Ellery’s brow furrowed at their words, but her eyes didn’t leave mine. I was still stunned they’d managed to pull this off, but she needed reassurance from me, and I wouldn’t deny her that.
“Good,” I said.
She flinched a little before her gaze fell again. When I squeezed her chin, her eyes returned to me.
“They would have done far worse to you,” I said.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” she whispered.
“But you weren’t wrong. They’re the ones who started this, not us, and they’ll reap what they sowed. We’ll rid the realm of our oppressors, Ellery, and when we do, we can finally live in peace.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Ryker
When hope bloomed in Ellery’s eyes, I could tell she hadn’t dared to let herself believe such a thing could be possible. Since she discovered they’d captured me, she’d probably been driven by her desperation to save Tempest and me.
“We still have the duke and all the guards to get through, and we still have to free the children,” she said.
“We’ll get them out of here now. A warning has already gone up. They might not be coming this way yet, and they’ll expect you to go for me first. They’re probably still waiting for you to attack, but somehow you managed to get past them.”
“We flew over them.”
“Of course you did,” I muttered.
“She fucking flies too?” Samael asked.
Ellery craned her head to try to see past me, but I blocked her. She wasn’t going to like what she saw.
She frowned at me. “Who is that?”
“You know how I wouldn’t approve of you freeing the gargoyles; well, you’re not going to like who freed us.”
Suspicion etched her face. “Who?”
“Samael.”
Her jaw dropped as her breath exploded out of her. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
She blinked at me as her mouth opened and closed multiple times before she finally spoke. “Why would he do that?”
“He didn’t like that Ivan burned his father alive while the duke smiled.”
“Who would?” Samael inquired. “And he did more than smile; he laughed a couple of times too.”
Ellery scowled at the sound of his voice. “I’m sure you did the same thing when they tortured other amsirah. You didn’t care about any of them, only your father.”
“I freely admit to not caring about them,” Samael said, and Ellery’s eyes flashed with fire at his arrogance. “But I never took joy in the torture of others. That is one of the ways in which I’m different from the duke and Gaius.”
“Why did he free you?” Ellery asked me.
“For revenge,” Samael said.
She didn’t acknowledge his words as she focused on me. “Do you trust him?”
“Not at all,” I scoffed. “But he did set us free, and he’s gotten us this far. Before I knew you were here, we were coming to free the children with him.”
