“They’re my sisters…please,” I pleaded.
War sighed, then called out, “Gather them up too, Grim.”
Grim looked appalled. “Bruh, really? Bad enough we had to make an exception for your fairy warrior.”
War’s tone was final. “It’s my kingdom and what I say goes. Not up for discussion.”
Grim shook his head, grumbling, “You’re lucky you’re my lil’ brother and I got mad love for you.”
He snapped handcuffs around Blair and Jinx’s wrists. The handcuffs were the same as the collar War used on me to restrain my magic. They exchanged nervous glances as Grim herded them toward the portal. “I ain’t gonna lie, shorty, I’m feeling the Vin Diesel bald head,” he said to Jinx.
“Fuck off!” Jinx spat, glaring at him.
“Well fuck you too then. I should’ve let that elf snap your neck!” Grim shot back, his voice edged with irritation.
“You don’t want to go there with us,” Blair warned him.
“Can y’all shut the fuck up and hurry up?” War barked, his patience gone.
“We can’t leave Lune,” Blair said, worry flickering in her eyes. I rolled my eyes.
“It’s another one with y’all?” Grim asked.
Once Sin, still tangled in the net, reached the portal’s edge, it sucked him in with a flash.
“Yes, moron, and I think she’s still near our fallen home. Can you please go get her?” Blair pleaded.
Grim looked at Jinx, a sly grin spreading across his face. “I’ll get your friend if you give me a massage tonight,” he said, rubbing her head.
She kicked him hard in the leg. “Don’t put your warlock hands on me!” Jinx snapped.
“Weak-ass kick,” Grim teased her, and she bucked at him. When he bucked back, I let out a slight chuckle. Grim was an asshole and got on my nerves, but he was harmless—though his mouth was reckless.
“It’s up to Eboenia,” War said, while Grim threw up his hands in frustration.
Blair’s eyes begged for mercy. I shook my head. “No. She’ll return to Charmden since she chose her side when she ratted me out. Sorry, Blair, but she betrayed me in the worst way possible.”
Blair’s shoulders slumped. “I understand,” she said quietly. Jinx nodded in agreement.
Grim nudged them toward the portal, and the three of them vanished in a beam of light. The collar snapped around my neck, and I shot War a glare. “Are you serious? You want my sisters to see me like this?” I grilled him.
A beam flashed from War’s eyes, and I felt the heavy collar morphing, metal shifting against my skin until it turned into a chain necklace with a black butterfly medallion. The wings on it twitched, fluttering to life like some dark omen.
“It’s still the same, just has a new look. But you know you fucked up. Go on ahead and go first,” he said, stepping aside and giving me that look.
I stepped into the portal like a kid bracing for a scolding after breaking every rule in the book. Deep down, I was ready to explode at War for keeping Sin from me, but the truth was, War never told me anything. I couldn’t wait to let him have it—even if I knew he’d punish me for it.
We stepped into the dungeon buried deep inside War’s tower. It was even bloodier than the last time I’d seen it—the day War put that damn curse on me. The walls dripped with fresh blood, and the air smelled of iron and suffering. Jinx and Blair hovered off to the side, looking like they wanted to bolt.
“What the hell are you trying to pull with us?” Jinx demanded, voice trembling as she glared at Grim and War. The dungeon doors groaned and then, as if obeying some silent command, they glinted and split open, forming an arched doorway out of solid stone.
Grim and War didn’t answer Jinx. Instead, they shoved Sin into the cage with Crane. Crane was chained to the wall, hanging upside down like some slaughterhouse carcass, blood soaking his dashiki and pooling beneath him on the freezing concrete. The net that had trapped Sin twisted into a chain, hoisting him up from the ceiling. He dangled there, slipping in and out of consciousness, eyes rolling back.
“Let him go! He’s got nothing to do with this shit!” Crane yelled. He looked like he’d been stabbed a hundred times, blood running down his arms and dripping onto the floor.
“This is sick! Eboenia, say something! Your monster is out of control!” Blair snapped at me, voice shaking.
War just sighed, pissed off and annoyed. “Grim, get these nagging fuckin’ broads upstairs. Make sure they get a room with beds and a bathroom. If they mouth off again, toss them in the cell with these two lames,” he said, waving them off.
