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Another woman appears beside Chad, and Elara stifles a gasp. Although the resemblance to Chad is uncanny, there in the death-colored hair and lifeless skin, she’s dragging a stumbling Laith. Although there aren’t any obvious injuries, his wrists are chained and he’s lost weight in the short period since he was taken.
The tightness of his jaw and the brightness of his eyes lets Elara know that at least he's still himself, looking stronger for this ordeal. Good. If they get him out of those chains, he may need to fight too.
“I’d like you to meet my sister,” Chad purrs. “Ebony.”
“She’s a witch,” Dinah hisses.
Elara takes a deep breath, needing to focus on why they’re here. “Let Laith go. I brought Excalibur." She moves a few feet away from her protective sentinels, toward Chad and Ebony in an act of good faith. Or at least what appears to be an act of good faith.
Chad seems surprised, taken aback for a moment.
"You're delivering it? I thought you’d use the powerful one." He points directly at Dinah, and Elara doesn't know whether to be discouraged that he doesn't find her a threat, or glad that this could work to her advantage. "Dinah. Samara’s daughter. A witch who’s done terrible things," Chad says, looking straight at Elara as if teasing her.
A shiver slithers down her spine. They know so little about Dinah, having little choice but to trust her. It’s thanks to the witch that Elara’s carrying a fake Excalibur so this handover can happen.
“She hasn't told you, has she?” Chad rubs his chin as his sister grins. “How convenient."
“It’s not relevant to this exchange," Dinah snaps.
"I heard you almost killed a nephilim. Instead, you kept him alive, paralyzed from the waist down. According to your reputation, you always did favor torture. It did take away his magic, a very good thing, though." Chad laughs. "So what happened to the woman who prized pain over death?"
He’s trying to divide them. Possibly trying to remind Dinah of the power that can be found in evil. Elara glances back at Dinah, conscious it may work. The unknown just multiplied.
Dinah stares back at Elara, holding her gaze steady. "I did a lot of things under my mother's influence. We were working for the same organization, and I even killed for them. I was an emotionless assassin. I’m not that person anymore."
Chad sighs. “Oh, well.” He lifts his arms just as more sunlight rolls through the clearing. “Good thing I brought company, isn’t it?”
The shadows around the trees behind him morph and change. Men and women appear, some shifting from shapes that are too small to decipher, probably insects. Others drop from the branches. A few rise from the leaf litter, their skin dirty and eyes flashing.
Shifters. A whole army of them.
“So did she.”
Kade’s voice carries through the clearing with confidence and authority. And threat.
Elara hears the wolves walk up. She feels Kade’s nearness.
She’s relieved and terrified all at once.
Chad laughs as his gaze roams over the growing numbers. “Excellent,” he hisses. Lightning fast, he draws a knife and holds it against Laith’s throat. "Give us Excalibur in return for Laith living and us walking out free and unharmed from the forest. It's that simple.”
Elara stills. The tension is multiplying in the clearing, pressing down on her chest. Tangling in her throat.
Was she naive to think there was a way for Laith to come out of this alive?
“You don’t have a choice,” Chad emphasizes, pressing the knife against Laith’s throat until a rich bead of blood appears.
Elara looks into Chad’s eyes and knows he wants to do this. He wants to kill Laith. Before any of the pack can make a move, Laith will be dead and all of this will have been for nothing.
Denzel takes a few steps forward, readying himself to fight. Dinah copies on her left side, her demon daggers out and glowing.
Elara sees the next moments as if in slow motion, knowing Chad sees their movements as a threat.
He smirks. Draws back the dagger, twists it, and aims the point at Laith’s throat.
Then strikes, his aim precise, his movements sure. There’s no way Elara or anyone else can get there in time.
Laith won’t even get a chance to scream. He’s just drawn his last breath.
