Chapter 20

20

DEVA

“Little thief,”Lazaro warned, “I can see where your head is going. Over my dead body will you go back there and turn yourself in.”

My lips almost pressed into a smile, the weight of everything Alek’s father said heavy on my shoulders. I turned from the window of the guest house and pinned him with a knowing look. “As much as I would love to give that a try, something tells me you’d be right behind me—all of you.”

“You’re not wrong,” Cage mused, his eyes darting to the door, “but I may have locked the door already just in case.”

That was nearly laughable. He knew that a locked door wouldn’t stop me…but that also wasn’t the point right now. Instead of responding, I slumped forward on the dining room table as Grim talked to his parents over the phone, relaying the details of the map spread out in front of him as Alek pointed out different elements of it.

I didn’t like that Alek’s father hadn’t stopped us from taking the map. That type of confidence showed that he truly believed what he was saying, which was fucking terrible for us. I supposed it could be a false map…but that didn’t seem as likely an option.

Oz’s hand slid onto my thigh and squeezed possessively as he spoke bluntly. “We should make a plan because otherwise you’re going to want to handle this tonight, and you aren’t going without us.”

I huffed, hating and loving that they knew me so well, and figuring I may as well explain my dilemma out loud. “But that’s what he wants—he wants you guys brought into the line of fire as well. More so, if I fight him and he reveals my identity, you’ll all be put under the same scrutiny. I may have changed sides, but I’m responsible for a lot of lives lost. Your lives will be ruined, your family names tainted⁠—”

“Even if we did care about that, which I can assure you none of us do,” Lazaro began, “it’s too late, Deva. The time for worrying about that has long passed, and you know as well as I do that even if you went quietly to Astaroth, he would expose you simply to ensure you’d never find anywhere safe to hide. The only thing it would change is that we’d be separated.”

He was absolutely right—separating us would be the first thing Astaroth would do.

“Although I’d willingly pretend to be on his side if it meant being next to you,” Oz admitted, causing my brows to shoot up. His literal life would be in peril, since he was an unblessed witch…and I shouldn’t have been surprised. This was Oz. I loved his willingness to do something so extreme, but I hated that it was a thought that even had to pass through his mind.

“In my mind there is absolutely only one way to handle this, because Lazaro is right—either way, he plans on exposing you,” Grim said as he hung up the phone. Alek nodded in agreement, rolling up the map.

“By killing him. We need to kill him,” Cage said in answer to my unspoken question.

“Can we do that on our own?” Alek asked, the question valid.

“The hardest part of all of this will be getting to Astaroth,” I advised. “There’s a reason he was trying to draw me out here and not appear himself—if we can get him to come to the camp, it’ll make all of this a hell of a lot easier. In terms of killing him, I’m not sure. I don’t know how powerful he is at this point, but even when I was young my powers rivaled his. It’s why I was so important to him.”

Well, besides being his literal child. But I was ignoring that for the moment.

“Then we either go to him or demand he comes here,” Cage suggested. I closed my eyes, trying to figure out what the best move was.

“I don’t want anyone else in danger, and drawing him closer to Carmina would put literally everyone in danger. At the same time, if we go north, his defenses will be better and more elaborate since that’s where he’s at his most powerful.”

“Having him come to us is a good idea,” Grim countered. “He won’t be able to stop himself if he knows you’re directly asking for him, but more than that, it may delay his attack on Carmina, which will give the Society more time to prepare. They’re already mobilizing the membership.”

“Were they mad we left?” I asked softly.

“No,” Grim assured me. “In fact, they were completely unsurprised.”

“I’d bet that my father said something.” Lazaro blew out a breath, causing my chest to tighten with anxiety.

“They’re going to find out,” I murmured. “About everything. I know they will.”

“So then they do,” Oz said, as if it were that simple.

I shook my head. “It’s one thing to know I’m related to him, but if they find out that I killed for him…” My head fell back on the back of the couch. “I just don’t know how any of this will go. I know it’s the right move to end this before it can begin, but it’s too much to hope that my personal shit won’t be exposed in the process.”

I wouldn’t be allowed to return back to DIA.

More importantly, I worried about my men having to justify loving a woman whose body count was…numerous, to say the least.

“Let’s worry about that after we kill him,” Cage suggested. “You’re too trapped in your thoughts, little siren.”

Maybe he was right…

Standing up, I let out a slow breath. “I’m going to get some fresh air before we start implementing a plan…let’s plan to do this tonight though. I don’t trust him to wait until tomorrow to attack Carmina. I want to take them off guard, and I want Astaroth to be surprised by us summoning him.”

I didn’t wait to see or hear their reactions, trailing up the stairs and going towards the small ladder that would allow me out onto the rooftop. When I first met these men, my instincts would have told me to go alone, to sneak out the minute I had the chance, but that wasn’t the move here.

First because the six of us being together was set in stone—no matter what happened next, they would share equally in the success or blame. Second, because I literally trusted them with my life. If I was going to fight, I wanted them by my side.

Standing on the rooftop, my gaze darted down to the yard where Renwick’s kids were running around and playing, the rain from this morning having slowed. Their laughter filled the air, and I closed my eyes, trying to remember that they were just one example out of many on why Astaroth needed to be eliminated. He may not have wanted to kill them, seeing as they were probably shadow witches, but anyone he didn’t kill he expected to be subservient and obedient to him. I’d grown up under his rule, and if all of Carmina was subjected to that…

No. We couldn’t risk that.

Kneeling and putting my head down, I considered what I knew about Astaroth’s magic. I considered how I’d go about killing him. I even considered who he’d bring with him if we successfully managed to draw him from his stronghold. Yet none of it made me feel secure in the path forward. I was so lost in my spiraling frustration that I didn’t even realize that Alek had joined me until he crouched down behind me and smoothed his hands over my waist.

“Zaya, you need to breathe. We’re going to figure this out.”

“Maybe, but how many will have to die? Your father’s confidence of their success was unnerving.”

Alek suddenly looked livid, his gaze dark and stormy. “I wouldn’t use that as much of a gauge—he’s extremely arrogant.”

“He let us walk out with a map.”

“It could be a scare tactic,” he reasoned. “Either way, just because he sounds confident and may even feel it—it could be based in delusion. Remember that.”

Turning into him, I slid onto Alek’s lap. He stretched out onto the rooftop on his back, and I looked down into his broody expression. Emotion overwhelmed me as I spoke words that I couldn’t keep in anymore, especially not knowing what tomorrow, let alone the next few hours, would bring.

“I love you, Alek.”

Surprise colored his expression before an inferno of heat seemed to ignite, his large frame rolling our position. I landed underneath him, his hand cupping my jaw as he ran his gaze over my lips. “Say it again, zaya.”

“I love you.”

“Yebat’,” he cursed, a low rumble breaking from his throat. “I need to hear that from you every single day. I love you, zaya. I will love you until I breathe my last breath, and even then I’ll still love you. You are the reason my heart beats; you are the reason I wake up each and every morning.”

My eyes pricked with tears as a renewed sense of determination soared through me. I had a reason to fight Astaroth. I had a reason to take action, and it was because of these men. Because of the love I felt for them. Because of the future I wanted us to have.

“And you’re the reason that I will not only kill my father,” Alek added, “but Astaroth.”

Bringing a hand up to his beating heart, I nodded. “Together. We’ll kill him together.”

My magic had always been a weapon—only a weapon—and the more it grew, the more I hated it. But as we traveled out of town in the dead of night, a new possibility arose, one that I’d been on the edge of discovering this entire time but until this moment felt like an impossible dream.

My magic surged through the spectrum of life and death, my body a mutated, stitched-up creation of both dark and light, of natural and the unnatural. It should have been the embodiment of evil, of excess, but…what if it could be truly used for good? What if I could not only eliminate Astaroth but use all of this excess magic to protect those with little power?

It wasn’t even a question in my mind. If I had the ability to do that, it’s exactly what I would do. Almost like my brain had been waiting for the thought to hit me, my magic began to quickly form connections and intertwine itself around one another, not only pulling internally but securing the bonds with my men more and more.

Tonight would change everything, and we could all feel it.

It was why we traveled so quietly, having decided that the best way to handle this would be to draw Astaroth out to the village, providing time and distraction before his acolytes could start an attack on Carmina. More so, while my men would be with me, I would be walking into the village seemingly on my own. They would cloak themselves and be ready to fight if needed, but their apparent absence would provide a false sense of security for people like Alek’s father or Ozul who’d think I’d come alone.

I’d first tried to convince my men to wait on the outskirts of the village, but that had failed epically. Oz had already started crafting the cloaking potions before I could even finish my sentence. This particular version wouldn’t last as long as the last one, the dosage smaller and split between them, but it would be enough to get us into position.

Pulling up the hood of my dark velvet coat, I ran my hands along the athame at my hip, glad it was there for more than just the obvious reason. To me it was symbolic, and if anyone was going to be carved with runes tonight, it wasn’t going to be innocent unblessed.

No, it was some bastard who more than deserved it.

I’d chosen to wear a pair of black leather pants and boots, the comfortable, worn material molding to my legs nearly as well as the black corset top that was decorated with small silver moons. Not exactly the best attire to fight in, but then again, I didn’t want to tip them off—I wanted them to think that I was surrendering myself. I wasn’t even sure when I’d gotten the top… Actually, I knew I’d never purchased it. This had Lazaro written all over it, which was obvious by his reaction when he saw me.

Seriously, the man had pinned me to the bed, taking in the sight of me for more than a few moments before groaning and stomping away as if upset. I didn’t think that was really the case though. No, I had felt the evidencethat he liked it just fine…

It imbued me with a bit of extra confidence, feeling far more badass than usual. Probably because most of my ‘missions,’ if we could call them that, had meant being completely wrapped in black, everything covered with the exception of my eyes. In this, though, I felt free, and I wasn’t trying to hide. Anything.

I wouldn’t hide from Astaroth anymore.

“Here.” Oz passed out the small potion bottles as I eyed the village that was currently lit up and loud with noise—as if the bastards were fucking celebrating. My jaw tightened as I wondered how many residents of the village were being forced to serve them, or to participate—willingly or unwillingly.

I bounced lightly on my toes as my men prepared to enter the village. I inhaled sharply, my gaze narrowed on the center of the town’s main square where the commander’s makeshift dining table was. One by one, my men spoke the incantation to cloak themselves. I closed my eyes, calling on a much darker part of myself than I’d recently been acquainted with. One that would have no issue killing as much as necessary.

Unable to help myself, I spoke softly to the men as I dropped my cloak onto the ground. “I love all of you, and I hope you still can love me after what’s about to happen.”

I didn’t give them a chance to get a word in edgewise, pushing through the brush without any regard for stealth and making my way downhill towards the entrance of the village. It wasn’t until I reached the first stones of the main road that I allowed my magic out. My skin took on a silver luminescence as I let my lunar magic slink out in front of me, mixing with my shadows to create a foggy effect.

Astaroth’s acolytes were gathered around tables, being served wine and food by quiet and scared looking villagers. Music played loudly, but the boasting and laughter of Astaroth’s lackeys somehow rose above it. It took all of two seconds for that to die down as I approached, the entire main street silencing as the music cut off.

My gaze moved to Alek’s father who looked pleased, and Ozul who looked…shocked mostly, but also had a slimy look to his gaze. I really couldn’t wait to kill him.

“What could you possibly have to celebrate?” I asked. My voice stirred almost everyone out of their shock, magic flaring in the air as they pushed out their chairs and tried to surge forward to surround me.

“Don’t.” Alek’s father’s tone was hard. The acolytes paused their push forward and instead eyed me cautiously. “Deva, it is unexpected to see you. I thought you would take more time to consider our conversation.”

“Call Astaroth. Tell him that if he wants to talk, I’ll do it here.”

I figured being as direct as possible was the best route here, but when Ozul’s smile grew, I wondered if I should’ve gone with a different tactic. “Giving orders? Clearly you forgot what I said earlier.”

“I didn’t,” I countered back to Grancent. “But you are nothing to him. You are simply a messenger. Call him. He will come—I promise that.”

Grancent’s gaze darkened, but before he could say anything, Ozul spoke in a hard tone. “You don’t give orders, Deva. He won’t come here, but we will take you to him by force.”

“Don’t be stupid, Ozul. You know exactly what I’m capable of.”

Ozul hesitated before he hardened his jaw in determination and ordered, “Grab her. Now.”

It was a big mistake, but one I expected.

I just hoped my men were prepared for what exactly was about to happen.