Page 40 of Wrath

Jade let out a breath of relief when he was out of sight, though she didn’t completely relax. Her eyes continued to shift in my direction, as if she were waiting for me to snap.

And how close she was to the truth…

I squeezed my eyelids shut and turned away, forcing myself to breathe through my nose.

I would not let my hunger control me.

Not again.

Not ever.

The crackling of leaves and the snapping of twigs preceded Z stepping into the clearing. I didn’t spot Dair—probably because it would be hard for his wheelchair to traverse the forest—but she stood between Devlin, Bash, and Ryland.

Z frowned when she saw me. “Where’s Killian and Lupe?”

“Kill just left,” Mali answered, remaining knelt beside the woman. “But I don’t know where Lupe is.”

Z nodded and lowered herself to her knees before the spy. Her tone turned softer, almost friendlier, and I swore my heart went through a pressure chamber at the sound. I loved Z all the time, but there was something about her softness that melted me. It was so rare to see that I treasured each moment like the gift it was.

“Hello. My name is Z, and?—”

“I know who you are.” Jade bowed her head reverently, a heady flush in her cheeks. “Liberator.”

Z’s upper lip curled in distaste. “Just Z works.”

Jade appeared as if she wanted to protest, her lips moving without any sound escaping, before she nodded once. “Of course. Whatever you say, Lib—Z.”

Ryland stepped forward, his features completely obscured by shadows. “You said you saw Aaliyah?”

“I did.” Worry lined the space between her brows. “I was in charge of watching her stronghold. Reporting any changes.”

“And?” Z pressed.

“For the most part, I didn’t see anything. Aaliyah remained inside of her castle. But the other day, I noticed something concerning.” Her lips puckered. “Aaliyah was on the balcony with a man. I didn’t recognize him, but he had…bald patches on his head. Was super skinny. Gaunt. Frail.”

“S,” Z whispered, and my heart ached for her.

S had been her boyfriend post-Devlin but before she met the rest of us. She had loved him, until shifters had killed him, the same way they murdered her parents.

But apparently, S hadn’t died, despite what Z believed. Devlin, who was nearby, made a deal with the human and stored his soul inside of his lamp. S’s brother, and one of Z’s oldest friends, made a deal to retrieve the stolen soul and freed S.

Somehow, a confused S ended up at Aaliyah’s castle, and the dark magic erupting from the hell pit corrupted him. He wasno longer the man Z fell in love with, but a twisted, demented version of him who did Aaliyah’s bidding.

“Obviously, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were joined on the balcony by another…creature.” A tremor reverberated through the woman. “Aaliyah said something to the creature, and then he left the castle, followed by hundreds and hundreds of others like him. I followed them for as long as I could, but I knew I needed to get back here and warn you. It appeared as if they were heading towards the capital.”

Terror skated down my spine.

“What did the creature look like?” Z demanded, but Jade shook her head.

I didn’t know if it was because she refused to answer or if it was because she didn’t know how to describe it.

Either way, fear barraged me from every direction, and I knew that emotion was echoed in my family.

Aaliyah had the ability to free extinct supernatural creatures from hell itself, using a pit inside of her castle. She had done it before, in an attempt to kidnap Z. A gorgon, a fae, a kraken, a wyvern. What else did that bitch have in store for us? She was even able to free gargoyles to guard her old stronghold.

“This is bad. Very, very bad,” Bash murmured.

“No shit,” Ryland snarked.

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