Page 97 of The Crown of Nyx

Summoning my heightened senses, I breathed deeply through my nose. No stench of death from them. They had more woodsy scents. Like they spent their time outdoors.

But they didn’t reallylooklike the monsters one would expect—like the zombie-rat.

No, these were actually more human looking.

From a quick cursory glance, there didn’t appear to be a leader of the group. I had to assume they were at least working together—they had us strategically trapped here. They’d sent the three shadow-creatures to watch us. So, what did they want?

Probably us. Probably our deaths. That was a stupid question.

They likely knew that at some point, my shields would fail. Though I didn’t feel the burn of magical exhaustion now, there was a chance I would soon. Recharging with Maeve and Elias the night before had certainly helped, but the recharge wouldn’t last forever. And I had a feeling once my shields started to fail, they would attack.

I really don’t like this,I sent to no one in particular.We really do not have time for this.

Dante could be anywhere right now. He could have docked his ship, and be on his way to finding the crown. Meanwhile, we were here, with these creatures.

What are the chances of us being about to outrun them if I just…blow everything up?I asked.Would that even be possible?

Not without knowing how many are out there. We don’t even know if this is all of them. There could be more in the ruins,Elias replied.Nice thought though, Angel.

I pressed my lips together, annoyed.So, what, we try diplomacy?

That is your job,Adrian pointed out. Our eyes met, and he shrugged.If we get them on our side, then they might not fall for whatever bullshit Dante feeds them.

He was right. We could make allies out of them. Or fail miserably.

I sucked in a deep, calming breath and released it slowly. “Do you have a leader?” I called out. “Someone who speaks for you?”

The team tightened their formation around me. It was no secret they were protecting me—they didn’t even try to hide it. Several of the larger creatures watched me in particular because of it.

My stomach twisted as we waited. Maybe they couldn’t understand me. This was a world that likely had never evenheardof English.

I looked sharply at Adrian. “They probably don’t understand?—”

“Some of us understand quite well,” a female said. We all turned in the direction of her voice and found a group of creatures standing under an arch parting to reveal an elderly woman.

She appeared to be in her sixties, maybe seventies, with greying hair and weathered features. She walked with a slight hunch, a cane gripped in one of her hands. But what surprised me most was the curve of her ears—or lack of.

The female looked to be Fae, with the points of her ears. But when she smiled, there were fangs, like a vampire’s. And based on scent, I couldn’t exactly tell what she was. I hadn’t met a vampire-Fae hybrid before, notat the academy or outside it, but I imagined, like Hawk and other hybrids Ihadmet, there would be a particular scent about her that leaned either way. Or a feel about her magic that revealed her dominant side. Hawk leaned more into his Fae side, which was why I never guessed his other half was demon.

But there was nothing like that with the elderly female. She had that same, strange magic as the others.

Like she was a bit of everything…

“Do you speak for all?” Damon asked, his voice booming.

“That depends,” she replied, “on who speaks for you.”

Before anyone else could respond, I stepped away from Elias, Adrian, and Rowan. “I do. I speak for my team. And all of the creatures under Nyx.”

“All?” She cocked her head, and her eyes, dark like ash, narrowed. “You are not like the rest.”

“I’m not,” I agreed. “I’m the Daughter of Nyx.”

Her head snapped up, and there were sounds from the other creatures that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I felt the annoyance from my mates for outing myself, but I wasn’t charmed with anything to hide my power. Not anymore. The ring just had my normal protection charms woven into it now.

I stood tall, with the others flanking me. “We are not here to cause any harm. We only need to find something.”

The female took several steps forward, the creatures behind her moving in. They made sure not to get too close to the bubble though, and I didn’t even attempt to extinguish the shield.

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