He angled his head. “You want to go public about it?”
“I think Rigelus and the Asteri are nervous about the world finding out what we did. That their precious Archangels could be killed. By two apparent randos, no less.”
It was Hunt’s turn to chuckle. “We’re not exactly randos.”
“Yeah, but I’m still going to show Midgard that even Archangels can be killed.”
“Okay, that’s … that’s awesome,” Hunt said, his blood pumping at the thought. Rigelus would lose his fucking mind. “But what will it accomplish?”
“They’ll be so busy dealing with the media they won’t think about us for a little while,” Bryce said, smiling cruelly. Just a hint of the father who now lay dead beneath the earth here. “It will be more of a distraction than any army from Hel.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Hunt said, mulling it over. “I really do. But how are you going to prove it? Everyone would have to take your word for it, and the Asteri would deny it immediately.”
“That’s why I need to talk to Jesiba.”
“Oh?”
She got to her feet and offered him a hand to rise. “Because she has the video footage of what I did to Micah.”
* * *
What lay before Ithan was truly a paradise on Midgard. Crystal clear water, lush vegetation, streams and waterfalls pouring into the sea, powdery sand, birds singing …
He remained on alert, however, as the boat pulled up to a cove, close enough to the shore that he and Hypaxia jumped out and waded the few feet onto the beach.
“Which way?” he asked the former queen, scanning the dense foliage bordering the beach, the rising hills. “Jesiba said the castle was a few miles inland, but I didn’t see anything while we were sailing in—”
Wings flapped above, and Ithan shifted on instinct, his powerful wolf’s body nudging Hypaxia behind him as he snarled up at the sky.
Two scents hit him a heartbeat later.
And Ithan’s head emptied out entirely as Hunt Athalar landed in the sand, Bryce in his arms.
66
Back in his humanoid form, Ithan sat across from Bryce and Hunt in the grass, unable to get words out. Hypaxia, seated beside him, gave him space to think.
Beyond Bryce sat Ruhn, Flynn, Dec, and Tharion—and Lidia and Baxian. Along with a female who was apparently Tharion’s wife and Flynn’s sister.
Some crazy shit had happened. Ithan knew that. But they didn’t offer any explanations, instead waiting for him to get into why he’d come here. What had happened.
His throat became unbearably tight.
“I …” They were all staring at him. Waiting. “I need Sofie Renast’s body.”
“Well,” Hunt said, whistling, “that wasn’t what I expected to hear.”
Ithan lifted pleading eyes to the Umbra Mortis. “Jesiba said King Morven has the body—”
“Had the body,” Ruhn amended, crossing his arms. His tattoos looked like they’d been put through a paper shredder. Ithan had noticed that immediately upon seeing his friends, upon hugging them all so tightly they’d complained about his grip. Ruhn went on, “The body is now technically Bryce’s.”
Ithan shook his head, not understanding.
Hunt drawled, “Morven is dead, and Bryce is Queen of Avallen.”
Ithan just blinked at Bryce, who was watching him. Carefully. Like she knew something had—
“The Meadows,” he blurted. Had they heard about it here? Had they—
“We know,” Flynn said.
“Fucking bastards,” Tharion murmured.
Bryce only asked Ithan, “How bad?”
Ithan couldn’t talk about the small bodies, so many of them—
“As one might expect,” Hypaxia answered grimly, “and then some.” Heavy silence fell.
“Whatever took you away from helping the city,” Lidia said, eyes on her sister, “must be important indeed. Why do you need Sofie’s body?”
Again, they all looked at him. And he couldn’t contain his misery as he said, “Because I fucked up.”
* * *
It all came out. How he’d found an alternate heir to the Fendyr line, freed her from the Astronomer … and then killed her.
None of it was news to Tharion, Flynn, or Dec. But judging from the way Bryce and Ruhn were glowering at the trio … Apparently, they had forgotten to mention this information in the chaos of the last few days.
How they’d forgotten to mention the thing that had literally shredded apart Ithan’s life was beyond him, but he didn’t dwell on it. He plowed on to the part of his story that was news for all of them: How he and Hypaxia had attempted to raise Sigrid. And now the Fendyr heir was a Reaper.