Chapter 19

19

DEVA

The sun had barely risenbefore I moved from bed, untangling myself from Grim’s possessive grip before offering Cage a sleepy smile. He sat on a nearby couch, running a hand over his face as if trying to shake the sleep from his brain. To be fair, we had been up pretty late.

Lazaro was unsurprisingly up and in the shower already, the fact that he was a morning person becoming increasingly obvious—unfortunately, since I was absolutely not one. I suppose it was good that someone in the group could get out of bed in a timely manner though…

Before, I would have hesitated to join him, but in a bold move I slipped off my oversized shirt and stepped into the shower. Lazaro offered me a heated look, his golden-brown hair slicked back to reveal his intense gaze. Before he could turn into the brooding bastard that I knew he wanted to be, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest.

He slid one hand around my waist and tangled the other in my hair. I melted at the feel of his hard length pressing against my stomach, and I tried to not squirm as I let the warm water heat us up. A slight chill had invaded the room the previous night since we’d left the window open, and while I hadn’t minded under the covers, I didn’t look forward to getting out of the shower.

“How are you feeling after the ritual?” he asked.

“Good. I would have preferred a full moon, but can’t control that,” I answered, tilting my head back and offering him a kiss that he brushed across my lips.

“You can, to an extent,” Lazaro murmured. “If you create a dreamscape with the right lunar cycle you can draw from its power. It’s only a fraction of what you’d get in the real world, but it’s certainly better than nothing.”

I stared at him in surprise. “You have to teach me that, I didn’t even realize that was a possibility.”

“I could teach you a lot, little thief.” Lazaro’s voice took on a slightly rougher tone that made me shiver.

“And I could teach both of you the meaning of time, but I doubt you would understand it!” Cage called out, causing me to laugh. Lazaro rolled his eyes and sighed, turning off the water. He was still hard but after wrapping me in a massive towel he pressed a hard kiss to my lips, unsurprisingly bossy in nature, and retreated from the bathroom wrapped in a robe.

I had no idea how a kiss could be bossy, but his totally was.

Offering Alek a curious glance as he stepped into the room, I wasn’t terribly surprised when he placed a stack of clothes down before motioning for me to turn towards the mirror. I did so immediately, not questioning his intention as he used a smaller towel to dry my hair before brushing it out, his movements slow and soothing. When he was done, he stepped back out of the bathroom, and I brushed my teeth before getting ready in the outfit he’d chosen.

I was getting used to being around these men in such a normal and comfortable fashion, but it still blew my mind sometimes that I was so relaxed while I was so vulnerable, wearing only a towel, showering with them, and letting them brush my hair. I mean…that felt crazy to consider.

Luckily, the clothing he’d chosen consisted of a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeve shirt with a sweater, all a mix of dark gray and black to keep me hidden in the morning shadows as we traveled. Quickly braiding my hair back, I walked out to put on boots and found most of my men packing a few things into a singular bag. The rest would be left here, namely anything that we didn’t want to risk losing. I didn’t hesitate to pack my dagger though. I knew it was only a scouting mission, but I didn’t think for a second we wouldn’t be in potential danger.

About ten minutes later, we were walking across the darkened yard between the main house and guest house, cutting through the side yard to get to the main street without bothering or waking Renwick and his family. I examined the sky, pale lavender in the distance and dark blue above. Our footsteps were softly audible despite our attempts to stay quiet, but no one was up to pay us any mind. As we passed house after house, some completely dark and others warmly lit from the inside, I couldn’t help but feel a softness for the town. It was not only well taken care of, but it was clear that people loved it here.

Just one more reason to protect it from someone like Astaroth.

“How far is it?” I asked, feeling a tinge of regret for not being part of the logistics meeting. Only a tinge though, because it was hard to regret what I’d been doing instead.

“Thirty minutes at most,” Lazaro answered. I nodded, pulling my thoughts from where they’d momentarily strayed.

“We’ll need to tell my family what we find,” Grim said. “Especially if it’s as bad as Renwick and our previous intel implied.” Crap.

I’m sure Grim’s family had already realized we were gone and probably knew where we were—I just hoped they trusted us. I knew we couldn’t prevent them from getting involved forever, but now that I knew Astaroth’s true connection to me, it felt like the brunt of the problem fell onto my shoulders.

Trapped in my thoughts, I didn’t fully realize we were approaching another village until Grim’s arm wrapped around my waist and paused my movement forward. The others crouched down as we slowly crept forward, keeping to the shadows and shelter of the trees. When the guys decided they’d found a good vantage point, they shifted the branches, my eyes widening at the sight before us.

At first, you would have assumed it was a normal village, the houses and streets looking very similar to the one we’d just left.

But the silver-cloaked figures milling about made this village very, very different. There was an unusually high number of people wandering the streets for this time of day, many of whom likely came from the tents and encampments on the west side of the village, the closest campsites invading the properties of several homes. I couldn’t imagine how scared and uncomfortable the families who lived there had to be.

And I had to assume they were indeed living, or else I really would lose my shit and blow our cover.

“This is one of a few villages reported to be occupied, but this is where the most recent killings took place—probably people who didn’t want to listen to Astaroth’s bullshit,” Grim explained.

And children. Let’s not forget about the children they slaughtered.

My eyes narrowed on a group of men leaving a larger tent that was attached to one of the houses, and I slipped from his arms, wanting a closer look.

Luckily, the slowly rising sun provided just enough light for me to see while maintaining enough shadowy spaces to hide in. I knelt down fully, leaning into the brush, and examined the faces of the men. I stifled the sound of dismay that wanted to leave my throat, automatically recognizing one member of the occupying force—Ozul. But not only him.

“Alek…” I said, my voice barely a whisper, and he nodded sharply in understanding from where he’d crouched next to me.

“We should get closer to make sure,” I told him, wanting to be sure about who I thought I saw. “Is there a way to get a view from a better angle?”

“Let’s round it this way,” Cage suggested. We followed him through some brush to our left and managed to move about ten feet closer to the group of older men I was focused on.

“Your father?” I asked him, wanting to confirm. Alek nodded sharply, and I gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze. Even if he fucking hated the man, I couldn’t imagine it was easy seeing his father down there, so integrated within the problem.

Ozul’s gaze moved across each of the gathered men’s faces. They looked to be arguing about something, Ozul waving a set of papers to emphasize whatever point he was trying to make.

My focus shifted to them. Those papers had to be important.

“Deva…”

“We should try to grab those,” I said as Ozul disappeared momentarily, seemingly to place the papers in the tent before returning to the group. I watched Alek’s father with distaste as the man made some type of joke that pissed off Ozul, the other three men reveling in his reaction. As the group rounded the house and disappeared onto the main street, I eyed the distance to the target tent.

“Trust me on this,” I said to my men when none of them offered a verbal response. “I think those papers are important. I’ve easily snuck in and out of places far more difficult than this. It’ll be hours before they even realize I’ve been there, and by that point the list of suspects will be huge.”

They were tempted, I could tell. Not only did my logic appeal to them, but they also wanted to know why so many of Astaroth’s men had gathered in this one place—to confirm if we were correct or not about their plans to attack Carmina. Still, through our bond, I sensed hesitation. Though I didn’t need a bond to see that Oz was inching closer to me as if he was going to throw me over his shoulder and carry me out of here.

“I don’t even mind if someone wants to come with me,” I added, hoping that would placate them. “But we need to keep a low profile, and I can be in and out of there in seconds if I have a clear path.”

“I’ll follow her down,” Alek offered. “The rest of you stay close. I think if we have the chance to grab them, then we should—I can sense they haven’t had time to put up wards around the village yet.”

Which either meant they hadn’t been here for long at all or that they didn’t plan on staying.

“I don’t like it,” Lazaro said, crossing his arms and looking down at the tent. “Those papers could contain supply lists, for all we know.”

“Trust me,” I said softly, and after a long moment, he nodded. I hid my hair beneath a hat I’d tucked into my pocket and secured my jacket, making sure that I’d be able to move as stealthily as possible. Alek followed me as I slipped under the brush and moved behind a tree nearby. It really was a fairly close distance, maybe a few yards at most before we’d reach the border of the yard. I couldn’t feel any eyes on us, but it still made me a bit uneasy to be doing this in the light of day.

Although it was early enough that it was still pretty damn dark.

As we moved downhill, I kept an eye on the building we were coming up behind, trying to seek out any movement while also sending out my magic to feel for wards. Not finding either, when we finally got to the wooden fence posts bordering the yard, I easily climbed over the structure and darted across the grass until I was hidden in the shadows of the tent. Alek appeared next to me, as if it was absolutely nothing, the shadows curling off of him suggesting he’d used them to portal.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?I may have gotten better at using my other forms of magic, but I still didn’t reach for them naturally. It would be so damn helpful in the long run if I let myself rely on them in addition to my lunar magic.

I slipped into the tent and was instantly assaulted by the smell of alcohol and smoke. My nose twitched, and I ignored the cots spread out for the commanders who called this tent home as I strode to the table they were using as a makeshift desk.

Ozul’s papers he left were laid in a neat stack, and as I glanced over them, I found myself a bit disappointed. It was a list of people who lived in the village.

That wasn’t very helpful…

I shifted the papers to see what was underneath, spread out across the wooden surface. Holy shit. That list wasn’t nearly as interesting as this.

“Alek,” I whispered, knowing he would hear me. The man appeared next to me, his hand sliding over my hip as a sound of confusion and then concern left his throat. My fingers traced the outline of Carmina on the map before moving my gaze to the silver dots that were spread out over the rest of the map. A large cluster was situated in the North, but an even larger cluster surrounded the metropolitan area.

Surrounding the city of Carmina completely.

“You don’t think…”

Alek nodded. “That’s exactly what I think,” he murmured, his jaw tightening. “But whether it reflects current placements or a plan, I’m not sure.”

“Call it a realized plan. One that’s being enacted as we speak.”

Chills of revulsion and anger rolled up my spine as I snapped my head up to find Alek’s father standing in the doorway of the tent. Alek let out a low rumble, tightening his hold on me as the man offered an amused smirk, closing the heavy curtains and stepping into the space with us. I nearly panicked at the feeling of being trapped in this damn tent, but I managed to contain myself.

“That’s impossible,” I responded, careful to conceal any signs that his presence worried me—especially since he seemed like the type to feed off fear. “Astaroth has never had that many followers.” He had a lot, don’t get me wrong, but if each dot represented one of his followers…well, that would increase the threat more than substantially.

Alek’s father chuckled, ignoring me and offering his son a patronizing smile as he took a seat. “Aleksander, I didn’t expect to see you this morning—although I can’t say I’m fully surprised. The moment I heard she had left campus, I assumed you’d be with her.”

Alek’s chest was vibrating with tension as I smoothed my hand over his. “I wasn’t trying to hide where I was at—not that I’d ever share my plans with you, Grancent. I go where Deva goes.”

“Yes, that much is clear. In fact, lots of things have become clear as of late. Not only what you were up to all summer, trying to ensure certain individuals appeared at DIA next year to keep an eye on them, but also your alliance with the Nyx family. I’ve always assumed you would disappoint me with your choices, but the feeling of disgust is new.”

I was going to kill this bastard.

“How exactly did you know I left campus?” I asked.

“Astaroth has had eyes on you since you arrived at Garnet Hall. Did you think you’d go unnoticed? I knew exactly who you were when my son attempted to shield you the day you portalled into campus.”

“Shield me?” I asked Alek softly.

“When I ran into you outside, I tried to use my multiple forms of magic to shield your power, knowing he would recognize your type of magic if I didn’t. But clearly he was already aware of who you were and your presence there. I just don’t know who’s been reporting back to him.”

“You have many classmates whose families crave power. It shouldn’t surprise you,” Grancent said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Your choice to go to DIA made all of this far too easy, Deva—especially since you were so hard to find before that.”

I didn’t understand. I thought I’d be safer at DIA than on the streets. I thought I was getting a fresh start. I felt so damn…naive? Stupid? Something like that.

I guess there’d been no use fighting it. With classmates reporting directly back to Astaroth, I was more exposed than ever. Who could his agents in the school be, outside of the obvious? I didn’t think Dylan was clever enough to be the eyes and ears of Astaroth, despite being taken advantage of and controlled by him. No, there had to be someone else…

Kazimir. My eyes widened in realization, knowing instinctively that he was part of the problem.

“Why is Astaroth trying to find me?” I asked, trying to gauge how much his father knew.

“I know a lot about you, Deva.” His smirk turned dark. “Far more than you’re probably comfortable with—including all the blood on your hands.”

My heart stuttered to a stop as I inhaled sharply.

“But I also realize that is rather sensitive information, isn’t it?” he mused, standing and walking towards a nearby chest that held a number of texts, seemingly unconcerned about turning his back to us. “It’s also why I’m not attacking you or calling for reinforcements right now—we have enough fighting on the horizon. I’m here instead to provide a warning…or maybe an opportunity, depending on how you view it.”

Alek let out a low rumble. “Nyet. You do not threaten zaya.”

I leaned back into him, loving his protective words but hating the smirk that filled his father’s face.

His father chuckled. “A bunny? Hardly. She’s a ruthless killer, and a damn good one—one that is considered highly valuable to Astaroth. One that needs to be returned.”

“I will never go back to him,” I warned softly.

“Then you,” he began, turning and slowly walking towards us at the table, “will be solely responsible for the destruction and elimination of those in Carmina that support or are protecting the unblessed. If you do not return to Astaroth, we will level the city.”

“If I return, he’ll do the same thing,” I spit out, not believing him for a fucking second. Astaroth would just be happy to have his weapon back, that’s it.

Grancent shrugged lazily. “I’m just relaying information. As you can see on the map, the plans we have are intensifying…but those you’ve grown to care about may be spared if you’re on the right side of this war. If you don’t come home, as he kindly puts it, you will become the face and reason for this slaughter. If you return back to him…well, then you’ll be a silent part of the equation. Understand? If you are the public face, everyone close to you will be brought down with you. There will be no hiding from your past. Every piece of it will be completely exposed throughout Carmina. You will never find rest, Deva.”

My heart squeezed uncomfortably, and I tightened my hold on Alek as he tried to surge forward and around me, clearly wanting to make his father pay for his words. My other hand tightened on the map beneath my fingers, knowing we needed to get the hell out of here.

“Right. It seems like you have a lot to think about…” Grancent drew out after receiving no response. “Like I said, you have a choice—and if it isn’t made by tomorrow, you know what will happen.”

Then the bastard was gone.

He walked out, showing that he didn’t care what we did. My chest felt hollow. He meant it. Astaroth would expose everything and blame all of this on me, as if my disappearance was the reason for the slaughter of every unblessed witch in Carmina and not his twisted, sick fucking mind.

More importantly, the blame would fall on every single one of the men I’d come to love.

“Let’s get out of here, zaya,” Alek said, grabbing the map and rolling it efficiently as I nodded numbly. Following him out of the tent, we made our way back uphill silently. I felt dazed as we approached my other men, and I realized that I truly didn’t know how to handle what had just been laid out in front of me.

I didn’t believe any promises Astaroth made, but I also couldn’t let him get away with this. I just had no idea how to stop him.