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As the alpha continued delivering details, Marissa’s gaze bored into me like she was trying to light me on fire or murder me with her stare.
“Could it be demons?” Julia asked as she absentmindedly played with the pretzel on her napkin.
“It’s possible,” Camus said. “We should explore all avenues at this time.”
I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Dangerous sub-demons have been emerging through the Underworld gate in Bonaventure Cemetery.” A tremor ran through me as I thought of that swarm of dragos. “There could also be a problem with dux demons.”
The murmurs in the room fell away as Camus turned to me, arching a brow. “Go on.”
“Recently, several dux demons in the city have gone rogue, attacking humans and ravens, abandoning the accords.”
Worry lines developed across Camus’s face. “That’s definitely concerning information, whether higher-level demons have anything to do with the missing shifters or not.” He tipped his head at me. “Thank you for sharing that.”
My spine straightened, and I sat a little taller. “I want to do whatever I can to stop this.”
“You’ll always be a fighter.”A ghost of a smile pulled at Fane’s lips.“Raven or not.”
“I’m going to send our strongest members and officers in teams to patrol the pack territory,” Camus said. “I’ll draw up a list of names and maps for your assigned areas. Fane and Tate, I’d like you to join as a pair.”
Dorian turned to the alpha. “Maybe that’s not a good idea. They aren’t part of the pack. How can we be sure their loyalties even lie with us?”
Ephraim scoffed. “Fane is my family.”
“What about the girl?” Dorian looked me up and down, causing a low vibration to move into Fane’s throat.
Camus lifted his hand to stop the bickering. “Fane and Tate are joining, and that’s final.”
* * *
After Camus ended the meeting,the pack members stood and mingled with one another. Fane and I were not sticking around for social hour, so we said our goodbyes to his uncle and headed upstairs to the living room.
“The bathroom is right there.” Fane tilted his head toward a door on the right side of the hall.
“How did y—” I grimaced, realizing he’d felt my need to urinate. “That’s really fucking disturbing. Can’t you block that?”
He shrugged. “I only caught it for a second. Plus, you had three glasses of lemonade. Anyone would need to go.”
I rolled my eyes and slipped through the door, closing it behind me while trying to ignore the inkling of panic kicking in. My chest constricted, and my lungs strained to bring in air. The room—decorated in warm cream and sienna with copper fixtures—was ten times the size of the closet Rena would lock me in, but it still tapped into my fear of small, enclosed spaces.
The walls are not closing in on you. The ceiling is not falling. You are fine.
When I finished doing my business and washing my hands, I left the room and followed the tug in the pit of my stomach that would lead to Fane, but before I turned the corner, a sickly-sweet voice echoed.
“You just can’t stay away from me, can you?”
I peered into the kitchen as Marissa leaned against the center island, pushing her breast forward while Fane stood a few feet away, arms crossed and body tense.
“You do remember I have family here, right?” He jerked his chin toward her. “Coming here has nothing to do with you.”
Marissa scoffed and flicked her raven curls over her shoulder. “Yeah, right. Why don’t you go live with your demon family? Your brother’s dead, but your mom isn’t.” Her mouth curved into a twisted smile. “Or is she still rotting in that Underworld prison?”
Underworld prison?
The regions in the nether realm had their own rules and punishments, and I’d read that a few prisons existed, but they were more like torture sentences. Karn’s dungeon was probably similar to their prisons.
What would have Fane’s mom done to earn her a place in demon jail?
Before I could consider any more theories on the demon shifter’s mother, a wave of anger slammed into me, knocking me back a step. Hot fury leaked through my veins and twisted around my heart.
