Someone behind them started clapping.
Cassandra turned to see a man who dwarfed her. Standing somewhere near seven feet in height, he was gorgeous. Blond and slender, he appeared to be around her age.
"Nice speech, princess. It changes nothing."
Cassandra narrowed her gaze on him. "Then how about a good ass-kicking?"
He actually laughed. "You're pregnant."
"Not that pregnant." She shot one of the daggers from her wrist at the man. It embedded in the wall just past his head.
His face lost all humor.
"The next one goes into your heart."
"Cassie, stop!" Phoebe commanded, grabbing her arm.
Cassandra shrugged off her hold. "No. I've spent the whole of my adulthood putting any Daimon or Apollite who made the mistake of coming after me out of his misery. If you think for one minute Kat and I can't tear down this place to free Wulf, then you need to think again."
"And if you die?" the man asked.
"Then we all lose."
He gazed at her thoughtfully. "You're bluffing."
Cassandra exchanged a determined look with Kat.
"You know I'm always itching for a good fight." Kat pulled her fighting staff out of her coat pocket and extended it.
The man's nostrils flared as he saw them preparing to engage him. "This is how you repay my kindness for sheltering you?"
"No," Cassandra said with a calmness she didn't feel. "This is how I repay the man who protects me. I won't see Wulf kept like this after all he's done."
She expected the man to fight, instead he stepped back and bowed his head respectfully toward her.
"She does have the courage of a Spathi."
"I told you so," Phoebe said, her face shining with pride.
The man offered them a slight smile. "Go inside with Phoebe, princess, and I will have your Dark-Hunter brought to you."
Cassandra eyed him suspiciously, not sure if she should trust him or not. "Promise?"
"Yes."
Still skeptical, Cassandra looked at her sister. "Can I put any faith in that?"
"You can. Shanus is our Supreme Councilor. He never lies."
"Phoebe," Cassandra said sincerely, "look at me."
She did.
"Tell me the truth. Are we safe here?"
"Yes, I swear it by everything I hold dear-even Urian's life. You are here because Stryker will never think to look in an Apollite commune for you. Every one of us here knows that if your baby dies, so does the world. And our lives, such as they are, are still precious to us. Twenty-seven years to the people here is better than none at all."
Cassandra took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."