Page 149 of The Crown of Nyx

I snorted.Doubtful. But with a shake of my head, I closed my eyes and conjured the twine in my mind. I breathed in deeply and tried to ignore the sweetness of his scent, instead focusing on the sense of protection I always summoned when making a charm. In this case, it wasn’t a protection charm for him, but for the rest of us. As much as I hoped he wouldn’t hurt us, I couldn’t take that risk.

I decided my intentions: protect me and my mates—plus Damon—from ill intent. If the creature considered hurting any one of us, or betraying us, the twine would turn to gold.

The twine in my head flashed red, as if to signal my intentions had been set. I opened my eyes, only to find the male watching me intently.

“There is light coming from you,” he grumbled, more curious than anything.

I looked down at my hands and found my magic manifesting across my skin. I hadn’t even noticed it; not enough magic had been used to really trigger it. Though, I still had no idea how that worked. Maybe it was his proximity as an unbounded mate, but then again, it hadn’t ever really done that around Hawk.

With a shrug, I dropped his hand and stepped back. As I did, the light of my magic faded, settling beneath my skin. “It happens,” I replied carefully. “Now, I’ll know if you plan to betray us.”

He dropped his hand to the earth, and in one fluid motion, rose to his full height. “The only one I intend on hurting is the one killing our people,” he replied, voice dark. “You are nothing more than the thing he wants most.”

My stomach dropped at the implication of his words. I took several more steps away from him, turning on my heel. “Then let’s make sure he doesn’t get what he wants,” I muttered.

Once again, I was left questioning the Goddess and her choices. Why him? And why tie me to someone who saw me as bait?

I understood the others—sort of. Hawk was one I questioned daily, but to give me a mate from this world? One who clearly didn’t know, or care, about what that meant?

I knew she had a plan, and I had to wonder if she’d forced me to come here for more than just the crown and skull. Maybe, she’d brought us here for him, too.

60

Ivy

The orbs no longer went out with the creature walking behind us. Every so often, I had to look back to ensure he was still there, but he walked like a very, very huge man at the back of our group.

And I wasn’t given any space. I had Elias on one side of me, with Adrian on the other. My prince looked even worse now after the exertion from running, and it only made me more worried for him.

Are you okay?I asked, taking his hand. I wasn’t trying to pry, but his blocks were becoming sloppy, and that worried me, too. This was someone who had managed to figure out how to block me from his thoughts only two days after being mated. It had taken me weeks to figure out how to hide certain things from my mates.

Adrian brought our joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the top of mine.I’m okay.Tired.

As he dropped our hands, I glanced at the others. We’d been walking for so long now, and I couldn’t remember the forest being so…endless.

Please don’t lie to me,I said, turning my attention back to Adrian.Please tell me if you want to rest, because we can.

My mate shook his head.We need to stop Dante. We don’t have much time.

Pressure coiled tightly around my chest, pressing down on my lungs. It pained me, knowing that he was sacrificing himself for this. For a way to stop his brother.

I know you want him to talk to you,Rowan said,but he might just close up more.He glanced over his shoulder at me, his own worry for his best friend clear.

I’m just…sad for him, I replied.But I don’t want to push him.

I released a shaky breath and pulled away from the bonds. I kept them open, though, just in case. There was no way I was going to lose my connection to them again.

But I did glance over my shoulder at the shifter. “Do you have any idea where we are, exactly?” I asked, hoping that maybe he recognised this land.

Damon hadn’t, though he admitted that he’d never spent much time in shifter lands. Only where he’d been allowed to roam before he became king.

But maybe the other shifter knew.

“We are deep in the old lands of dragon,” he said, voice a low rumble. “We call this the Spirit Forest.”

I spared Damon a quick glance. The demon king looked intrigued, and he turned to the creature from where he walked on Elias’s other side. “Why spirit?” he asked.

“Because these wisps are those who got lost in the woods,” the beast replied, “and they cannot pass on.”

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