Prologue

~~~LOKI~~~~~~

The club beamed with life as the worst kind of people came out of the woodwork to place bets or drink themselves sloppy.

The smell of alcohol and iniquity permeated the air as fae and humans alike bustled with sinful excitement.

Hybern had always been a place of tricksters and thieves, after the death of their king cities like Ketterdam turned into palaces of chaos and ruin. 

With no more sovereign to care, greed swept through the land and left no one untouched. 

The door of the crow club swung open and the roaring crowd quieted as they who entered the main room.

Loki Brekker was a name not many good people knew, but it was burned into the hearts of the bad ones. 

The bastard of the barrel, queen of thieves, and leader of the crows, a group of criminals who would sacrifice any of their morals for a quick buck.

She didn't miss a step as all eyes focused on the criminal queen.

Inej, a shadow singer and Brekker's right hand, dutifully followed behind making their way through the parted crowd.

Each of the crows acknowledged their boss's arrival, muscles slightly stiffer than they had been a few seconds prior.

As she made her way into her office, the crowd relaxed once again reveling in their merriment. 

Inej closed the door behind them, blocking out the roaring noise of the crowd. The moment the door latch caught a knock sounded at the door. 

Loki and Inej both let out a sigh of exhaustion, no rest for the wicked. 

With a nod of Loki's head, Inej opened the door. 

Jesper stumbled in, clearly well past tipsy. "Welcome back, boss! Listen I got some high fae out here who's been wanting to talk with you since noon. Says he's gotta job." The slur of his words did not hide the clear excitement in his eyes. 

Loki's gloved fingers expertly spin a pen in her hand trying to subdue the forming headache, "This better be fuckin' good, Jesper. Send him in." 

With a nod, Jesper stumbled back into the main room only to return a minute later with a high fae male. 

He was tall, his white hair perfectly combed and his clothes screamed wealth, a dangerous look to be sporting when walking around the barrel. 

Though he was physically a lot bigger than Loki, the fae nearly cowered when her steel grey eyes picked him apart. 

She looked at him like she was trying to figure out just how much money each of his body parts would be worth on the black market. 

A chill shot down his spine as the quiet continued to weigh down on the room, though Loki looked completely at ease still spinning her pen. 

"U-Um... You are Loki Brekker I assume." The voice that usually held such calm, shook without his permission in the presence of the intimidating female. 

"You'd assume right. I don't have all day so what is it you want?" The man was startled by the venomous rasp in her voice, making him sink back into his chair slightly.

"M-my name is Jack Malak, I have a job for you and your crows." He said, trying to regain as much confidence as his racing heart would allow. 

Loki didn't speak and the fae took that as a sign to continue. 

"I met my mate you see. B-but she is human. I love her, miss Brekker, but with each passing year, she grows closer to death. I can not imagine a world that she is not in!"

"How touching... Get to the part where I do something and you pay me." Loki's sarcastic response had a warning edge that whispered Do not waste my time, you will get no empathy here. 

"I will pay you 50 million, upon completion...I want you to steal a vial of water from inside the cauldron. I want to turn my mate fae." 

Loki held her tongue to the very likely possibility that just drinking the water wouldn't work. But 50 million was a life-changing number, one that no greedy bastard like Loki could pass up. She thought about waiting a week and then handing the male a random vial of water to collect the reward. 

As if reading her thoughts the male continued, "I warn you, I will ask you to make a fae promise that whatever vial you hand me is what I have asked for, so none of your tricks... I know there is a chance it will not work... but she is my mate, and I will do anything to keep her by my side."

A beat of silence as Loki thought of all the possible ways that such a task could go wrong. A quick glance at Inej and she knew that 50 million could not be passed up. 

"Alright, Mr. Malak... I need you to swear to the caldron on yours and your mate's lives that upon receiving the vial of water from the cauldron you will pay us 50 million immediately." 

Jack's eyes brightened with hope as he jumped at the chance to swear his oath. 

Jesper escorted the male out of the office, most likely having had his ear pressed against the door the whole time. 

"Well...?" Inej began. 

"Get Nina. You, me, and her are headed to the Prythian Night Court at dawn." Loki answered standing from her reclined position. 

"What do you need from the night court?"

"Just need to pick up a book, that's all."

Inej looked at the girl she called her boss like she had finally lost it. "A book?"

Loki smirked before walking past her wraith, Inej, "Move your ass, Wraith! Make sure Nina is sober enough to winnow!" 

With that she disappeared up the stairs to create her alphabet of back put plans, leaving Inej alone.

~~~~~NYX~~~~~

Nyx expertly dodged the punches his cousin threw at him. It was clear that Finch was slowing down his movements for his benefit and it was pissing the young heir to the night court off royally. 

Cassian, General and Finch's father, watched the boys fight carefully analyzing where they need to improve. 

While Nyx was an amazing fighter, he was nowhere close to the prodigy that was Finch. As the son of a high lord and the high Lady Feyre Cursbreaker, in overall power Nyx would dominate. But when it came to physical capability no one in Prythian (Besides the inner circle) could best Finch Archeron. 

Cassian's eyes glazed over and it was clear he was listening to Rhysand mentally, before pulling back into focus.

"Alright, boys! That's it for today. Make your way back to the House of Winds, we got family dinner soon." Cassian ordered, putting away the equipment they had been using. 

Nyx's chest heaved with exhaustion, his onyx hair stuck to the sweat on his forehead. 

"Not bad for an old man!" Finch joked, punching Nyx in the arm. 

Nyx was only a year and a half older than Finch, but his troublesome cousin never let him live it down that he was an 'old man'. 

"Shut up. When you get to be my age, it gets harder to keep up with you young folks." Nyx shot back, his cocky smirk on full display. Finch roared with obnoxious laughter pushing his best friend away from him. 

They made their way up to the house of Winds, magically clearing themselves of the sweat and dirt on their skin. 

As they entered the dining room, Nesta, Cassian, Feyre, Rhysand, Amren, and Mor were already seated. 

"Finally! Can we eat now?" Mor groaned in playful annoyance. 

"Where is uncle Azriel?" Nyx asked, sitting in the seat in between his mother and Amren.

"He's looking into the disturbances... That's actually what I called the family meeting for." Rhysands voice was serious, making everyone sit a little straighter in worry. 

"There is an arising threat... Xesha, a fae kingdom north of Hybern is looking to expand... We worry they want..." Rhys hesitated. 

"Want what?" the worry in Mor's voice was clear as the words. 

Feyre finished, taking her mate's hand, "War... we worry there might be another war."