Page 150 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

“Darius,” he repeats, expression unreadable. “That’s the sick male’s name.”

My unease grows. “You know him?”

“I travelled with the Fae for weeks. I…heard things.”

I shift my legs, tucking them under my hip. “So it’s true. You’re really a rebel?”

“Of a sort.”

I frown. “Then why haven’t you been released?”

His forehead creases as his eyes narrow. “Why would I have been released?”

“Because those men”—I wave a hand to the cell’s door—“are part of the rebellion.”

Surely Lev and the others would’ve released Silas once they confirmed they’re on the same side.

Silas’s snort undermines the thought. “Those men aren’t rebels.”

What?

“But Lev—” I shake my head slowly. “He told me⁠—”

“I’d worry less about my son and more about your own predicament.” Heavy bootsteps precede the arrival of General Ironheart.

He carries a lit torch that he sets in the sconce on the wall across from the cell.

I lock my knees as I take in brown eyes that look so much like Lev’s, only there isn’t a hint of consideration or remorse in that steely glare as he stops less than a foot away from the metal bars.

He lifts his hand, revealing a thick, familiar book clutched in his grasp. “What is this?”

Blood roars in my ears.

Any hope of being released burns away like the homes swallowed up in the natchling’s fire as my gaze locks on the Fae script etched into the leather cover.

They will kill me for this.

I take a deep breath and tuck my hands into my lap to hide how they shake. “A book.”

“And yet…” He lifts the cover and flashes a page in my direction. “It’s blank.”

What is he talking about?

I glance at the pages, and though I can’t read the words from this distance, there are clearly marks on the pages.

“You are confused,” the general states.

I blink, schooling my features. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m going to hold my cards close to my chest.

“Only about why I am still locked in here,” I say. “I already told Lev…I don’t know where the Fae went.”

“I might’ve believed you, but then I found this…unusual book among your belongings.” He begins to thumb through the pages. “I find it hard to believe the Fae would give you a blank tome.”

Bless you, Myrissie…

For it’s only by the grace of the Goddess of Knowledge that General Ironheart doesn’t know Juniper gave me the book—that my adoptive mother likely possesses numerous secrets he and his conspirators would like to know about.

Still, I don’t know what to make of the assertion that the book is blank.