Page 153 of The Crown of Nyx

The battle in my mind almost made me stop. Thoughhewanted her dead, I did not. My beast even disliked the idea.

Butkill, kill, killechoed again, and I moved to the road cutting through the dark, haunting forest.

The scent grew thicker. The war raged on.

And then I saw her. I lifted my head, breathing in the scent again. She appeared between the trees, eyes onthem. She did not even see me, the predator stalking her. The one who would be her end.

This close, I heard the beat of her heart pumping blood through her body. That blood would soon soak the ground, mine to consume.

But she was beautiful. The beast saw her and wanted to submit.

He wanted to be hers.

No. I shook my head, ashisvoice appeared in my head, reminding me what I really wanted from her.

To tear her limb from limb.

Her blood on my paws.

Her death to be mine.

62

Ivy

The others caught up, and together we retreated further into the forest where no one would follow us. For whatever reason, the soldiers weren’t entering the woods, and we took that as our only sign of safety. Dante had shifters and a few soldiers patrolling the road leading out of the forest, but they weren’t directing their guns into the darkness the trees offered.

It was clear they were more worried about something else.

My heart pounded as we moved into complete darkness, only guided by the light of the blue orbs, as far away from the army as we dared.

“Now what?” I asked, running a hand over my hair as I paced the length of the road. “I don’t think I’ll be able to find the cottage without actually getting into the village.”

And I was the only one who knew what to look for. Panic tightened in my chest as I turned back to the others. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to sense it. There’s too many of them.”

“We saw how big the shifters were,” Maeve murmured, crossing her arms. “Whatever Dante has been testing, those are his best results.”

A shudder rolled down my spine. “Did you see the bear?”

At first, we’d barely noticed him. The largest brown bear I had ever seen. There were a few bear shifters at the academy, and from what I knew, one of Greer’s mates had also been one.

But the ones here were…different. Like all of the shifters being controlled by Dante.

He had been the largest there, likely towering over eight feet tall if he stood up. On all fours, he’d been huge. At first, I would have thought him a really big boulder. But then he’d moved, creeping closer and closer to where we hid. Every so often, he’d lifted his head to scent the air.

At first, I’d worried he’d caught our scents, despite the charms we all wore. It was only because we realised the unknown shifter wasn’t as protected as us that we’d left. I’d woven another charm into the twine bracelet, but since we hadn’t been followed into the forest, I had to assume we were safe from the bear.

My magic ached for some reason; a strange thrum that made me rub my chest. “I don’t know what to do, other than try to draw them away from the village. Especially those shifters. We might be powerful, but I don’t think we’re a match for whatever Dante has done to them.”

“I need time,” Adrian said. He sat with his knees against his chest, tired eyes finding mine. “I know I’mclose, Ivy. To having something we can use against not just him, but others, too.” Desperation filtered down the bond, coming through thick. It made my heart ache knowing that he was draining himself for this.

I tore my eyes from his and turned towards the village. We couldn’t see it from where we were located on the road, but there was a new, almost anxious energy around us as we waited. For something.

For me to have a plan.

I had no doubt Dante was using whatever he had left of the power he stole to find the skull. Which meant I needed to know where it was first.

I rubbed my sternum and released a breath. “We need a plan.”

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