Page 29 of The Crown of Nyx

A lump formed in my throat, tears of frustration burning the back of my eyes. “I’m not prepared for this, Adrian. He’s had years to plan all of this. I’ve hadmonths. I’m not strong enough.”

“You’re the Daughter of Nyx, Ivy. You werebornfor this,” he replied.

I snorted. “It doesn’t matter. Strength isn’t just of magic and body.” I turned away from him, the lessons from myFoundations of the Councilclass echoing in my mind. “Dante isn’t just strong because he’s a powerful mind mage. He’s strong because he’s smart. He hadeveryonefooled, thinking he was a lazy party boy, spoiled and living off his status. But he’s been working tooverthrow the current power structure for decades. He knew he needed more than just a position on the council—he decided he needed to be King. And he might be able to prove he has a claim.”

13

Hawk

When Grey warned us she’d taken a prisoner, she hadn’t been kidding.

The female wasn’t one I knew, and based on the limited information gleaned from Orion Black, he’d never encountered her. The elemental witch Grey apprehended was tied to a beam in the hold of the ship, blood trickling from a wound on her temple. If I had to guess, she was from a low bloodline of witches; elementals were pretty common, which made her expendable to Dante, and useless to us. The chances of her knowing anything was slim, but I had a feeling, just like everyone else we’d come across, she had some kind of protection on her that would hurt Grey if she tried to access the witch’s memories.

But I had a hell of a lot of rage burning through me, especially after learning about the betrayal from someone I cared about. Someone I thought had been onmyteam. The whole time, though, he’d been working alongside the fucking false king.

My hands curled into fists as Grey, Beckham, and I stepped in front of our prisoner.

“Still unconscious then,” Beckham growled, eyes glowing with the proximity of his wolf. His lips curled in a snarl as he crossed his arms. Despite not making a move towards the witch, I could tell he was moments away from ripping her throat out.

Maybe he realised she was just as useless as the other ones we had in our grasps.

Dante wasn’t going to give up any of his key players. He likely hadn’t planned for the fact that Hyperion Black’s son would be mated to Ivy and had been playing him for a while. And now that he knew, that could mean some integral changes within their organisation.

Grey knelt beside the witch, eyeing the female critically. “I want to unlock whatever I can from her memories. But I need to disable the charms that were put on her.”

“I can help with that,” Black said, walking out of the shadows. His violet eyes were locked on the witch, but he had a small vial in his hands. Within was a red algae, something that grew commonly in the Abyss Court, but also frequently around Avalon—only if you knew where to look.

Grey rose and took a step back from the witch without a word as Black approached. Even after everything, they had some respect for him.

He might have been the mate that stayed away,I thought,but he was there when she needed him.

And what the fuck was I doing? Hiding?

Protecting her in my own way. I had nothing else to offer her, not a bond or my heart. But at the very least, I could help her actual mates with this.

Black activated the algae with a drop of his blood. It glowed softly as he shook it out of the vial and onto the witch.

We watched quietly as the plant did its job. The few charms Dante had put on her fell away, fading from her skin within moments. I wasn’t entirely sure how many charms they had on her, and what all of them were, but one by one, they were disabled. I had no idea if the one that would keep her memories hidden from Grey was taken away, or if there was poison running through her veins, like the agents from Phoenix. I wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk.

By the looks of the witch, she hadn’t been affected by a poison. Her skin wasn’t clammy, and she didn’t sweat. She hadn’t even woken up yet. Her dark hair was tied back from her face, revealing her sharp features, skin a similar shade of brown as mine. There was a gold ring in her nose, one I eyed warily.

When the algae stopped glowing, and the charms disabled, Grey moved to kneel in front of the witch again. She lifted her hand in a blur, and the witch’s neck snapped to the side. Red bloomed across her cheek from the slap, but she was at least awake now.

Dark eyes flickered across the room. Even without the heightened hearing of a vamp or shifter, I could tell the witch was afraid. Sweat beaded down her brow as her eyes landed on Grey first, then Beckham, Black, and lastly, me. They widened, and she bucked, trying to free her hands from the chains holding her to the beam.

“Don’t bother,” Grey said, voice even. Dark eyes snapped back to her, and her lips curled in a sneer. “Your charms have been disabled, and you were checked earlier for any poisons. Death can be avoided. Talk.”

The sneer dimmed as the witch laughed. “Whatever,” she snarled. “Just kill me. It’ll be better than what’s waiting for me if they find me.”

I crossed my arms as Grey cocked her head. “You really think we won’t be worse after what your leader did to our mate, the new Queen of Nyx?”

The colour drained from the witch’s face, and she reared back, head slamming against the wooden post. “Just kill me. I don’t know anything. He never?—”

A blade of shadow sliced through her arm, and she let out a cry. I glanced sharply to my left where Black stood with his hands curled into fists. “Even the lowest of you knowsomething,” he hissed, taking a threatening step towards her. When she chanced a look at him, she let out a whimper. “Pawns generally do.”

A shiver rolled down my spine at the clear rage in his voice, the unhinged spark in his eyes. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to the three mages who attempted to attack Ivy. It wasn’t any secret that he had a cruel streak at the academy, and on the days where I’d been on guard duty patrolling the grounds, I’d heard a lot of whispers about him and his victims.

The three mages hadn’t been the first creatures he’d strung up for whatever reason. I got why he’d done it to them, but it made me question why he’d taken out the others.

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