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Safety was so far out of my reach that it was laughable.
Roxie's lips thinned as she noticed her sword by my feet and realized I’d had it this whole time.
Hawk gently angled us in the opposite direction where an exit led to the main street. “Let’s go home. We’ll figure it all out from there.”
As he propelled me forward, my muscles stiffened to stone, and I had to choke back the urge to bolt. Once again, the universe had taken away my choices. I had to go with him. I had to return to the raven headquarters and pretend to be the same person I was when I left.
But I was nothing like her anymore.
* * *
Coltrane kneeledin front of me as I sat in her office with Hawk next to me. Her dark eyes bored into mine, and a feverish look spanned her face. “Did you get the Infernal Sol?”
I’d been gone for over three months, and that was her first thought? She didn’t even bother asking if I was okay.
Maybe Kourtney Tran had been right when she said I was just a project to Coltrane and nothing else.
The captain grabbed my hand, slight tremors running through hers. “Well, did you?”
“I had it, but they took it when they captured me.” The lie easily slipped from my lips as if someone else controlled my mouth. I searched the room for Fane, but I didn’t sense him.
Where the hell was he, and why wasn’t he yelling in my ear like a vengeful ghost over the shitshow situation I’d gotten myself into? He never missed an opportunity to berate me.
The necklace Logan gave me had tumbled from my fingers when I covertly yanked it off and tossed it into a gutter on the way here. I couldn’t be sporting a mystical talisman around my neck at Corvin Manor without drawing attention. The thing didn’t work anyway.
After returning to the manor, Roxie disappeared, and Hawk ushered me to his aunt’s office through a series of back halls to bypass everyone. Normally, he loved being the center of attention, and walking in with me would have earned us quite a spotlight.
The excitement dimmed from Coltrane, and her expression hardened. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”
“But Tate’s back.” Hawk stared at his aunt like he didn’t recognize her. “That’snotunfortunate.”
A tight smile pulled at her lips as she stood. “Of course.” She left my side and dropped into the cushy leather chair behind her desk, lacing her fingers together. Her all-black raven attire, solid muscle, hard features, and tight ponytail made her appearance so severe she intimidated plenty of nightworlders. And ravens.
Her olive complexion and dirty blonde hair were the only things she and her nephew had in common. She was a sharp blade while Hawk was a ray of sunshine that could light up a room.
Coltrane tapped her fingers against her coffee mug filled with that sweet caramel crap. “I’m happy you’re back, Tatum, even if you failed the mission.”
My muscles tensed to keep from flinching as her words hit me like a slap. “The mission wasn’t as cut and dry as I was led to believe,” I gritted out. “I wasn’t the only one there for the amulet, and Karn sent a toxic sub-demon and a royal after me.”
Coltrane arched an eyebrow. “Who was the royal demon?”
“Her name was Ziva.”
“Was?” Her head ticked to the side.
I rubbed my fingers together, feeling Ziva’s slick, onyx blood coating my skin. “I killed her.”
“All right!” Hawk lifted his hand to give me a high five. “You bagged a royal demon.”
I lazily slapped my palm against his, wincing from the cuts on my arm. “She liked to kill children.” Acid oozed up my throat while the memories of my escape from the Underworld the first time mixed with my captivity in Karn’s dungeon.
More blood stained my hands, human this time, as images of the fight to the death with Oliver and Arisa flashed behind my eyes.
“I’m glad you were able to terminate such a vile creature.” Coltrane’s voice came out emotionless, cold even. “Please, tell me what happened.”
I swallowed back the sickness and delved into a story, sticking as close to the truth as possible. Fane became some nameless demon after the stone, and I omitted the part about saving the demon child. Coltrane’s frigid demeanor told me she would not be happy that I sacrificed myself and the entire mission to rescue a demon.
After killing Ziva, I claimed that one of Karn’s underlings captured me in my weakened state and imprisoned me in the demon lord’s dungeon.
