I pointed an accusing finger at both of them. “You both are lucky you’re no longer undermycommand.” The death glare I sent them did nothing but make them both laugh harder. “Gnomes are incredibly useful.” I muttered over their outburst.
“Aye, for pollinating flowers with their own piss.” Emon grinned at me and everyone laughed.
“That’s enough at my expense.” I arched a brow at Emon. “When are you going to tell everyone what they are really here for? That we are going to the Sanguine?”
Emon ran his hand through his hair when the room filled with silence. “How did you know?”
I snorted. “An assassin, two warrior kings, two powerful elementals, a tank of a shifter,” I eyed Tyr, who grinned smugly, “a weapons master that knows Sanguine lands, and me…an unknown player. Every fae here is someone you trust with your life. If that's not a hunting party I don’t know what is and the only place to hunt is through that damn gateway.” I shook my head. “You want to bring the fight to her before the gateway opens.”
Asher winked at me. “And that is why I could never beat you.”
Emon sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Yes, we leave tomorrow.”
I snorted and Bane quickly rose to his feet, his eyes flashing with electric bolts of fire. “Do you even understand what you’re doing? Stepping just one foot into those lands is sentencing every single fae in this room to death right alongside you. Are you willing to shoulder that weight?”
Emon’s hand tightened on mine, still pinned to his thigh. “This is not a task I can do alone. If I could, I would have done so by now.” He looked around the room. “I will not force any of you to come but the invitation is open.”
Penina shrugged. “Seems convenient for me. I’m in.”
Bane sputtered at her. “Convenient?” He sneered, then turned on Emon's father. “Asher you can’t seriously be considering this?”
The former shifter king waved his friend away. “There is no consideration. I have already decided to join my son on his hunt.”
“We are in.” Xi and Riley called out together.
An odd emotion flickered in Tyr’s eyes while he looked at the elemental twins. “You two running amok in the Sanguine without some supervision…I don't think so. Count me in too.”
Riley raised his green brows and Xi muttered curses under her breath.
Emon turned to me whispering. “And you, my clever little umbra? The unknown shadow fae." He smirked. "What will you decide?”
My other hand fisted in my lap and I bit at my bottom lip. There was so much more meaning in his simple question than the others realized. I felt my heart flutter with excitement as I peered deep into his patient gaze. “You. I choose to go with you. We will do it together.”
Emon’s eyes widened and his hand tightened on mine. “Together.” He breathed, the awe in his voice sent shivers down my spine.
I swallowed and then nodded.
Asher tapped the table. “You're sure you will be able to get through the gateway before it fully opens Emon?”
Emon nodded confidently, dragging his eyes away from me. “It is weakened. We will be able to enter.”
I pursed my lips. “How do we get back out?”
Emon looked grim. “We will have exactly twelve days to find Deirdre, kill her, and make it back through the gateway before it closes for another one hundred years.”
I exhaled deeply. “What should we expect on the other side?”
Bane cursed, nevermind no one even questioned that he hadn’t vowed to come. “Anything, nothing, everything.” He snarled at the table, banging his hand down on it and then glared at Asher who growled in warning. “Don’t try me Asher, you know this is a foolish plan. It’s been more than two thousand years since we set foot in those lands and there was a reason we left it and never went back. There is no possible way of knowing what the Sanguine is now and very little on what it was like even when we were there last.”
“Unless you’re me!” Penina snarled.
Chapter 63
Everyoneturnedwithshockat the sunny carefree shifter whose entire demeanor changed into a wrathful storm. Her eyes bled from brown to black in a matter of seconds.
Bane glared at her condescendingly. “Girl, you were just barely born then. What would you know about the Sanguine?”
The gold piercing of her lip flashed in the dim light at her silent snarl. “You always love to remind me of how old I am, you fucking fossil. But you know my very birth had everything to do with that goddess forbidden land since you were the one who cut me and my twin out of our mother’s dead drained body.”
