I needed help to cross a fallen pillar. A Blackfish man held out his hand, and as I took it, closed my fingers around his and wedged one foot in a crevice, I asked, “Why are you helping me?”
“The Blackfish blood is in your veins,” he said. “He would want us to help.”
My leg scraped over the broken stone. “I never knew him.”
“You are like her, and she is like him.” The man waited until I’d steadied myself, then drew a sword—he had two strapped across his back—and held it out, hilt first.
“The blade is silver, soaked in wolfbane. Wounds weaken the hybrids. Remove the heads once they’re down.”
“I have silver arrows soaked in wolfbane.”
His grin widened. “You’d be an hour sawing off a head with an arrow tip. Take the sword. Or I’ll follow and deal with what you leave behind.”
“Follow,” I said. “I’ve never trained with a sword, and now isn’t the time to learn.”
“She’d probably cut off her foot.” Levi gave me a shoulder bump as he passed. “And don’t let her touch you if she’s mad. She’ll end you by accident.”
The skin at my nape prickled. Angel entered a murky corridor, twisting to motion us forward. The Blackfish moved into flanking positions. I gripped Levi’s hand, wanting to feel his warmth, to find the clever Pied Piper beneath his somber expression.
But his fingers were colder than mine. His lips thinned. The light in his eyes glittered with determination.
“Levi?”
“Gray needs hope,” he hissed. “You need to fix things.”
My steps faltered. “I’m trying.”
“I meant you have this need to fix things. Put them right. Justice—it’s in your blood, Noa.”
I glanced at the muscular men in front of us. “I’ll never be an assassin.”
“But you need them. Need this. To feel in control and not be a victim.”
“I stand up against bullies,” I admitted. “But…”
“When that moment comes?” Levi’s glance locked onto mine, and even in the darkened corridor, I saw the way he gripped the spear. His fingers shifted constantly. As if he played an instrument, one made of blood and death, and he’d memorized each keystroke.
“Can you kill her?” he asked, his voice low and sharp. “Will you kill her?”
And for an endless minute, my heart beat erratically…
“Fuck,” Levi ground out, his voice thick. “If you can’t—”
“I can.” My face felt ashen, devoid of life, of warmth, but the doubt crept in like a thief ready to strip me bare. “I killed her pigs. I’ve fought her illusions. I gave Grayson my promise to protect him, and I can’t… fail.”
Levi shook his head. “There’s no shame, Noa. No one thought this would be easy. I’ll be at your side and help you do what needs to be done. The Blackfish will, too. Angel.” He was scanning the shadows that lightened and revealed wide steps leading down to another level. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
I rubbed the black sigil on my wrist. I’d never be alone—although, when I reached out through our mental bond and gently whispered Grayson’s name, I found nothing but an abandoned silence. Until a distant jangling intruded. Grunts and the scrabbling of hoofs against stone.
Recognition raised the hair at my nape.
Creatures were coming.
Their stench tainted the air.
The golden glow from torches wavered on stone walls, casting improbable shadows.
Angel took a stance. The Blackfish angled themselves in front of me, scanning the stairwell. Tension brought a clammy sheen to my skin.
