Page 308 of Fated to be Enemies

Aziel’s chiseled jaw clenched. “It will serve us well when I tear Freya apart. Where is she?”

Raiden answered. “We will find her. She’s been using an old cloaking spell, one our dear sister here can break.” He paused and smiled widely. “I’ve missed you, brother.”

Aziel’s frown slowly curled into a grin, and all the ferocity and anger that made him terrifying melted away. “Don’t tell me being locked away turned you soft, Raiden.”

“Don’t test me, brother. I can still beat you in a fight.” He laughed, and Aziel joined in. Thalia rolled her eyes as if she’d seen this a thousand times.

Aziel slammed his hand on Raiden’s shoulder, smirking. “Never mind, it’s not turned you soft. It’s clearly made you delusional.”

My heart hammered. I cleared my throat, and all three of them turned to look at me. “Not to break up this family reunion or anything, but my coven’s in danger.” I looked at Raiden. “Freya has Naomi, Edmund, and Dora and is going to kill them. She must know I took the keys.”

“How?”

I glanced at my hand. “Magic quill from Naomi and Maddox.” My eyes clamped shut. We were in the mountains and were one short run with Raiden from my sister, but I had to turn back. “We need to save them.”

Aziel’s eyebrows pinched into a frown. “Who’s the mortal?”

Thalia smiled. “Eleanor.”

Raiden stepped in front of me. “She helped get you out of here. We can trust her.”

Aziel gritted his teeth. “Fine.” He paused. “Let us go. If Freya is where you say she is, then that’s where I’m needed.”

Chapter Nineteen

By the time we arrived back, it was early morning. Indigo had turned blue, lightening the sky enough to see the silhouettes of the buildings in Deadwood. The largest, the temple, where spikes pointed up against the fading stars, loomed over the smaller buildings. I moved my long waves over my shoulders, brushing flyaway hairs from my forehead and eyes as the wind picked up. I couldn’t believe I’d ever worshipped Freya as a teenager, or Estia or Lucius. Now that I knew the truth, the memory of it made me wince.

“We can go from here.” Raiden walked me away from his siblings, who talked near the edge of the woods. I stood on the edge of some rocks overlooking our town from the east of the forest, which was known for having grizzly bears and wolves. “I can take you somewhere else. Anywhere. Until this is done.”

“No.” I looked at him incredulously. “I’m going with you.”

His forehead creased. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

Aziel called from the tree line. “Or slow us down.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “Super hearing?”

“We all do to an extent, but Leda’s was the best. Well, now it’s Freya’s.”

My stomach knotted. “She’ll be dead by morning.”

“Yes, she will.” We looked at each other for far too long before he finally looked away. “Still, Aziel is faster than the rest of us, so he will chase Freya should she run.”

I heard a low chuckle from where Aziel stood. “Finally, he admits it.”

“I’m still stronger than you.” Raiden glared, but the slight curve to his lips gave him away.

“Naomi. Edmund. Dora.” I snapped my fingers. “We need to go. Now.”

“Thalia needs to perform her rituals first, to break the cloaking spell. She’s the only one with magic powerful enough to do it,” he explained. “If Freya runs, even with Aziel, she might have a chance at somehow getting away. I can’t take that risk, Elle. Not this time.”

I understood, but I couldn’t let the people I loved get hurt because of it. “How long will it take?”

His lips parted, and a sigh escaped. “Five, maybe six hours.”

“Six hours?” My eyebrows shot up. “I’m not waiting that long. No way. I’m going now.”

“You don’t have the keys. She’ll kill you all once she realizes you don’t have them.”

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