A Court Of Night and Fire

Chapter TwentyThree

"Where are we?" Articus immediately asked when he was through.

"In Capri," Weryn said from over Akara's head. The girl brushed passed Articus to lock the portal.

"Did you kill her?" Nina whispered from a secluded corner of the room. Loosing both Waylon and Cedrick was almost too much for her.

"No," Articus replied just as quietly. "Celia got caught trying to leave. Nicolas and the Head Mistress were suspicious. I slit her throat but she healed within seconds after. Surprised me from behind when I attacked Nicolas. I don't know if Celia made it out alive, I know I barely did."

Nina only nodded.

"She knows I'm a Hunter too," Articus added.

"It was inevitable," Mia said as she patted her mare.

Weryn tossed Articus a large cloak and a bag of clothes. Nodding his thanks, Articus stripped off the blood stained clothes and quickly pulled on the fresh ones. He pulled out his long coat before he donned the oversized cloak with the deep hood. If they were in Capri, Articus had to hide his Ce'lian features.

Akara caught his eye as she rummaged through her pack. She pulled out a small package. "General Briar wanted me to give you this."

Upon opening it, Articus found three things: a letter and two three golden striped pins. The later making his heart skip a beat.

Articus,

I'm sorry you had to be used like this. She knew of the Fourth Triangle and planned to use you as her weapon. I hope you have succeeded in your mission, for all of sakes. As a token of her appreciation, you have been promoted to Major. Since the law has yet to be changed concerning people born of peasant backgrounds, She has sent the request to the House's Family Tree that you be adopted as a cousin. I hope you can forgive me my friend. See you in three days.

B

The letter had been written carefully so that no names were given away.

"Mother of Gods," Articus gasped as the implications of the letter penetrated his mind. Mia curiously picked up the letter that Articus had unknowingly dropped. Her eyes slowly widened as she read it.

"This is great news Articus!" she said when she finished.

"No, it isn't." It was the first thing Articus thought the moment he read the 'Family Tree' part. "She is chaining me to her. Manipulative bitch."

Before he came to Tekal, he would have never had interpreted the letter the way he had. Celia had told him once before that he would be able to catch things he would have normally missed. In essence, he'd get smarter and, at that moment, he wished for ignorance.

Blind bloody blissful ignorance.

Mia waved a dismissive hand and plucked the two three golden striped pins out of his hand. She pinned them on to each side of his shoulder and said, "Nonsense. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"She is going to kill me," Articus groaned.

Weryn gave a low whistle at the pins and shook his head.

Will, who couldn't stand it any longer, made a hurry-up motion. "Come on. We still have to get to the other side of this gods-forsaken city to get to the next portal."

Articus nudged Nina, snapping her back into reality. "Don't worry. Waylon is too stubborn to die and Cedrick is too smart."

She gave a small smile and nodded.

Without another word, Weryn lead them to a ramp. They had landed in someone's cellar, similar to the Fishy Entrance.

Sunlight, bright and welcoming, crept through the cracks of the two doors at the end of the ramp. Weryn pushed the doors back and the group filed out. As Will had suggested, the city reminded Articus of Seq'l. It was a dump.