figure it out himself.

“I memorised them,” he muttered as he sketched the pattern. “They were complicated. Something I didn’t recognise.”

“And you think your mother tricked you into studying runes for this moment?” The demon raised his brows, though not in disbelief. “We knew an Archer Seer. Tricky woman. I never trusted her with my drinks again after a particular ball.”

Rowan snorted as he slid a piece of paper to him. “Apparently, that runs in our very long bloodline.”

A smirk pulled at the demon’s lips as he took the paper and assessed it. We were all gathered around the table now; Ivy sat at one of the chairs across from Rowan and next to the demon, the fourth empty as the rest of us stood around them. I was between Ro and the demon, Maeve standing beside me. The only one not here was Hawk.

Man, I was starting to really hate the male.

“I think I know what these are, but…” He shook his head. “I don’t understand how he found them.”

Across from me, standing directly behind Ivy, Elias rolled his eyes. “That’s not really helpful.”

The demon cut him a dark stare. “I understand your irritation, wolf, but I am trying to help.”

“Not enough,” Elias growled. “This is wasting time.”

The demon sighed, setting the paper down. “These were known as God runes. Again, wiped from knownhistory. Only those who accepted the role of protecting the God Magic knew of these.”

“So, you think someone from one of those…groups might have given these to Dante?” Ivy asked quietly.

“It is possible.” He gave the paper back to Rowan. “There is a way to protect yourself from these. It’s difficult, but with the right charm magic…”

Asael sat back, reaching into his pocket for the locket he had stashed there when Elias had brought up the runes. I watched as he pulled it free and set it on the table.

“My time here is coming to an end,” he said, though he didn’t sound too disappointed at that. “The runes were created by the gods. That is why they are so powerful. The skull is somewhere only Pandora would know. I do not know how your enemy would have found out about it, but I suspect Pandora has been leading you there, somehow.”

Ivy blinked up at him. “What do you know about a cottage?”

A wistful smile touched his lips. “Pandora grew up an orphan. Lived in a cottage behind the orphanage, caring for their crops.” He shook his head, laughing quietly. “I never would have suspected she would hide something there, but if she did, I would go to dragon territory. Good luck.”

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