The whole room was frozen right after Hunt got a call from Ianthe.
Aidas's face hardened with anger.
"I don't care. We're handing him to her."
He said and Yvaine narrowed her eyes at him.
"You will do no such thing!"
"Then what do you propose?!!!"
He snapped and Yvaine shrugged.
"I suppose you'll have to figure it out yourselves."
Everyone in the room was dumbfounded by her reply. Hunt in particular.
"She's your daughter..."
He whispered softly and Yvaine looked away.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn't intervene.
She refused to.
"Ianthe wouldn't dare hurt her."
She murmured.
"Oh! Do you seriously believe yourself?!!! Can you hear yourself speak?!!"
"Didn't she kill Lila? Or have you forgotten so soon that you had another daughter who was murdered by her?!"
Hunt growled in her face.
He was livid. At her.
At Ianthe.
And at Suna that most likely got Lacey involved in the mess Lacey was in.
Why did she leave?
Where was she?
He wondered as he started thinking of what to do.
Yvaine winced at his outburst, but she quickly recovered and she sighed.
"I know what you must think of me. But I cannot do anything to help you. I can only hope that you find a way to defeat her."
"And like I said. Ianthe would never hurt Lacey. We made a promise to each other."
She said as she outstretched her arm. It was covered in whorls of black ink.
Imelda's eyes widened.
"Is this... Is this what I think it is?"
She asked as she stared at it. She had only seen one of them in the Fae books she used to read. She never thought she'd see one in real life.
"Yes. It is. And say whatever you want this is the one thing keeping Lacey safe."
Aidas sighed.
"And if Ianthe breaks her promise?"
He asked.
Yvaine shrugged as she created a portal with a sweep of her hand.
It was not her battle to fight.
"She'll die."
She simply said as she disappeared into the portal she created. In a flash she and the portal were gone.
"What do we do now?"
Imelda asked.
"Ianthe must know she can't break the promise... So she must be up to something else."
She added and Aidas shrugged.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way to break it."
Aidas picked up his phone. They needed as many reinforcements they could get.
He was going to set a trap for Ianthe.
"We call for backup. And we set a nice little trap for that bitch."
He turned to Imelda.
"Round up my men. Let them know they're finally going to see some action."
"Knowing Ianthe she'd probably try to fight back with those demons she has at her beck and call."
Imelda nodded.
"And what if she figures out it's a trap?"
Hunt asked nervously.
Aidas was calm.
He shrugged.
"We're the only ones apart from the Council that know where Hades is. If she knew he was in another world, she'd be after her sister, not us."
"But, she doesn't. She probably thinks he's locked up somewhere. Well that's what we'll make her believe."
Hunt was sceptical, he was more concerned about Lacey than anything else.
And if that meant giving up Hades the old buffoon and dealing with the consequences later he didn't mind.
"It's not going to be easy... How are we going to convince her that we have him?"
"Do you have a better idea than sitting down here and worrying?!! Because this is the perfect time to share it if you do."
"I don't care if it's a terrible plan! It's better than nothing!"
Hunt ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
Aidas was right.
They didn't have time.
"Alright then. Let's do it."
He murmured.
The glass must have sliced through her hands about three times. But when the chains were loose, she felt it in her soul. Like the dampened cloth on her powers had been removed.
By the time she was done.
Ianthe was already back.
With a sinister smile and a plastic bag in her hand.
"Want to know what I got here?"
She asked as she waved the bag in front of her face.
Syphax the demon who had been in charge of her while she was alone retreated back into the shadows. She was surprised he didn't hurt her. Or even try to.
After the last time she had tried to strangle Ianthe, she had expected her to be pissed at her.
Lacey looked away.
Her hands hidden behind her back, pretending to still be tied up.
"I'm sure you'd love to see. They put up quite a fight but it wasn't good enough... Really."
She murmured as she tipped the contents of the bag over.
And two bloodied severed heads rolled.
Lacey felt her heart drop.
It was Suna. And Crispin.
There was a jab of pain in her heart as she saw their lifeless eyes open.
She quickly looked away.
They were dead?!
She wouldn't believe it.
"What do you think? Too much?"
Ianthe purred and Lacey sighed as she looked away.
"Why are you even doing this?"
"What do you even want?"
Ianthe raised her eyebrows in annoyance.
"Oh no! Don't play dumb with me. You know who I want."
"And I wonder why your boys aren't here yet. It's been quite a while."
She said as she looked at her wrist and frowned slightly.
"Don't tell me you don't understand one of the greatest forces in the world."
She said and Lacey scoffed.
Love?
Oh no!
Whatever Ianthe was doing wasn't because of love.
"You think I'm not doing it for love? I expected you to understand... Given your circumstances."
"Love?! Really? You expect me to believe that you're doing this all because you want to set him free?"
She scoffed and Ianthe smiled.
"You're right. It's not just love. But I did make a pact. And I fully intend to honour it."
Lacey's eyes were still glued on Suna and Crispin's head. Shuddering slightly.
"At what price?"
Lacey spat out angrily.
Ianthe shrugged.
"I'd burn the world down to keep it."
There was a long silence before Ianthe turned to leave, Lacey's eyes were still on Suna' s lifeless eyes.
"I guess I thought wrong."
She walked away.
"Oh! I think your boys are here. I can smell a wolf from a mile away."
She said with a grin.
After a few seconds she raised her eyebrow again.
"Oh! More wolves. I guess they brought reinforcements. We'll bring them in as quickly as possible."
She said as she brought out her phone.
Lacey's heart started beating fast. She really hoped they didn't cave into her demands.
Ianthe had done too much damage to even have the nerve to walk freely.
The lives she had taken, the havoc she had wrecked.
She needed to put a stop to it.
Just like her mother did with Hades Vigilanco.
"I won't let you do this."
She said as she stood up, shaking the ropes away from her bloodied hands.
Ianthe didn't even as much as turn to look at her.
"I'm no fool girl. I knew you managed to get the ropes off. I could smell the blood when I walked in."
Lacey went quiet.
If she knew that she had removed the ropes, why didn't she do anything? Or try and stop her?
Was she even going to hurt her? Or was she using her as bait all along to drag a bigger fish.
Lacey figured out her answer the minute Hunt walked in.
Alone.
Where was Aidas?
She thought as she looked around and found no sign of him.
Hunt's face was hard and he looked angry.
However angry he looked, when he stared at Lacey, his expression softened a bit.
"I know you came with the other wolves. Where are they hiding?"
Ianthe asked and Hunt shrugged.
"I don't know."
"But, if you want what we have, you're going to have to go by our rules."
Ianthe raised her eyebrows in amusement.
"And? What are your rules?"
"First, call off those demons up there."
She said and Ianthe shrugged.
"Why should I? How sure am I that you'd keep your side of the bargain?"
Hunt sighed.
"Because. We know what you want. You and Hades made a deal with the Prince of Hell right? He told me himself."
Shock briefly appeared on Ianthe's face but she hid it quickly.
"Something about a living gateway..."
"Well... Thing is, Aidas's got him. In a secure location. If you want him, you're going to have to call off those demons first."
He warned.
He started taking off his shirt and Ianthe narrowed her eyes at him.
"What are you doing?"
She asked alarmed and he shrugged.
"It'll be faster to get there in my wolf form. Like I said, call off your demons up there and let me take you where he is right now."
She was sceptical.
Ianthe was sceptical.
She couldn't trust him but she had no other choice.
But if he had a few tricks up his sleeves, then she had some too.
"Alright then."
She raised her left hand and started whispering incoherently. She walked towards a table with a cup, it was filled to the brim with what seemed to be blood.
Her blood.
That was how she had managed to keep the demons connected to her. Her blood must have been bound with theirs.
The blood was slick, oily and dark red, and Ianthe gently emptied the cup of it.
After a while, she stopped.
"I've called them off."
She said and Hunt stood still, trying to link with one of his wolves to know if what she had really called them off.
She was right.
She had called them off.
He turned to Ianthe.
"Don't be too happy. It's only temporary."
She added with a small smile and Hunt shrugged.
Lacey didn't believe that, to call on more she had to do complicated spells at the exact spot where there was a crack within the human world and the underworld.
That was the only way she could summon them.
She didn't believe she called them off either.
She remembered how she had called on Syphax and he had appeared from the shadows.
He also looked new. Not like the demons terrorising the city.
If her suspicions were right, Ianthe already had the capability to call demons at will. It might be for a short while and a short number of wolves at a time, but she wasn't exactly powerless either.
She could fight with or without them.
The main question that kept disturbing Lacey was what did she exactly want?
If she had the same ability Hades had, why did she need him?
Ianthe was playing them.
"Fair enough."
Hunt said. He had taken off his shirt and jeans and Ianthe didn't even bother to look away when he started taking off his briefs.
She smiled.
Then she slowly turned to Lacey with a crooked smile on her wicked face.
"I see why you like him. He's quite a catch."
What happened next happened so fast that Lacey couldn't explain it.
Aidas had come out of nowhere.
Nowhere!
And he drove a stake into Ianthe's stomach.
He had aimed for her heart, but in the split millisecond that she had noticed his presence, she had moved swiftly.
And he thrust it right into her stomach.
It destabilised her. But it didn't render her powerless.
Her hand flung out in anger at Aidas and she shrieked.
"Get out of the way!!"
Lacey screamed at Aidas.
The same time Hunt's wolf jumped in to push Aidas away and took the hit.
He landed at the opposite side of the room with a sickening thud.
He didn't move.
Lacey fell to her knees.
No.
No.
The scream and power that erupted from her hands.
She didn't know how it came to be.
Nor did she know how it happened.
It was all she remembered before the darkness hit.