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“I’m not sure why you think we want your money,” Fang said, leaning back in his chair like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Had a little run-in with Kramer.” Comet leaned against the bar. “Thought we’d come deliver the money for him. You know, so you didn’t gut him.”
Silver strode into the middle of the pack of Legionnaires, closely shadowed by Wraith. He grabbed a chair, twisted it around, and sat on it backwards. Right in front of Fang.
The leather vest he had on didn’t have sleeves, showing off toned arms covered with tattoos. His blond hair was just as messy as when I’d seen him earlier, and I wished I could see the way it fell across his face.
The back of his vest showed the patch of the Iron Shadows—a Molotov cocktail with their shadows spilling out of it, surrounded by roses and wrapped up in a banner that said his name on it. They all wore it one way or another. On a vest or a jacket, and each of the members had their name on the ribbon. I’d only ever seen them in leather, though I desperately,desperatelywanted to see them without.
I wanted to move, but I didn’t dare draw attention to myself again. Silver said they would take care of it, and I trusted them.
“While we’re on the subject,” Silver said, voice smooth and quiet. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re running drugs in my territory?”
“My side of the city is my territory. I’m not interfering with your business.”
“But you are. Or do I need to remind you of the actual terms of the treaty? I wondered why my runners kept coming back from the North side with half their inventory. Now I know.”
Fang leaned forward with a smug smile on his face, and the entire room tensed. This could collapse into a fight in seconds, and I, for one, didn’t want to be in the middle of it.
“My father signed that agreement, not me.”
Silver tilted his head. “He signed it in his blood. You disrespect him so easily?”
“Fuck you,” Fang seethed the words. “Don’t talk to me about his blood. All you’ve ever done is take from us. The rest of the world—the rest of this city—might think fae are the universe’s gift to them. But we know better.”
“You want a war?” The words dropped to the ground like glass, shattering through the air and leaving everything in silence. “We can give you a war if that’s what you want. You won’t win, and I’ll paint your clubhouse walls with your blood before the end. But remember the reason the treaty exists in the first place was your father wanted a war, and he was about to lose.”
“That wasn’t why—”
Wraith held up a hand wreathed in the silver knuckles he often wore. I hid my smile at the barely covered flinch on the faces of half the men in the room.
Silver stood again and kicked the chair to the side. “Here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to take the money we brought you as payment for your lost shipment of drugs. And that will be the end of it. You will abide by the terms of the treaty.” The way he said it was final. He didn’t have to add what would happen if Fangdidn’tdo those things.
Comet turned to me. “Skyla, go get your things.”
Using the pole to get to my feet, I made it three steps before power wrapped around my limbs, slick and hot. Oppressive. “Kramer gave her to us as collateral, Silver. And since Kramer hasn’t come back to deliver the money he owes, she’s coming home with us.”
Dread poured down my skin.
Silver chuckled. “I don’t think so.”
Every Legionnaire in the room bristled. Even with the backup they brought, the Shadows were still outnumbered. They were stronger and faster, but the magic the Legion had made it more even. A little. There was a reason Silver wasn’t worried.
The heat surrounding me felt like a wet mouth I wanted nowhere near me. I pushed against it and got nowhere.
“How are you going to stop us, fae? Without starting the war you claim not to want?”
My skin prickled with awareness and anticipation. I looked between the five fae leaders standing around me. Their faces said nothing, but Delta’s mouth tipped up into a smirk.
“Because she doesn’t belong to you,” Silver said simply. “Under the universal laws of the fae, and due to her fae heritage, I claim Skyla Grant. From now untilathanasíaand beyond, she belongs to the fae. She is bound by our laws and traditions, and our protections.”
The magic fell away from my skin as different magic took its place. My mouth dropped open. This wasn’t what I wanted. This was one of the things I’d spent my entire life trying to avoid. “No.”
Claiming was permanent. You couldn’t take it back. And the laws of the fae weren’t exactly kind to hybrids.
“Further, I claim her for the line of Shadows. She is bound to the power of night, and will bow to it for an eternity. Meaning,” Silver said, looking at me and ignoring everyone else in the room. “She belongs to me.”
Dark power struck me in the chest, permanently weaving itself into my soul, though I didn’t ask for it. “No,” I whispered again.
