Kaheen shrugged, staring at the floor to avoid Simani’s assessing gaze. “He could have escaped. Initially. Before Janak had branded him, damaged his wings.” She flinched at their horrified expressions. They all knew who she was talking about. “He could have killed Janak and escaped. Could at least have inflicted substantial damage on the Qawirsin, before he went down. Even with that damned necklace, Shwaan could have taken half the castle down with him, if it came to that.”

“So why didn’t he?” Simani’s tone was uncharacteristically hesitant.

“To protect me.” Kaheen’s voice was so soft, Ruban had to lean in to hear her. “Because Janak threatened to kill me – would’ve killed me – if Shwaan fought back.”

Like a dam breaking, the words spilled from her lips. Her childhood in Ragah, hundreds of years ago, in a world so different from Ruban’s, it might as well have been an alien planet. Growing up with Shwaan, her only friend, even as their mothers waged constant war against humans and Aeriels alike.

She spoke of Maya, the royal governess, who’d been the closest thing to a real mother either of them had ever had. Who had sheltered them as much as possible from the vicious politics at court, had made them promise to take care of each other.

And then, the Rebellion, when Shwaan had left with Safaa and most of the other Aeriels for Vaan. He’d promised her he would return; would take her and Maya home with him.

But he never had.

And to prove that he’d betrayed them, that he would never come back for them and had never intended to, Reivaa had tortured Maya to death as Kaheen watched.

When Kaheen stopped speaking, a resounding silence enveloped the flat.

Ruban’s heart pounded at the thought of Ashwin, trapped in that castle with Janak Nath and his lackeys. Reivaa’s old castle. How many others had been held there against their will, maimed and tortured for the entertainment of monsters?

He closed his eyes. Reivaa’s fiery, silver-flecked irises burned with malice behind his eyelids. Moments later, Janak’s cold black eyes replaced Reivaa’s pearly ones. In the end, what did it matter? Reivaa had been an Aeriel, Janak Nath was as human as they came.

Monsters both, in all the ways that mattered.

“We have to find him,” Simani murmured at length, shattering the fragile silence that had, for a moment, protected them from the horrifying reality of the situation. “We have to get him out of that place.”

“But how?” Vikram’s voice was tight with consternation. “You can’t just gather your forces and raid the castle.”

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Simani opened her mouth to object, but Vikram waved her off. “That’s what you would’ve done under normal circumstances, isn’t it? As soon as you knew Janak’s location, you’d have organized a raid – descended upon the Qawirsin and rounded-up everyone and everything you could find.”

Vikram was right. That was protocol. Investigate, attack, and eliminate – that was their modus operandi. It was what they’d been trained to do.

Only, once the Hunter Corps was involved, their first priority would be to kill any Aeriels in the vicinity and dismantle the Qawirsin. After all, killing Aeriels was what Hunters were for.

Before the reinforced sifblade formula had materialized, before the mafia had become a viable threat following Tauheen’s death, the Hunter Corps had existed for one reason only. To track and kill Aeriels, wherever they could be found.

And one of the first things they’d find – once they breached the castle that was now the Qawirsin’s stronghold – was Ashwin.

Shwaan.

Battered, maimed, and incapable of defending himself.

The thought made Ruban’s stomach churn, his heart clenching painfully.

If the Hunters – his colleagues – found Ashwin during a raid, they’d kill him along with the other Aeriels in the castle. Nothing Ruban said would stop them. He knew that beyond the shadow of a doubt. Because he’d have done the same thing, just over a year ago.

“We can’t get the Hunter Corps involved.” Simani voiced the uncomfortable thought that had, by now, occurred to them all. “We have to do this on our own.”

Their eyes met, and Ruban could see his own doubts and apprehensions reflected in his partner’s grim expression. They’d be outnumbered, outgunned. Their source of information was…sketchy, at best. And they didn’t have the time to verify everything Kaheen had said so far.

They were walking half-blind into a deathtrap.

And yet, what was the alternative? The thought of Ashwin trapped in that castle, surrounded by Janak Nath and his sadistic henchmen, made nausea rise in his throat.

No, that was not an option. It never had been.

“If Kaheen doesn’t return soon, Janak will know something went wrong. That we’re on to him.” Simani was chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. “On the other hand, there’s no way in hell he’d believe that Kaheen attacked us, and somehow, we all escaped unscathed. All of us, that is, except for the Aeriel he’d sent to spy on her.”

Ruban nodded. There was no use denying it. He wouldn’t have believed that, either.

“Well, what’s the alternative?” Vikram set his empty cup down on the glass-topped coffee table. “Let Kaheen knock one of us off for the verisimilitude?”

“I could abduct one of you instead,” Kaheen offered helpfully. “That way, we all stay alive (for now). And there’ll be someone ‘on the inside’ to keep an eye on Janak and his activities, until we can get Shwaan out of there.”

“That’s what you’re there for,” Vikram pointed out.

“True, but I won’t be there much longer, if I return empty-handed after having gotten Lyhaan killed. Janak is already suspicious of me, which is why he sent Lyhaan after me in the first place. This will just confirm his suspicions. And if Janak believes I’m conspiring with Hunters, I’m as good as dead.”

Simani nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

Vikram’s eyes flashed to her face. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“Absolutely not,” Ruban agreed.

Simani waved them off. “Touching as this is, I agree with Kaheen. What she’s saying makes sense. If she takes one of us with her as a hostage, she can return to Janak’s good graces without raising any red flags. Even if we were taken by surprise, it’s not inconceivable that we’d have managed to kill one of our attackers before being subdued.”

“And Janak would never suspect that you – that any Hunter – would willingly allow yourself to be captured.” Kaheen smiled sardonically. “To try and save an Aeriel. It’d never cross his mind. I know him well enough to know that.”