Page 21 of The Nymph King

He would crush Ellisar with the entire horde if he had to.

A loud thump came from behind the tree, followed by two sets of footsteps circling the massive trunk.

His First Witch, Zadie, appeared, windswept and more ragged than usual. His cousin, Novus, followed behind her, a head taller and far larger, his death angel wings still extended.

“You’re late,” Kiran admonished.

“Apologies, Your Majesty,” Novus replied. “We ran into nasty weather over the Lundr Mountains.” He cleared his throat. “You’re needed in Niflheim. Your absence has been noticed.”

Kiran scratched his scruff. “Fine. You two keep watch here. I want every guard’s role, every shift change, what paperwork is required, and every weakness you can find. Anything that helps us slip in unnoticed. I’ll be back in a day or two to survey Ellisar’s estate and figure out how to get in and then out with her.”

Novus bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty. Are you sure the queen is here?”

Kiran gave him a pointed look. “I’m sure. I saw her with my own eyes.”

The death angel nodded. “Then we’d better hasten. Your own kingdom needs you, and Sorath grows wary of waiting. He needs to speak with you and his daughter immediately. Things in the Under are growing chaotic with the horde missing and King Crator confirmed dead. He also knows Imani has the Drasil.”

A pit formed in Kiran’s stomach.

Sorath was Imani’s father and one of the most powerful Eldritch elves alive. He descended directly from one of the Six original families, had centuries of experience Kiran couldn’t match, and wielded forms of magic Kiran still didn’t fully understand.

Very few people frightened Kiran, but Imani’s father did. Whatever Sorath wanted from him was unlikely to be good, especially if Kiran returned without his daughter.

A breeze ruffled his hair as he suppressed a low growl. He had thought he would have more time. Going to the Under without Imani was useless. Sorath did not care what Kiran wanted unless Kiran arrived with what Sorath wanted in return.

His heir.

His daughter.

And her wand.

Kiran rose in one fluid motion. With one final, frustrated look at the gates of Vathis, he leaped into the air, shifted, and clawed up into the sky before turning back to Niflheim.

CHAPTER 7

Imani woke before she understood why, her body alert beneath the covers as a faint pressure moved against the edge of her magic signature. She wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise. The moon shone bright through her window, and her shadows danced along the walls, irritated at being confined. Voices existed somewhere outside, but she could not make out the words. That alone piqued her curiosity. With elvish hearing, she should have caught something.

Bolting up, she strained to find the source of the disturbance.

Magic covered the courtyard below. Wrinkling her brow in concentration, she reached out with her signature and shadows. With a lurch, she grabbed her chest as they slammed into an invisible barrier.

There was a privacy ward there now, when there hadn’t been one when she’d fallen asleep.

More curiosity pushed through her last bit of exhaustion. Someone had gone to considerable trouble to make sure a conversation could not be overheard in a place where most elves could hear through stone doors and open windows.

Which meant she absolutely needed to hear it.

Imani threw back the covers and stepped lightly onto the carpeted stone floor. Her window was cracked open for the night air, but when she crossed to it, the courtyard below remained unnaturally muted. Two male Norn elves stood several yards from the estate beneath the branches of an enormous tree, their mouths moving without sound reaching her.

One of them wore the full regalia of a high-ranking soldier. His hand rose briefly, two fingers tracing a small motion through the air. Magic rippled outward from him and joined the barrier already covering the courtyard, reinforcing it until even the scrape of his boots disappeared.

Imani put her hand to her mouth, stifling a laugh.

At least they weren’t idiots.

Her shadows slipped from beneath her feet. Crouching in case they looked up at her room, she took out the Drasil and directed the darkness toward the slit in the open window, keeping their movement low against the floor before sending them over the sill and down the exterior wall. Blackness spread between stones, branches, and roots as the shadows searched for the ward's edge. Resistance met them at once. The barrier pushed back, dense enough that forcing through it directly would expose her.

At that, she stopped forcing and sliced her wand through the air.