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“It’s not as simple as that.”
“It never is.”
He sighed. “I have to leave now. I know a way out and have a friend who can help me.”
“Wait.” I stepped closer. “Can your friend also get someone else out?”
“The mortal?”
I nodded.
He shook his head. “No. She’s better off here.”
My brows pinched together. “How do you figure that? Salenia wants her dead.”
“Then keep her alive.”
My chest tightened. “I’m trying, but I can’t take on a goddess. As much as I want to.”
“Drink the tea,” he said. “There’s some left in the cottage.”
“I did. It just gave me visions.”
His jaw clenched. “I said drink the fucking tea.” With that, he hurried away, and an icy chill washed over me.
TWENTY-FIVE
Niall
Finallyabletoslipaway from the dungeons, I made my way to the cottage. Adrian met me by the doors, and his gaze hardened. “You weren’t followed?” he asked stiffly as I approached him, his eyes peering behind me. I nodded and joined him in the grounds.
The winds whipped around us at a clock chimed three in the distance. I closed the doors behind us, and a few lone nobles spoke with their out-of-town guests inside. Unfortunately, now was when the aniccipere liked to roam.
Adrian’s nose wrinkled as the stench of feces reached us. “They must be feasting on the bowels,” he stated, and I glanced at the tall, arched window to the feeding room as we walked around the castle. Knowing they’re about in the evening makes me almost like being awake during the daytimes again.”
“I forgot you liked the night.” I glanced up at the sky, remembering Adrian managing most of the Blood Brothers matters late at night. Much like mortals, we were divided between those who did things during the day or at night. Most mortals believed we were nocturnal creatures, although that rumor was started just to make them feel safe out in the sun. So, we could grab them then. “This way,” I whispered after looking over the windows overlooking the grounds, to ensure no one was watching. Adrain and I did a quick scan of the grounds, and once we felt like the coast was clear, he followed me toward Azia’s cottage.
Adrian tilted his head at the door. “Azia’s not here?”
“He left.”
He arched a brow. “I saw him earlier. I was surprised to see him back.”
“I didn’t mean what I said earlier,” I said, and his anger dissipated, as if he was just waiting for conformation.
“I know,” he grumbled. “Still, you should have let me kill her.”
“It wouldn’t have done anything.” I turned the door after unlocking it, then stepped inside. I stared at the kitchen, breathing in the fresh scent of herbs, the only light spilling into the room from a lone lamp on the mahogany desk. I headed for the kitchen first, heating a large teapot. If Azia wanted to induce visions, then fuck it. I had to do something, because Salenia was going to make sure I made good on my promise to kill Elizabeth soon. If he thought it would help something, then I trusted him. Even if he had let Avyanna manipulate him. He was still the smartest man I knew. Although, I’d never tell him that.
Adrian shot me a look from the doorway. “Tea again?”
“Yes.” I strained the tea leaves infused with magic. “Problem?”
“Not at all, Grandma.”
“Funny,” I said and poured the tea into a teacup. Sipping it down in one, I felt the nettle crisp in the back of my throat, then poured another.
“Slow down. It’s not liquor.”
