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More dim lighting, credited to sconces on the walls, guided his path. He wouldn’t encounter any prisoners up here as this level and the single one above were reserved for those who ran the penitentiary. The cells of inmates spiraled down through the mountain’s core, the worst being kept deepest in an eternal cold darkness, shells of who they’d once been. A punishment worse than a rogue, worse than death. It was why Isla had fought so vehemently months ago to save Lukas from its clutches.
Lukas. Lukas washere.And so were—
A cloyingly sweet scent struck Adrien’s nose, all too familiar.
Despite his better judgment, he stopped short before a steel door. But that wasnightsweethe smelled, its rich aroma spilling from the space beneath the entryway. It was likely how his father had been controlling the witches he’d locked away, tempering their magic, rendering it useless. Rendering them helpless.
For a decade.
Raana’s voice clanged through his head.We’re not weapons at your disposal for your petty wars.
Adrien had denied war, then—but now?
He cast his eyes to his feet, then beyond them as if he could see deep, deep down where the witches were through the spiraling cells where his father’s greatest secrets were likely buried.
Adrien started at the sound of footsteps echoing through the hall. Then he kept moving.
* * *
“Eli is dead. Sampson and Alpha Ivander are grieving. He was like a son to him. Alpha Kai of Deimos should be held responsible. We know he’s planning something.”
Hidden amidst the steel rafters, shadowed and just out of sight, Adrienpeered into the cavernous meeting room, trying his best to hold in his shock that Alpha Locke of Charon was here. His words echoed in Adrien’s disbelief, making it difficult to maintain a slow, nearly undetectable heartbeat and slow breathing in order to manage his stealth. What the hell was Locke doing here? So far from his pack.
Adrien hadn’t had the chance to embrace seeing his father for the first time in over a week since he’d left with Raana for Callisto, when he’d told him all his plans, likely already making up his mind that Adrien would betray him.
“You know I cannot force anyone’s hand, Locke,” Cassius said, scratching at something Adrien couldn’t see on the table of sleek black stone they sat on one side of—who would take the other? “The continent cannot descend into chaos for the sake of selfish vendettas.”
Not for the sake of selfish vendettas? So, what had approving Kai’s challenge been? All of this had been about eliminating some threat onlyheseemed privy to and concerned about.
Locke clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to rein in his composure. “We can vote—”
“It must be unanimous, and Verena and Deacon would never vote against him. They were friends of Kyran’s, and even with Kai, Mimas, Deimos, and Tethys remain close.” Despite his own even disposition, disgust dripped from his father’s voice. “And if he wasforcedto step down by vote, it would not be a quiet endeavor.”
Adrien had nearly forgotten that it had been a part of the Code, mainly as a “check” for the Imperial Alpha’s power but able to be used elsewhere. A vote to allow all alphas to decide if power needed to be shifted away from a bloodline without the need for a challenge.
Hisbloodline could’ve been forced to step down anytime, but his father treated their allies well. They’d never vote against him.
Locke pushed, “We’re also losing Southern Iapetus. Ivander is struggling to maintain control, and his land is divided. Eli’s death—”
“Meansnothing.”
Adrien flinched at the harshness of Cassius’s voice and tucked in closer at the tiny creak of the beams. Luckily, neither man glanced up.
“It only sows distrust,” his father said. “Alpha Kai did not commit the murder. We cannot use that for any grounds.”
“How do we know? He was in rogue territory. You know he left that message.”
“Aboveyourbounty hunter. Go to Deimos and accuse him, then. I’d love to see how it plays out.”
“I would not go down as easily as a rogue,” Locke snapped, and at a glower from his father, a warning, he retreated slightly. “I refuse to bend in fear to achild.”
Cassius drummed his fingers on the table, checking his pocket watch. Whoever was supposed to meet them was late. “It’s not fear; it’s acknowledgment of the unknown. And calling him a child is ignorant. He has a weakness. Everything, everyone does.”
“What about Imperial Beta Malakai’s daughter?” The malice on his face, the cruelty was undeniable. His eyes flashed like a myriad of wicked ideas had just sprung to his mind for how to use Isla against Kai.
Adrien imagined himself springing from the shadows and running his claws along Locke’s throat.
Even Cassius didn’t seem to appreciate it. “What about her?”
