Callista scowled, and rolled her eyes. “You’ve got that right.”
She turned away. “I guess I’ll take you to the acolytes. They can decide what to do with you.”
My shoulders loosened as she bought our story. I really didn’t want to fight Callista. Most likely, we’d have to kill her if she ran to the cult to blow our cover, and besides being morally abhorrent, we had nowhere to hide her body. She’d be found if we stored her away down here, and we needed to keep concealed if we were going to get our hands on the stone.
As Callista led us forward, Alexei was bold enough to speak up.
“So… why’d you join the family, Callista?” Alexei asked, his voice echoing around the empty chambers.
“I have Unseelie blood,” Callista replied. “My father was Unseelie. He was killed by the Seelie fae for using dark magic.”
“That’s horrible,” Kiara said.
Callista nodded. “I wanted to do something to make Malovia accept the Unseelie fae. My best friend Janetta was a part of the Black Claw. She told me if I became one of them, I could avenge my father’s death. I was wavering, because I knew joining the family would be dangerous.”
Callista’s tone turned bitter. “Then she died during the Black Claw’s raid on the masquerade at the palace a year ago. A wolven ripped her apart. The way I heard it, she was begging for mercy.”
Ethan froze beside me. I felt horror rippling through his emotions, and on my end, my insides turned to ice. The memory of that cursed night wrecked through us both, from his end of the bond to my own.
Callista scoffed. “The bastard told her Black Claw members didn’t deserve mercy before he tore her to shreds. My friends weren’t sure who did it, because they didn’t get a good look, but one of them said the wolven had three legs. I’mcertainit was Ethan. He was there the night of the masquerade. He wouldn’t have taken pity on her.”
Shame was ebbing through our bond, pouring off of Ethan in droves. He felt awful for what he’d done, but I’d long forgiven him for it. I slipped my hand into Ethan’s and squeezed it for support. He was almost near tears, but thankfully, Callista didn’t turn around.
Callista let out a cold laugh. “Ethan tried to lie to me about having Unseelie blood. I knew exactly what he was up to. He wants to get down here so he can kill us all. You have no idea how much I wanted to end him right there and then, but I had to play it off, because I needed to keep the Black Claw safe.”
“Perhaps Ethan changed his mind,” Alexei offered. “Maybe he was looking for some type of forgiveness, for what he’s done to the Black Claw.”
Callista’s hands curled into fists. “I’d love to kill Ethan, but I resist, because the Black Claw’s message is bigger than any one person. When Janetta died because she was a part of this group, I realized the Seelie fae would never accept us unless we met blood with blood. My mom thinks I’m just caught up in a bad crowd. Stupid teenage stuff, you know? She wouldn’t understand, but she will one day, when she sees me take vengeance for my father, she will.”
Alexei was sensing Ethan was about to break down through his empathy magic, so he changed the subject before anything more could be said about Janetta. “Will we meet the Hidden King once we get there? I’ve heard, in my absence, that he’s been proclaimed.”
Callista raised an eyebrow. “The Hidden King? Are you serious? King Elijah has better things to do than come visit us. Some of the acolytes meet with him on an occasional basis, but most of us aren’t worthy to be in the king’s presence.”
Kiara and I shared a glance. The Black Claw was working for Gabby and Elijah, but clearly, only a few members actually had contact with the king himself.
“I suggest you stay quiet, until you’re spoken to,” Callista told us. “We’re nearly there.”
When silence fell over the group, Ethan spoke telepathically to me through our bond.Callista joining the Black Claw is my fault. I killed her friend at the urging of the leshane. I was a monster, Ethan mourned.
But you’re not anymore, I replied.What you did was wrong, but you can’t go back and change it now.
I did not understand. I didn’t believe that cultists were people. Knowing that Alexei was once a part of this, and now Callista, I realize that cultists are not the evil beings I thought they were. So many of them are being misledby the true masters of this group.
We’re trying to help them now. Keep your hopes up.
Ethan said nothing more, but I felt true remorse radiating through him at what he’d done. The past couldn’t be fixed, but perhaps there was still some hope in saving the future.
The catacombs began to widen, until they became chambers fifty feet across or wider. I could hear noises ahead— whispered voices, hushed conversation. The Black Claw was near.
We came to a wooden doorway at the end of one of these chambers. Callista raised her hand and knocked three times. The doors slowly opened with an awful creaking noise, vibrating throughout the catacombs like some ghostly warning of a haunting ahead. We stepped inside, into pitch-blackness, before light suddenly ignited the space.
As we entered the massive chamber, Callista whispered, “Welcome back home, Alexei. I certainly hope the acolytes take pity on you. If not, be ready to accept your fate.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan
The door gave way to a great chamber within the catacombs. A chill coursed across my skin as we came to the center of the room. Black chairs were placed around the edges of the chamber. This is where the cult had to hold meetings, and where the acolytes preached their dark sermons. In the middle of the room was a flat stone table, which was stained dark with maroon, a pattern of dried blood dripping over the side.
