So what you’re saying is that the king sent one of his backstabbing, underachieving offspring to collect these rare specimens?” Nevis said, feigning disappointment. Whatever his intentions were, they didn’t involve sparing the daemon prince’s feelings.

My blood boiled with rage, while my inability to do something against what was quickly becoming the beginning of our end ate away at my clarity. I’d been reduced to the role of a helpless spectator, and I didn’t like the show I was being forced to watch. It involved losing Avril, and I’d only just found her to be the single most important creature in my life. I wasn’t ready to let go. I would never be ready to let go of her.

“Mind your tongue, Dhaxanian,” Cason growled. “I’ve killed three brothers to get to where I am today. Don’t think for a second that slashing the throat of a Dhaxanian is somehow beneath me.”

“I would love to see you try,” Nevis replied with a smirk. “I’m sure your father would want a good reason as to why you decided to turn a valuable ally into a deadly enemy, just because you didn’t like their tone.”

Cason was seething, but he didn’t seem eager to follow up on that particular side of the conversation. I could hear his heartbeat, rampant and tumultuous, echoes of fear drumming through that massive ribcage of his. He sure liked to look tough, but, deep down, he was wary of the Dhaxanian prince. In fact, none of the daemons seemed thrilled to be here.

In all fairness, Nevis only needed to snap his fingers and they would’ve probably frozen to death. Daemons were creatures of heat and darkness. The ability to create ice was what had made the Dhaxanians so threatening to their species. The only thing that had worked to the daemons’ advantage in this feud had been their use of swamp witch magic.

“Glad to see you’ve kept the outsiders alive.” Cason nodded at our frosted group, measuring each of us from head to toe, as if wondering how we’d hold up against him in close combat. My fists were already itching to find out. “My father will be pleased.”

“I have no business hurting them. They are not my enemies,” Nevis replied, his hands behind his back.

“You look a little pale,” Avril interjected, narrowing her eyes at Cason. The remark caught him off guard. He chuckled nervously, shifting his focus to her.

“Are you implying something, food?” He sneered, baring his sharp fangs.

I made a mental note, right then and there, to pull them out one by one. But Avril didn’t seem bothered. Given her sensitive nose, she’d definitely caught a whiff of something, and she was exploring that avenue. The look in her eyes told me she’d yet to give up on this—on us.

“I’m not implying anything. I’m stating a fact. You reek of fear, daemon prince,” Avril replied. “I’m guessing it took a lot of courage for you to come here today. Not that I blame you. If I were a daemon, I’d want to steer clear of the Dhaxanians, too.”

Cason glowered at her for a moment, while Nevis watched the exchange with renewed interest. Whatever Avril said, it was meant to get the Dhaxanian prince on our side. Better late than never, since sooner had turned out to be so damn difficult.

“I look forward to eating your soul,” Cason said, his voice low.

Avril didn’t seem affected, though I knew the statement was definitely turning her stomach inside out. “I bet you’re sorry you killed your brothers now, huh? You could’ve sent one of them to do this, but, you know, the price we pay for power and whatnot.”

“You’re trying to say something, but all I can hear is the sound of my food talking.” Cason dismissed her, then looked at Nevis. “So how do we do this? Do you get them out of that ice, or do we lug them back like this?”

“If you take them out of here in Dhaxanian frost, you will have no way of getting them out. Only another Dhaxanian can break my ice,” Nevis replied bluntly, then snapped his fingers.

The swamp witch symbols on the cage bars lit up red, then, one by one, they slipped into the hard ground, leaving only the Dhaxanian frost restraining us.

“Your Grace, please. Please don’t do this.” Avril tried to reason with him again. “Don’t let them take us. Don’t be their stooge. Just look at how the daemon king’s son speaks to you. They have no respect for you. The only thing they have is fear. They’re afraid of you. They’re thankful you’re stuck here, on this mountain. Thankful that they don’t have to deal with you, too. That’s why Cason is quaking in his boots right now. They fear you. And, as soon as they get the chance, they will destroy you.”

Cason burst into a mocking cackle, then pinched Avril’s cheek like she was that funny little rascal who made the grownups laugh. All I could think of were ways of snapping his spine once I got out of this blasted frost. “Like I said, I’ll definitely enjoy draining the life out of you. Maybe, once you’re close to giving your last breath, thousands of years from now, rotting in a cage in my private quarters, you’ll learn to choose your words more carefully.”

“You’ll be giving your last breath before the day is over,” Avril snapped, jerking her head away with visible disgust.

“Okay, we’ve had enough fun,” Cason then said, a muscle throbbing in his jaw. Avril had definitely touched a nerve. He grinned at Nevis. “The Dhaxanian prince is an obedient little vassal who knows it’s in his best interest to stay on our good side. Otherwise, we’ll bring this mountain down and add the remaining Dhaxanians to our daily diet. Nevis, be a good Dhaxanian and let these worms loose. They’re ripe and ready to go to their new homes.”

Several daemons came forward carrying heavy shackles with swamp witch symbols engraved on the cuffs. I knew exactly what those things did. I’d seen them before. I’d worn them for years during Azazel’s regime. There was no way they were putting those on me. I took deep breaths and braced myself for the handful of seconds of free movement we were about to get, once the frost came off.

“What did you just call me?” Nevis replied, both eyebrows raised. His expression was one of vague surprise, and his tone was deceptively calm. I knew exactly what kind of creature Nevis was—the cool guy who kept his emotions close to his chest. Whatever he displayed on the outside was merely a fragment of what broiled beneath. I knew because I was exactly like him.

Cason frowned, seemingly confused. “What’s your problem?”

Nevis took several steps forward. Cason, though tall and proud, instinctively moved back a couple of feet. There it is. The fear. “Say it again. I dare you,” Nevis said.

“You are a vassal, and an obedient one at that. This situation here proves it. Don’t tell me you’re offended,” Cason muttered.

“Offended? Why would I be offended by the ramblings of a little daemon who will stop at nothing to make his daddy pay attention to him?” Nevis smirked. “You come to my mountain, insult me and my people, then you expect me to hand my unexpected guests over like they belong to you?”

“They’re our prisoners,” Cason hissed.

“They’re my prisoners. In my mountain. In my frost. I extended a courtesy when I reached out to Shaytan. I didn’t have to do that. I could’ve just let them go. Cason, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Right now, I am that hand, because we both know that if you go back to daddy without the outsiders, you’ll be joining the brothers you’re so proud to have murdered in eternal sleep.”

“What are you saying, Nevis?”

“You will address me as ‘Your Grace’, Cason. I’m not your chum. I’m prince of the Dhaxanians and ruler over Athelathan. Your father treats me with respect, and I expect the same from his sons.”

The air thickened around us. I could almost feel Nevis’s anger about to burst out. I didn’t want to be in the way of that. Cason had been reckless and overconfident and was clearly a newbie and ignorant tool where diplomacy was concerned. For the time being, Shaytan considered Nevis useful, and, as evidenced by our entrapment, for good reason. The daemon king didn’t strike me as a fool. His underachieving son, however, was seething with frustration. He probably had all kinds of dreams about wearing the king’s crown.

“Hand over the prisoners, Nevis. You don’t scare me.” Cason held his head high. Wrong answer, buddy.

Nevis cocked his head to one side and breathed an audible sigh. Cason stilled, his red eyes nearly popping out of their orbits as he looked down. Crystal clear frost spread from Nevis’s bare feet and covered Cason’s boots, tightening around his muscular calves. He couldn’t move.

“I don’t need to scare you,” Nevis replied, briefly glancing at the petrified daemons behind Cason. They didn’t seem eager to attack. Not that I could blame them. “You know what? It just dawned on me,” he added, peculiarly serene. “I never gave my guests the opportunity to defend themselves.”

He walked over to Avril and touched the frost encasing her. It all came off cleanly and shattered on the ground in millions of icy shards.

The color was drained from Cason’s face. “What are you doing? Are you crazy?!” he growled, struggling against his leg restraints. Unable to do anything, he barked orders at his daemons. “Don’t just stand there! Stop him!”

The daemon soldiers hesitantly looked at each other for a few seconds, then moved toward Nevis, drawing their rapiers and snarling ferociously. Nevis waved his arm once, in a graceful, clockwise motion, and the frost extending from beneath his bare feet spread out fast, swallowing the daemons whole.

Before the others could spill into the chamber from the tunnel, Nevis waved his hand again and covered the tunnel entrance in a thick, unbreakable layer of ice. We were all speechless, staring at the daemons. The frozen dozen were suffocating and would soon die, while the others roared and desperately tried to chip away at the ice wall with their swords.

“You bast—” Cason tried to speak, but the Dhaxanian prince’s frost quickly covered him up to the nose. The daemon was now experiencing the same level of discomfort as the rest of us, and that gave me unparalleled satisfaction.

I shifted my focus back to Avril, who was standing there, struggling to make sense of what was going on. “What… What’s happening?” she murmured.

Nevis scoffed, then touched my frosted casing. It disintegrated, releasing me. I wobbled, my knees a little weak, but I was going to be okay. It felt as though I could breathe again. I really didn’t like imprisonment of any kind. The Dhaxanian prince proceeded to free Scarlett, Patrik, and Hundurr. The pit wolf growled at him, baring his enormous fangs, but Nevis raised his index finger at the beast, narrowing his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid,” he said, then looked at Avril. Hundurr took a couple of steps back, whimpering like a scared pup.

He’d probably been waiting all day to chomp on the guy. Unfortunately, Nevis had just turned from enemy to… what, exactly, I wasn’t yet sure. What I knew for a fact was that we couldn’t attack him. He’d just given us our freedom back.

Was he our friend now? Cason had insulted him to the point where Nevis had seen a bigger benefit in releasing us, but the move was definitely going to jeopardize his alliance with Shaytan. Was he going to stop Cason from coming after us altogether, or was this simply going to be a much-needed head start?

I was fine with whatever came next. We could move again. It was all we needed.