Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

I t didn't take long to conclude that if we were going to root out the bastards behind the faction, then we needed to go back and lure them out of hiding.

Ivor's plan and Serath's offer to play bait were the best way forward. The other option was to hide out here, which, although it would guarantee mine and Serath's safety, would do nothing to stop the faction.

I asked Ignus to take me to Ivor. Yes, I could have asked Ivor to join us in our quarters, but I needed a moment alone with him. To say…I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but I'd had time to digest everything he'd told me and accept that he was my father. I guess I wanted to let him know that and say goodbye. For now.

Ivor met me at the door to his study, stepping back to let me in. "You've come to a decision?"

"Yes. We're ready to go to the tunnels. It's the only way to root out the faction and end this."

He pressed his lips together. "As the graynite alpha, I was hoping you'd say that, but as a father who has only just gotten his daughter back, I'd have liked you to stay here with me. Safe."

"There is no safe. Not until the faction is brought down, but when this is over, I'd like us to spend some time together. Maybe I can come stay here for a while?"

His smile lit up his face. "I would like that. Very much."

But there was someone else who deserved to be here too. "Not just me, but Melanie too. I'm going to set her free, Ivor. I promise."

His eyes glistened with emotion. "A shedim does not cry. Sadness is not something my people felt, not until we coated ourselves in these bodies. It is a sweet yet bitter sensation to have you here only to let you go. But…there may be a way for us to stay in contact. A failsafe should something go wrong."

"I'm listening."

"Your shield can move across vast spaces in a blink of an eye. He can bring a message to me if you need me." He reached up as if to touch my cheek but thought better of it at the last moment, curling his fingers into his palm and dropping his hand. "I'm sorry. I feel as if I know you, but I know it's not the same for you."

He knew me through Varsa. Knew me through our conversations, and I…I knew him too. I took his wrist and brought his hand up to my face so I could rest my cheek against his palm. "I know you too. Botany expert."

In that moment, there was a connection between us—warm, comforting, and real. I'd only just begun to nurture a connection to Lionel, but with Ivor, I felt as if I'd finally come home.

The harsh lines of his face softened further. "Maybe the next time you come here, I can show you my garden."

"I'd love that."

Ivor's underground bunker had a port—a vibrant blue ring that lit up an otherwise darkened chamber deep in the middle of their complex. Graynite guards in human form were stationed at the two exits to the chamber, where they sat around tables playing chess or cards.

All this time we'd been led to believe that graynites were beasts with no other form but their monstrous one, but at their core they were gargoyles, able to shift between their human and graynite forms, which meant they could walk among us without us even knowing.

Ivor had done so for years.

"The port has been programmed to take you into the tunnels," Ignus said. "Once you all exit, it will shut down."

"You have a witch on staff?" Sharniza asked.

"No," Ignus said. "We have a couple of magi."

Doran, the port manager who'd created the doorway to our elite trials, had been part magi. It seemed that not all the mageri had fled to the inner sanctum of the warded city.

"Wait." Serath held out his wrist, where the band muting his ability to shift glinted dully in the blue light. "You need to take this off."

"Good catch." Ignus drew a metal rod from his pocket and held it to the cuff. There was a soft click , and the cuff fell off. "There. No longer muted. Want to try it out?"

"Yes," Ivor said. "I, too, would like to see the graynite form that resulted from a union with an infernal."

Serath rolled his neck on his shoulders and took a deep breath. His body morphed, and his beast burst forth. But it wasn't the graynite form we expected; it was his regular gargoyle form. Impressive as always, but not as large or terrifying as a graynite.

"I'm me again." Serath's voice was a soft rumble. He turned his hands over. "I'm back. Fully."

"This makes no sense," Ignus said. "You were turned."

Yes, we'd seen his graynite form but… "He ejected Ubron, so maybe that reversed things somehow."

"He was in graynite form when we brought you here," Ignus said with a frown. "Up until we put the cuffs on him."

"What does it matter?" Derek said. "He is back now. The graynite is gone. We should be pleased."

Ignus chewed on his cheeks. "Serath kept hold of his body. His soul never evacuated, so maybe he was never fully altered. This is new terrain for us."

"You've done what no other gargoyle was able to do," Ivor said.

But a thought occurred to me. "What if he's not the only one? What if Romi and the others managed to hold on too? What if they're somewhere inside, hiding like Serath was."

The others exchanged glances, and I didn't like the look that passed between them—pity—the kind that wondered if it should humor me or burst my bubble.

Shar was the first to speak the words that they were all undoubtedly thinking. "Cam, I know you want to save Romi, but?—"

I held up my hand to stop her. "Hear me out. The faction tricked the goyle bodies into thinking they were consummating with their fated mates. A chemical reaction in their brains. Not the real thing, but enough to allow an infernal to take control of the goyle's body and kick-start the curse. But it wasn't a proper curse activation. It can't be without a real mate to activate it."

"It's a possibility," Ivor said. "But you must remember that Serath had you as his mate, and your genes make your bond unique."

Human with a drop of fae, a dollop of gargoyle and graynite, with a heavy sprinkling of shedim. Yeah, I was a cocktail, all right.

"I'll stay in this form," Serath said. "It will prove to the search party that I'm not dangerous."

"Good plan," Curi said.

"You should go," Ivor said. "It's been almost twelve hours since we picked you up. The search may have expanded to the tunnels by now. We made sure to leave some tracks for them to find."

Serath took my hand, and together we stepped into the circle of light. The others joined us a moment later. I caught a final glimpse of Ivor's face, his brow furrowed with worry, before the light flared and the port carried us away.