“Sounds about right,” Emil sneered, and I wasn’t surprised or disappointed. What else could Alastir truly say? Admit that there hadn’t been anyone else there that night at the inn? It wouldn’t matter if he did. There was nothing any of us needed to hear from him. At least, nothing I wanted. “Which is also why I think Casteel allowed him to believe you’re dead. I think he’s already amused by the look that will most likely settle upon Alastir’s face when he realizes that he failed. Come.” Emil started to turn. “Cas will summon us when he wants us to make our presence known.”

But had he failed?

Yes.

I jerked as my heart jumped. I looked down at Kieran, my skin erupting in tiny bumps. He continued watching Emil with those blue-silver eyes. “Did I—?” I stopped myself. There was no way I had heard Kieran’s voice in my mind. Casteel couldn’t even communicate that way. But hadn’t I heard Delano’s voice earlier? I’d been asleep, though.

“Are you okay?” Emil asked, his concern evident.

“Yeah. Yes.” I quickly bent, picking up the wolven dagger from where I’d placed it on the ground. “I’m ready.”

Quietly, I followed Emil through the thick stand of trees, returning to the firelight of the pavilion. I stopped when Emil lifted a hand for silence. We were still several yards from the pavilion, but I could see Casteel.

He stood in the center of the structure, arms at his sides, his head cocked just a bit, revealing only the striking curve of his cheek and a tilt of full lips. Dressed in all black, he looked like a spirit of the night, one called forth to carry out vengeance.

I slipped the dagger under the fold of my cloak as I saw the Guardians lead about half a dozen men out from the back of the Temple, all of them bound with their hands tied behind their backs. Muscles stiffened as Naill led the last one. Alastir’s scarred face was devoid of emotion as they lined him up with the others.

Hatred seared my soul as he and the others were forced to their knees. My parents. Casteel. His parents. Me. All of us had trusted him, and he had not only planned to hand me over to the Ascended but had also ordered my death. And in a way, he hadn’t failed. I had been killed. Casteel had saved me, and I had awoken as something else.

What Alastir believes about me doesn’t matter, I told myself as I watched Casteel prowl forward, moving toward the nameless men who bled the bitter taste of fear into the air. I hadn’t done anything to deserve what Alastir and they had done. I had only defended myself. My parents had only trusted him. My grip tightened on the dagger.

Casteel was so incredibly fast.

I didn’t even realize what he’d done until the man farthest away from Alastir toppled over. Five more followed like dominos, and I didn’t see the moonlight glinting off his slick sword until it stopped a mere inch from Alastir’s neck. He’d severed their heads. All of them except Alastir. In a few heartbeats.