“Nyx, their name is Nyx,” Cali replied cooly as shadows crept up the walls. “Speak about them like that again and I’ll cut out your heart so they can eat it.”
“I mostly just drink the blood from it to be fair,” Nyx added thoughtfully. “Although I do enjoy this trend of my friends offering me bloody hearts.”
Warrick’s expression remained cool and remote, but I didn’t miss the way he glanced at the shadows slithering on the walls. All Furies possessed shadow magic, but Cali was in a league of her own.
The sound of a lock clicking echoed through the room, and Cali let out a long exhale. “Finally.” Half a second later, she was in front of Warrick. He swung his sword, only to be blocked by hers, and she had a dagger at his throat a second later.
Nyx moved faster than I could track and halted in front of Bastian, who held two curved daggers. The two of them glared at each other, neither making a move.
“Also,” she purred, “if you ever call Rynn sweetheart in that mocking tone again, I’ll cut out your tongue before I shred your mind. Listening to screaming gets old after a few minutes.”
“I’ll stick with traitor then,” Warrick said evenly.
“Fucking hells. Would it kill you to just shut up for once?” I complained.
“I’ve wondered that too,” Bastian chimed in.
Argh. I stomped over to Cali and Warrick, placing a hand on each of their chests and shoving them apart. “Play. Fucking. Nice,” I spat. “Let’s go see if Cali and Nyx have found their prey.”
When Warrick continued to stare at Cali, who just smiled at him, Bastian sighed and grabbed his vest, dragging him forward. “Come on. I want to see this. And who knows? Maybe there will be something for you to stab in there.”
“I’m always happy to stab you,” Warrick grunted.
“Promises, promises,” Bastian sang.
Cali watched them go with a frown before looking at me. “Your future mates are even weirder than Sam’s.”
“They are not my mates!” I hissed, summoning one of my axes and chucking it at her head.
She snatched it out of the air and gave it an appreciated lookover. “Nice. Roth’s work? I’ll have to ask them what spell they used and see if I can do anything similar.” She tossed the axe to Nyx, then chose to ignore me when she said, “I seem to remember Sam being pretty adamant about how much she hated Vail too. And we all know how that turned out.”
She sauntered after Warrick and Bastian.
Nyx admired the axe before glancing at me. “Think Roth will make me one?”
“Sure,” I drawled. “After you apologize to Sam for leaving the way you did.”
Roth rarely took personal offense to things, and I doubted they were all that upset over Nyx’s abrupt departure. But they did take two things extremely seriously. Their books. And Samara.
While Nyx hadn’t intentionally hurt Samara, Roth wouldn’t care. All that mattered to them was that Samara had cried. In fact, Nyx would probably have to be careful around all of Sam’s mates.
“I’ll make it right with Sam. Before her mates track me down and kick my ass.” Nyx tossed the axe back to me.
“See that you do.” I caught the axe but dismissed it immediately so I wouldn’t be tempted to bury it in Warrick’s gut for being a prick, and the two of us made our way to the back room. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim lighting.
Nyx went to join Cali, who stood a few feet away from Bastian and Warrick. Everyone was staring at the cell in front of them.
A quick glance told me the two cells on either side of the one everyone was gathered around were empty as I took a spot between Cali and Bastian. Any relief I felt at everyone putting their weapons away was short-lived when I saw who was waiting behind the bars of the cell.
“Oh, I’m so happy you’re joining us, Rynn. I was just saying this was a nice little visit.” Lucian smiled from the settee he was reclined on. “It’s so lovely to see all these friendly faces.”
Even though I knew this was who Cali and Nyx had been hunting, I was still a little shocked to find him here. The former consort of the Moroi Sovereign—both of them, I supposed—was looking rather healthy for being held in a secret Velesian prison.
“Easy,” Cali murmured to Nyx, who had gone completely still. I couldn’t see their eyes, but I suspected they were solid black.
“Ah, no hard feelings, Nyxy,” Lucian crooned. “Most rangers die in wilds. Remind me of their names? The ones who were killed?” He snapped, sitting up straighter. “Emil and Adrienne! You killed one of them, right? Sorry I couldn’t be there for that. That whole thing was my idea, so I was most disappointed I didn’t get to witness it firsthand.”
A snarl tore through the air as Nyx threw themself at the bars.
