Page 141 of Heir of Broken Souls

Knox grimaces. “It’s more complicated than that. We believe there’s something she wants and doesn’t want us to have.” He slides his hand along my back for support as he goes on. “We need to be on high alert as we continue forward. She might be following us.”

“No thanks to Delilah,” Axel slurs under his breath.

Knox sends him a warning glare that has Axel straightening, his muscles coiling. They don’t loosen until Lenox steps between the pair, diffusing the growing tension—although not by much.

Ignoring Axel’s outburst is hard when Harlow slides that cunning gaze to him and sneers, “Who the fuck gave him liquor again?”

Silence descends, until Axel burps, pulling a groan from all of us.

“We have more pressing matters right now,” I argue.

“Like how a psychotic woman is waiting to kill us all.”

Knox’s face is a mask of calm that counteracts the emotions swirling along our bond. “What we truly need to know is what she wants.”

Harlow’s brow quirks. “What do you mean?”

“The king is ordering his demons to kill us, trying to stop us from reaching the supposed sunken island, but all the while?—”

“—Hazel didn’t even attempt to kill any of us,” Knox finishes for me.

“Because she has demons doing her dirty work,” Lenox grunts out.

Knox cocks his head. “Perhaps, but Delilah was alone on the ship when she was impersonating you. She had ample opportunity to not only kill her but kidnap her and take her to Peter.”

My heart is numb to everything happening around me. All that remains is the knowledge of what I have to get through and the reminder that I can’t let Hazel slip by me twice.

“There is no end to this where she is suddenly acting in our best interest,” Knox answers.

Deep down, we know it to be true. We just wished for a happier outcome.

“Hazel wants something on that island,” I say, resolute. “We need to make sure we find it before she does.”

Axel groans, flopping down onto Harlow’s bed. He yelps a second later, practically jumping out of his skin as he whirls on Harlow, smoke trailing from his behind.

“She burned me!”

Harlow lifts her chin. “You sat your intoxicated germs on my duvet.”

Axel scoffs. “Fucking little?—”

“Enough.” Knox’s voice blasts through the room, garnering no room for argument. “Delilah and I believe we should continue following the orders of the prophecy. The largest enemy we need to defeat is Peter, which, might I remind you all, has been trying to stop us from reaching this supposed sunken island.”

Axel’s lip lifts, curling in disgust. “They’re both horrible.”

“Yes, they are,” I softly agree with him.

Elysia sits gently beside Harlow, not burnt to a crisp like her mate. “I can’t explain why but I can feel how desperate she is to get to the sunken island. When I tap into her, it’s all I feel—desperation.”

Defeat is written stark across Knox’s face as he gutturally admits, “I don’t know how we prepare for this.”

“We can’t,” I answer honestly. “We just have to expect the unexpected.”

His solemn dip tells me that didn’t help in the slightest, but it’s the truth.

We just need to prepare to fight no matter what.

* * *