“No.” Kalo’s voice was flat. Final. “And you’re going to get up, or I’m going to have my men drag you. Your choice.”
Raziel growled behind his gag, his body tensing despite the agony it must have caused him. Nadi put her hands, shackled as they were, on his chest—a warning. A plea.
“Don’t,” she said softly. “I’ll be fine.”
Another lie. But she needed him to believe it. She needed him to stay still, to conserve what little strength he had left. If there was any chance of getting out of this alive, it wouldn’t come from Raziel ripping himself apart trying to fight.
She let Kalo pull her to her feet. His grip on her arm was firm but not cruel—not yet. He led her out of the room and down a narrow corridor, past guards who watched them with flat, disinterested eyes.
They stopped in a small office—probably some foreman’s workspace back when this warehouse still served legitimate purposes. Now it was just another piece of the Iltanis’ underground kingdom. Kalo shut the door behind them and leaned against it, arms crossed over his chest.
“You betrayed us,” Nadi said before he could speak. “You and Ebiti both. The whole ‘fae alliance for war’ was a sham.”
“The alliance was real.” Kalo’s expression didn’t change. “It just wasn’t ever going to involve you.”
The words hit her like a blow to the gut. Swallowing down the bile that rose up in response, she looked away. “Then what about the Rosovs?”
“The Rosovs.” He nodded. “It’s an open secret Ebiti has been dealing with them for decades, Nadi. Long before you came stumbling back into the Wild with your vampire lover in tow.They pay well. They protect our interests on the surface. And in return…”
“In return, you hand them anyone who threatens their power.” The bitterness in her voice could have curdled milk. “Like Raziel.”
“Like the Serpent,” Kalo agreed. “Do you have any idea what he’s worth to them?” He laughed—a harsh, humorless sound. “They wanted him alive, Nadi. They wanted to make an example of him. And they were willing to pay a fortune for the privilege.”
“And me?” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “What was I worth to them?”
Something flickered in Kalo’s silver eyes—something that might have been regret, if she squinted hard enough. “Less than him. But still valuable. A shapeshifter with your skills? The Rosovs had uses for someone like you. But that’s all gone now.”
She felt sick. “So that’s it, then. You really were going to sell us both like cattle.”
“I was going to do what was best for my people.” Kalo pushed off from the door and took a step toward her. “That’s always been my job, Nadi. Even when we were children. I was the one who had to think about the future. About survival. You were always too busy dreaming about revenge. I had to get my blood out of them in other ways.”
“Don’t.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t you dare pretend this is about survival. This is about power. About money. About selling your own kind to the bloodsuckers who’ve been hunting us for centuries.”
“And what’s your alternative?” He spread his hands. “Your glorious war? A fiery uprising against the vampire clans? We’d be slaughtered, Nadi. Every last one of us. Is that what you want? To die fighting in some futile crusade?”
“I just want tolive!” The words tore out of her, raw and desperate. “I want to live free, Kalo! Not crawling on my belly,begging for scraps from the table! Pretending to be human, or living in the shadows! Is that really so hard to understand?”
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The silence stretched between them like a chasm—all the years, all the choices, all the paths not taken.
She only had one chance. One. And she knew it wouldn’t work. But it was the only sad, pathetic option in front of her. “Do you remember,” Nadi said quietly, “what hope felt like? When we were young? Before everything went wrong? You used to chase me through the tunnels. Used to pull my hair and call me names.”
Kalo’s jaw tightened. “That was a long time ago.”
“It was.” She took a step toward him, her bound hands trembling. “But I remember teaching you to swim. I remember you teaching my siblings which mushrooms were safe to eat and which would make them sick. I remember when, despite being such afucking bully,you’d get in between me and the older kids when they’d pick on me.”
“Nadi—”
“I didn’t see it then, but I do now. You were my friend, Kalo.” Her voice broke on the word. “My family. Is there nothing left of that? Nothing at all?”
He looked away. For just a moment, she thought she saw something crack in that carefully constructed facade—some glimpse of the person he’d been before the world had hardened him. Before survival had become more important than anything else.
Then it was gone. His expression smoothed back into cold indifference.
“That boy died a long time ago.” He met her eyes. “Just like you did, Nadi. We’re both ghosts now. Just ghosts that have kept on walking.”
“Please.” She hated how her voice sounded—small and desperate and sounding nothing like the assassin she’d become. “Please, Kalo. Let us go. I’ll disappear. I’ll take him and we’ll vanish so completely that no one will ever find us. You’ll never see either of us again. Just…please.”
For a heartbeat—just one—she thought he might say yes. She saw the hesitation in his eyes, the war between what he wanted and what he believed he had to do.
