Page 30 of The Crown of Nyx

The Fae prince had a quiet cruelty about him now, one I knew he carefully hid from Ivy.

The witch’s wide eyes darted from Black to land on Grey again. “I swear to Nyx I don’t know anything.”

Beside me, Beckham snorted. “You think that actually matters to us?” He took a step towards her before lowering until he was almost at eye level with her. “You forsake Nyx when you sided withhimagainst my mate.”

“I didn’t want to,” she whispered, shaking her head. “But my father, he—” She cut herself off with a wince, and I took a step towards her.

I hadn’t taken my eyes off the nose ring, which now emitted a soft glow. “Her jewellery,” I muttered. “It must have additional charms.”

The Fae prince growled. “They would have been deactivated.”

“Not if they were prepared for your trick. How many times do you think you would be able to get away with using it before they picked up on it?” I asked, barely glancing at the young male. For someone who worked on the inside with the enemy, he should definitely know better. Especially if he really was someone they feared on the outside. They would definitely have protections in place against him specifically.

The Luna Prince bared his teeth at me. “Your opinion is no?—”

“Enough.” Grey grabbed the nose ring and pulled it from the witch’s flesh. She screamed at the pain, but Grey tossed the metal ring to me without looking back.

Despite being covered in blood and the skin of her nose, there were engravings so small on the metal, it shouldn’t have surprised me that they would cover their bases. “Runes,” I muttered. “A lot of them.”

I handed the ring to Beckham, who simply crushed it before tossing it aside. “Now, speak,” he said.

The witch sobbed pathetically as blood ran down her face. “He made us,” she said, hiccupping. “My father. He was unwell after my mother, his mate, died. He-he wasan agent. Said he was unappreciated by the others. By you lot.” Her dark eyes, swollen red with tears and pain, flickered up to Grey. “He thought he was worthless, that Nyx was punishing him. But they promised him more. Better. Said that if he was loyal, he would get back what he’d lost.”

My stomach twisted. Running my clean hand down my face, I considered what would have had Zeph siding with the enemy. It wouldn’t be for Corbin. He’d been slaughtered during the fight. Had it been Zephyr who had brought Dante’s soldiers to the safe house in the first place?

Fuck. If he had…then he’d killed our friend. Almost killed Ivy.

Grey’s words rang in my ears. She told me not long after she found out; that not only had Black revealed his knowledge of alistthat had both our names on it, but that my own team member was helping the enemy.

“What else do you know?” Grey asked calmly. “Anything. Even the smallest of things can help.”

The witch dropped her chin as she continued to cry quietly to herself. “I don’t know.”

“You were the team leader,” I snapped, drawing her attention. “You had some power. You should knowsomething.”

She shook her head, the blood from her nose covering her lips as she tried to speak. “I swear. I was only appointed a leader before the ball. He was rushing, that’s what the others were saying. They claimed the ball would be it. He would become the true king. But when it didn’t happen, the plans had to change.”

Beckham and I shared a look. That aligned with Ivy’s assumption about the crown, but had he really thought it would be that easy? Had he really believed he could just…take the crown and that would be it? Dante was smarter than that, surely.

I had a feeling Beckham was thinking the same thing. Someone who had been planning this for a while would know better than that.

The witch’s eyes closed on another broken sob. “I never knew most of the High Council. That’s—that’s what they called his most trusted advisors and helpers.”

“That’s true,” Black muttered. “He mimicked some of the old ways of Fae when he decided to name himself King.”

“There was something off about today, and it really pissed some of the generals off,” she said, chest heaving, like she was struggling to breathe. “And it wasn’t just about the ball. It happened before the ball. Some sort of fight. I don’t know. But that’s why the teams were changed. I thought I was making my father proud when I was elected team leader. I thought?—”

She was cut off when blood spilled from her lips. Grey jumped to her feet, grabbing the witch by the throat as she seized. Beckham growled, and Black moved with more of the red algae in his hand, but it was too late.

Her head lulled to the side, eyes open wide and unseeing as she stared into the shadows of the hold.

“Fuck.” My hands formed into fists as I took a step back. Grey dropped the witch and moved to stand beside Beckham. They spoke in hushed tones, barely glancing back at the body. But my eyes were drawn back to her. The smell of blood permeated the air, washing away the briny salt air of the ocean.

How did she get a poison past us? Past Grey and the charm disabler?

What the fuck happened?

If that had gotten past us, then what else had?

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