I took another stride, about to step from the shadows when a violent stir of activity snapped me out of my trance. A muscular blond guy came up behind Killian, a blonde girl with him, hitting Killian in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Killian hit the ground with a thud.
“Thank me later, asshole! Come on!” Blondie waved them forward, running back down the tunnel with the blonde girl.
Both the dark-haired woman and man hesitated by Killian. The woman he called Kitty-Kat bent over, her fingers touching his pulse, letting out a heavy breath.
“He’ll be fine.” The guy yanked her up, pointing her for the exit. “You were meant to rule. You always were,” The man muttered down at the form, a mix of resentment and fondness shading his tone. “Still think you’re a huge douche, though.”
The pair started to move, but she paused, her head twisted in my direction, her lids narrowing, almost catlike, as if she were trying to see through the darkness. See me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his head snapping around with caution.
“Thought I saw... Nothing.” She shook her head, heading down the passage, while he glanced around suspiciously.
I didn’t move or breathe.
“Croygen, come on!”
He gave Killian one last look, turned around, and ran after her.
The nectar. I pushed forward. The need to follow it, to take it from her, moved my feet, but I was yanked back by the book, letting me go no farther.
“Noooo!” I screamed, fighting as it flung me back into darkness.
“Fuck!” A growl hit my ears, a hand clutching the back of my head, padding it before it slammed back onto the stone. Cracking my eyes open, aqua irises stared down into mine, long hair tickling my face, a slight smirk on Warwick’s face. “I’m getting you a helmet.”
Groaning, my lids fluttered for a moment, nausea making my stomach spin, the need to vomit coating my tongue.
“Sorry, Fishy, that one was a one point five at best.” Opie marched up my arm beneath Warwick. “No dismount at all. We should try something higher.”
“Why aren’t you still passed out with your friend?” Warwick grumbled, brushing him off me.
“I have a fast metabolism. Mother always said it was how I stayed so trim.” He waved at his body, a potbelly protruding from the space between his paper skirt and top.
Warwick scoffed, turning back to me. “You all right?” he muttered huskily, slowly sitting me up, his large warm palm brushing back the hair sticking to my face.
“Yeah.” I leaned my head against him, still feeling queasy. He felt warm and safe, and I longed to curl up against him and nap.
With a burning gaze on me, I shifted my head to see Tad across from me. His jaw was set, his eyes a mix of perplexity and fear.
“What?” I croaked, pushing my weight off Warwick’s corded arm. Dread slithered into my stomach.
“It didn’t let me in,” Tad replied, stunned. “It blocked me from following you.”
My attention drifted to Ash, then back to Tad. “It didn’t let him in either.”
“But I am a Druid.” Tad adjusted his bowed back, his head shaking. “We are its maker. My kinfolk created these books. Our magic. But this time, it tossed me back out, only wanting you...” Tad slanted his head, really peering at me. “Why?”
I had no answer.
“What did it show you?” he asked.
My mouth opened, then shut, the images of Killian, the things that were said, the hints about his past. He knew about the nectar. The whole scene created more questions than answers, and for some reason, I didn’t feel like divulging all I saw to this entire room. There was just one question they wanted to know anyway.
“It’s not here. Someone took it.”
Ash groaned, his hand running through his hair. Warwick blew out a long breath, his head falling forward.
“Are you saying this was all for nothing?” Tracker moved away from the entrance he had been guarding, stomping up to us. “Are you fucking kidding me? You dragged us into enemy territory, and it’s not here?”
Warwick rose to his feet, his chest expanding as he took one step to Tracker, his physique like a boulder. “Step back, asshole.”
He would not tell him twice.
“Track.” Ava rushed forward, pulling him back, a lot smarter than Tracker in understanding Warwick’s dominance and threat level. She was fae and probably felt Warwick’s power. “Calm down. It’s not her fault.”
“It’s not?” He huffed. “How do we know she’s even telling the truth? She could be saying that so we don’t get our hands on it.”
Warwick growled. Ava yanked Tracker back out of the legend’s reach.
“Did it show you anything else?” Tad brought me back to the topic. “Did the book show you where it was taken?”
“No.” I shook my head, my shoulders sagging.
“Not one clue where the pirate took it?”
My head jerked to Tad as if ice water poured down my back, scrambling me up to my feet. “I-I didn’t say anything about a pirate.” Fear clutching my lungs, I rose, stepping back, a warning bell twanging in my chest. “How did you know a pirate took it?”
Sadness furrowed his bushy eyebrows, his blue eyes finding mine with such devastation.
“How did you know that?” I gritted out, his silence storming fear and fury. “Tell me!”
“You remember when I said one day I might need kindness in return from you?” He swallowed, his head dipping. “I am so sorry, dear girl.”
“For what?” Panic heaved my lungs.
“For the fact this was all a setup.” The beautiful voice I had come to know poured over the room like dark chocolate—smoky, bitter, and smooth—spinning me around to one of the unguarded entrances. Our group was quick to react, guns drawing up, pointing at the lord of the fae. He merely smirked, looking as handsome as ever in his expensive suit, his hair cut short and styled perfectly.
Groomed and polished, he looked like a true king compared to the man I saw in the book.
His guards filed in behind him, covering all the exits, outnumbering us by triple. I saw a familiar pair of brown eyes among them. Zander kept his expression blank, but his eyes were intently on me. Right next to him, Nyx stared at me just as attentively, but with an opposite emotion.
“You betrayed my kindness, Ms. Kovacs. I house you, feed you, protect you. And this is how you repay me?” Killian’s violet gaze latched on to me, adding more weight to my chest. “As you humans like to state... fair is fair.”
“You don’t play fair,” I replied.
A slow smile spread over his face.
“You’re right; I don’t.” His head tipped, indicating the Druid behind me. “But I wasn’t the one who gave you up so easily.”
Chapter 13
Betrayal knifed through my gut, my gaze darting to Tad, his eyes sorrow-filled, which burned this deeper into my chest.
“Why?” My head wagged in disbelief. We had gone through so much. He had been one of the few friends I had at Halálház. “Was any of it real?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “It was all real. I had no idea who you were until your human friend outed you. From the moment I met you, I felt drawn to you.” Drawn to you. How many times had I heard that now? Was any relationship I had genuine or was it because they felt this ‘draw?’ “I’m sorry. I never wanted it to happen like this.”