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A tall man with olive skin, dark brown curls, and bright blue eyes. He wore a neat black suit and fancy shoes, and he seemed like a fish out of water. He turned to Nortrix.
Nortrix bowed his head to the man. “My prince. Everything is going according to your plan.”
I gasped. So Nortrix, alpha of the Whitecrest pack, was working for someone else? Someone powerful and intimidating.
Then a memory sparked to life in my mind: Almae had told us a great evil would come. I thought it was the dragon, but now I wasn’t so sure.
“Good,” the man said, his voice deep. He glanced around, and narrowed his eyes at my friends and me. “What are those?”
What, not who. The bastard.
“Nuisances, my prince,” Nortrix said. “After you’re done here, I’ll dispose of them. But not all.” He pointed a long finger at me. “We agreed I would retrieve her after your stop here, but she showed up by herself, saving me the trip.”
He waved at Nortrix, who bowed again and disappeared to the square's edge. The man turned to me, his eyes on mine. “Excellent.”
I took a step back as my hackles raised. This man exuded power and malice, and all I wanted was distance from him.
Lavinia grabbed my arm and pulled me half behind her. I appreciated the gesture, but I wouldn’t cower, even if I had to muster courage from thin air.
“W-what do you want with me?” I forced my throat to work.
The man pressed a hand to his chest. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Prince Paimon of the underworld.”
Lavinia snorted. “You’re not a prince anymore. You were demoted and ran away when Brikan was killed. Now you’re just a demon.”
He flicked his hand at her. A fast black bolt—darkfire—shot out and hit her chest. Lavinia’s eyes widened.
I turned to her, shocked, and examined her, but there was nothing wrong with her, not visibly. “What did you do to her?”
Lavinia opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out.
Paimon clicked his tongue. “That’s much better.”
Killian yanked against the ones holding him, and our friends yelled and tried advancing, but the wolves pushed them back. I was sure they could come to us if they really wanted, but that would start a bigger fight I wasn’t sure we could win.
Paimon looked at me. “Where was I? Oh. Introductions. Why don’t we continue?” He gestured toward the space around him. “This is the Nightshade pack, famous for its protective barrier, which is finally gone. If Conri had worked faster, I wouldn’t have had to wait a year.”
I gaped at him. “Conri … he was working for you? So, Dixon too? You’re the one who sent the poisoned crystals back to us?”
His wicked smile stretched. “Wasn’t that fun? I didn’t see it firsthand, of course, but the reports told me you tried everything, even awakening the dragon!”
What … “You know about the dragon?”
“Of course I do. I’m old, my dear. Ancient. I know things that shouldn’t be remembered by anyone.” He glanced at the gap behind him as if bugs were crawling from the hole, and he couldn’t wait to squash them with his feet. Behind the gap, I could see Nortrix still moving around. What was he doing? “Anyway. I even anticipated you lot would try to take the fake crystals out with some big surge of magic, which melted the crystals right away, didn’t it?” He glanced around. “But it seems the poison hasn’t reached the town's center. Not yet, at least.”
I clenched my fists. “Why are you doing this?”
“We’re still doing introductions, my dear, but if you’re so inclined to know.” He turned to Nortrix, just as the alpha walked back to him, carrying two crystals.
“No,” I whispered. My stomach dropped. Those were the remaining crystals, the good ones, that had been left intact even with the poison spreading. I frowned. “Wait. How did you open the trap doors?”
Paimon extended his hand.
Nortrix handed him the crystals then faced me. “During the alpha meeting your mate called. I was about to create an excuse to see him at the time, but he came to me. All I had to do was make him mad enough to confront me.” He lifted his hand and stared at his fingers. “Then I cut him and stole a few drops of his blood.”
“Clever, hm?” Paimon held the crystals, one on each hand. “But you asked why I’m here. For this.” He closed his eyes and inhaled. The crystals shone bright, a white light that had me squinting. The light snaked out of the crystals and coiled around Paimon’s arms, his shoulders. The crystals dulled until they turned gray. The light snake faded around Paimon’s chest. He opened his eyes, and they glowed like the crystals had a second ago. He blinked and they went back to normal. “So much power.”
Lavinia grabbed my arm and made me look at her. She moved her mouth, telling me something, but I was terrible at lip reading. I only got the part she mouthed, “He’s weak.”
