Page 193 of Infernal Secrets

Rubies for the Brakeal bloodline—Cyn’s family.

Aquamarines for the Alakai bloodline—Zeke’s family.

Sapphires for the Kilnejar bloodline—Ezra’s family.

My gaze fell on the two empty thrones adorned with emeralds where my parents should have been, then the remaining two accented with amethysts. Four empty thrones stood as a reminder of royal lines lost to time—until Cornaith deemed me worthy to take my parents’ seats.

“Ranthus briefed me on your experience on Earth,” Cornaith said, focusing on Ezra. “Am I to understand you tried to return home?”

“We did.”

“With the human’s home warded, did you attempt to use your magic outside to gain freedom?”

“The wards didn’t restrict our magic in the human’s home, but without a tiisra stone or an understanding of how we arrived, we couldn’t leave despite our attempts to find answers.”

Cornaith hummed, stroking his trimmed black goatee. “Do you know how you arrived?”

Ezra didn’t miss a beat in stating, “The human used a book from Elyrdin to summon us.”

“From Elyrdin?” Cyn’s father’s heavy black brow narrowed.

I debated whether sharing that was wise. Rae’s execution felt inevitable, but I struggled with letting her go. I doubted this new information would sway them from their decision.

Did Ezra not care at all?

I suspected Cornaith already knew everything from Ranthus. Nothing said wasn’t information Ranthus didn’t already know. More than anything, I believed Cornaith was testing our loyalty to the council—testing how corrupted we were.

Zeke’s father frowned, tapping his gloved finger against the arm of his throne. “How do you know the book came from our world?”

Ezra hesitated—the first sign he hadn’t reverted to the detached man who allowed his father to treat him like a puppet before our time on Earth.

“Answer,” Cornaith commanded, staring down at his son.

“The book contained languages and drawings of lesser infernals from this world.”

While true, he left out the woman from the bookshop and the symbol unique to us four—and Rae. Was he protecting her?

Our mark was another reason I questioned if she’d spun an illusion. How could both the book and Rae bear a symbol unique only to the four princes of prophecy?

She knew the symbol meant royalty, but not that it was proof of our birthright as Elyrdin’s strongest future rulers.

That birthmark, if real, could be evidence that a quintuple mating bond involving a human was possible. It defied all Nyrith pairing norms, but if fate marked her with our symbol, the people of Elyrdin might accept it. Would the sitting council?

The prophecy made no mention of a single mate to share, only that our Nyrith would possess equal strength, which led to further confusion. As a human, Rae lacked Shyrlivi strength, let alone an heir’s.

I shook the thought.

We couldn’t tell the council about the mark. We lacked solid proof, and I didn’t trust Cornaith not to torture her before execution. I needed to distance us from her. Ezra knew it. He had to.

I looked over at Zeke, swallowing the bitter taste in my mouth.

Ezra’s father was capable of things that made death sound like a vacation.

Cornaith adjusted in his seat. “You mention that you could use magic in the human’s home but couldn’t return home. Did you make attempts outside? Send any signal for help?”

I realized Cornaith didn’t want to hear anything Cyn, Zeke, or I had to say outside of our written reports. This entire debriefing was a test, like I suspected, but not for us. He was testing his son—the only heir that mattered to him.

“We left the home multiple times,” Ezra said. “Several times we went to a secluded location to call on our magic to summon our wings.”