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One of the mages shook me with a snarl. “It would be nice if you could help us.”
I suddenly remembered my feet and slowly stood on trembling legs. It took a bit of effort to put one foot in front of the other after living in a cramped prison and with chains around my ankles, but I soon found my stride as the mages pulled me along. Drae and Blaze. Those were their names.
I didn’t know why it mattered, but Drae appeared to be the oldest, the alpha, with long hair tied back in a queue and a broad chest to accommodate his wide wings, and Blaze the middle brother, with cropped, wild hair and a feral gleam in his eyes. I wondered if Drae was the alpha because he was the oldest, or perhaps he was the smartest and bravest. If that was how alphas were chosen, then Ash would be the alpha in our pack, and even though I was technically a king, I’d be beta. I was initially outraged by the idea, but Ash deserved to be the alpha after proving his loyalty to our mate. I supposed I should consider myself lucky if they let me into the pack at all.
So consumed was I in my thoughts, that I missed a step and tripped over the sagging length of chain between my ankles. I would’ve fallen hadn’t it been for Blaze catching me with unnatural speed. These mages had more magical gifts than just fire and were fitting mates for a white witch.
He didn’t respond to my ‘thanks,’ reminding me that I was the pariah among our group.
Don’t let them kill me, Nox hissed in my skull as I stumbled down the dark tunnel, and I will show you how to defeat the Lamashtu.
Though I was in no mood to talk to the demon, curiosity won over. Lamashtu? I asked. What is that?
The demon goddess who controls other demons.
We turned a corner and ended up in the wide cavern with all the heavenly smells of roasting garlic and buttery onions, definitely not the same slop they fed me. The demon goddess?
His impatient sigh resonated in my head. The one other demons call their mistress?
The demon the others followed? I gave a start when the mages latched onto my arms and lifted me into the air. I closed my eyes against the dizziness as they flew up the ramp toward the pyramid exit. After we emerged from the pyramid, I breathed in a warm gulp of fresh air, then swallowed back bile when I saw the dragon Isa staring at me as if she was contemplating whether to swallow me raw or roast me first. Beside her were about a dozen robed satyrs and Tari’s sister, Shirina. I gave a start when thousands of wyverns took to the skies, creating a frightening vortex of wings and tails above us.
isa nodded toward a stone slab, and the mages dragged me to it.
“Sit down,” Drae said gruffly.
I let them hoist me onto the slab, its cool surface against my thighs a welcome relief to the humid outside air. I tried not to think about the robed satyrs who approached me as the dragoness hovered over them.
I blinked up at the swirling wyverns and the moonlight shining through their membranes. Why would you betray her? I asked Nox.
She is not my mistress, he said on a hiss. I told you I was different.
Or else he was lying. Either way, I wasn’t about to trust a demon. How is she not your mistress?
Because Lady Arabella never swore a blood oath to her, and Lady Arabella was my portal into the living realm.
That didn’t mean he still wouldn’t serve her. After all, her interests probably aligned more with his than ours. Why would you help us defeat the Lamashtu?
Because she wants to control all demons, and I serve no one.
I contemplated that for a moment. If he served no one, he certainly wouldn’t serve us. So how were we supposed to trust him?
The dragoness made a low grunt and the vortex of wyverns parted, crying out like deranged birds before flying back toward the treetops. One wyvern separated from the pack, a large beast who flew toward us with slow, measured flaps.
He landed with a loud and deep squawk, then sidled up to Isa and bowed his head.
Isa peered down at me, steam pouring from her flared nostrils. Helian, this is Thanos. He is the oldest of the wyverns, and he wishes to end his life with honor. Tarianya can’t have any objection to us using him to rid your demon.
I arched away from her sulfuric breath. “Then why isn’t Tari here?”
The dragon scowled. She’s sleeping.
No. I couldn’t do this to my mate. She’d never forgive me. “Then wake her.”
Shirina jutted a foot forward, her hands balled into fists. “Why would you subject her to watching Thanos’s spirit leave his body?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, my shoulders falling. “I can’t let you perform the ceremony without Tari’s permission.”
Isa let out a roar so loud, it shook the stone beneath me. You are the most infuriating Fae I’ve ever met. No wonder Radnor picked you as his rider. Tell your mates to grab him, she said to Shirina. Let’s get this over with.
