Page 78 of The Crown of Nyx

I had to remind myself that now she could really protect herself. No guessing or wondering. She had all of Queen Greer’s power at her disposal. And even if she didn’t have all her bonds, she still had five completed and all of our power.

“You know what did happen though?” she asked, as I grabbed the material at her back. Uncertainty crossed Elias’s features as she smiled up at him. “I shifted.”

I didn’t get the chance to tear the dress off before Elias had her in his arms. Even my own heart clenched at the declaration, the implication. She could shift. And she had. On her own. Something she’d been terrified to even consider. Any time we’d brought it up, she’d declare she would never shift. Never take on a wolf form.

And she’d done so. Alone and stranded without us.

“You shifted?” He gazed at her with so much adoration that it felt almost like I was imposing. “You have a wolf?”

Ivy’s face broke out in a smile—a tired one, but it was clear she held a lot of pride over doing it. “Yeah, I have a wolf.”

“Fucking perfect,” he murmured, eyes glowing for a moment. “But I wasn’t there to see it.”

I couldn’t help my own pride that swelled within me. “How did it feel,a mhuirnín?”

Her eyes met mine for a brief moment as she sighed. “Terrifying. Lonely. But also…not.” She shrugged, eyes flickering shut. “It’s all a blur. We ran for hours. Days it felt like. Looking for you. Trying to find any sign of life. And then she just sat. I tried to go into your dreams, but…”

She glanced at the doorway. Elias and I were the only ones in the bedroom with her—for now. Adrian and Rowan were building new charm runes with the help of the Fae prince, who was giving them information on what he knew Dante and his followers were using.

After a moment, she sighed. “I couldn’t quite enter anyone’s dreams.”

“The lust demons,” I said, while Elias nodded. “They have the ability to enter dreams. It’s part of their power set.”

Ivy grimaced and stepped out of Elias’s embrace to give me her back again. “Yeah. I tried Rowan but couldn’t make it into the dream. I thought trying Orion’s dream would work since it’s his power, and it did for a moment, but then I got the boot and was taken to the sex club.” Before either Elias or I could say a word, she held up her hand. “Trust me. I know. It was bad. But they delivered me a gift: two mages working for Dante.”

The wolf and I shared a look of displeasure. His eyes glowed softly, beast close to the surface. He’d already made his anger known, had all but torn into the demon king for taking Ivy somewhere unsafe—to do something she didn’t fully understand.

But to put her in the path of danger?

“What?” Elias growled, his hand reaching for her cheek, eyes darkened with rage.

My anger rose sharply. “You?—”

“I wasn’t hurt; they didn’t even realise I was there at first, not until I went up to them.”

“Angel…” Elias’s eyes flashed dangerously with the presence of his wolf, but he maintained control.

I reached for her thoughts, bypassing the blocks she’d fortified for everyone but her mates.The mention of the club brought up discomfort, but it wasn’t as strong as I would have expected. She was more angry that she’d been deceived. But she hadn’t been hurt. And she wasn’t upset or afraid of the mages, either.

“They revealed that Dante is already on his way to the Old World,” she murmured. “I didn’t really know how to tell all of you before, but…” She sighed, her exhaustion evident. “A lot happened. But he has themkillingthemselves if they’re caught now, and it was…a lot. But I’m okay. They didn’t even try to hurt me.”

“But they confirmed what you suspected,” I said, glancing from her to Elias. “He is going to the Old World.”

“And he found a way to do it,” Ivy whispered. She brought her hands to her face and groaned. “How are we supposed to win against someone who is always seven steps ahead of us?”

My hands went to the back of the dress again, and I tore it in half. The sound of the material splitting was drowned out by Ivy’s sigh of relief.

Elias’s eyes darkened as the scraps of her dress landed on the cold stone ground. “They didn’t even give you underwear?” he asked, angry more than anything.

Ivy dropped her hands from her face. Her hair fell over the dark mate marks lining her spine. I couldn’thelp but let my eyes drift over her; from Elias’s bite scarring her shoulder, down to the demon deal tattoo on her forearm, which twisted around her hand to meet the demon king’s own mark. The one around her thigh had also settled into her skin like a soft red scar. But other than the glitter still clinging to her flesh, she had no clear wounds, and she wasn’t dirty or harmed.

“I need a shower,” she muttered, ignoring his question entirely. Kicking the scraps of her dress away, she glanced around the room again with a frown. “I’m going to have to sleep naked, aren’t I?”

Elias snorted. “That’s never stopped you before, Angel.”

She gave him an unimpressed look, while I shook my head. “Let me see if there’s anything in the room. Go clean up,a mhuirnín. Then we can rest.”

Her shoulders slumped in relief, and she sighed, turning towards the bathroom again.Thank you, Maeve,she said.Thank you for taking care of me.

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