Page 74 of Wrath

Lupe scratched at the back of his neck, his eyes flicking in the direction of the goblins. I could still hear their wailing cries, but the noise was farther away. We had escaped them…for now.

But I had no doubt they would catch up soon.

“They travel in groups of about twenty?—”

“That is way more than twenty,” Killian murmured.

“And each family unit is run by something called a monarch.” Lupe frowned. “It’s believed that goblins share a hive mind.”

“How do we kill them?” I tightened my grip on the dagger.

“That’s the thing.” Lupe glanced back once more. “The book doesn’t say.”

Familiar claws of panic raked up my spine.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t say?”

Ryland interjected before Lupe could, “The book says goblins are typically peaceful creatures. The author found no reason to discuss ways to…dispatch them. And the section that might have had information is unreadable.”

“They certainly don’t look peaceful,” Killian said.

“They’re under Aaliyah’s control.” I began to pace once more. “But if we can somehow free them…”

I thought back to when I saved the wyvern from Aaliyah by removing those magical shackles.

Could I possibly do the same to save the goblins?

“There are hundreds of them, Z.” Lupe took a step closer. “There’s no way you can undo Aaliyah’s control on every single one. It took you a few minutes just to do a single wyvern. You’ll be killed before you can even free two goblins.”

“Unless she only saves one,” Ryland mused, the shadows completely fading to reveal his handsome face.

He flashed me a boyish smile that contrasted greatly with the malicious sparkle in his brown eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“If you find the monarch, you can remove his or her shackles. Hopefully, it’ll free all of the goblins in his or her family unit.”

The acid in my stomach sluiced around.

“Do you think that will work?” I asked.

Ryland shrugged. “If the book’s correct, and the goblins truly do share a hive mind, I don’t see why it won’t. The biggest problem will be holding all of the goblins off while you work your magic.”

“We can’t kill them,” Killian blurted. “If they’re under Aaliyah’s control, then they don’t know what they’re doing.”

His eyes flicked to me for a fraction of a second.

I knew what he was thinking about, what he was remembering—when I was under Aaliyah’s control myself. I knew firsthand how addictive her magic was, how consuming.

“Killian’s right. We can’t kill the goblins until we know for sure they’re evil.”

Killian flashed me a grateful look.

“All right.” Ryland smoothly removed a dagger and flipped it in his hands. Out of all my mates, he was the most proficient with weapons. His training as a spy had taught him well. “So stop a bunch of mindless goblins from getting to Z, all without killing them. Any other requirements?” A sharp smirk curled up his lips. “Or should we make a bet?”

“A bet?” I blinked at him.

“Whoever has the most…not-kills wins.” Ryland volleyed his gaze between Killian and Lupe.

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