Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Adeep grinding sound echoes across the stone ground as the door is pulled open. The sound of it makes my hair stand on end. For some reason, it feels like the door to hell was just opened.
But no demons pour across the threshold to attack me. Only rows and rows of books are visible inside the door.
Snapping out of the strange apprehension, I shift my gaze to Isera and Orion. “Ready?”
They nod.
There are two reasons why we needed Nysara to glamour them to look like Bane and Jessina.
The first reason was to make sure the guards obeyed.
The second reason is to make sure that Lavendera obeys.
She would never leave with us voluntarily, but if the Icehearts order her to go with us, she will surely do it.
“I’ll keep watch,” Alistair says before casting a worried look up at the sky. “But hurry.”
Most of the dragons have flown out across the plains now to meet the supposed clans who are attacking. But it won’t be long before they figure out that it’s all a lie.
After giving him a nod, I dart across the threshold and into the library. Isera and Orion stride in after me, making sure to stick to their Iceheart personas.
Since there are no windows in the library, the ceiling is full of glowing crystals.
I flick a glance up at them, expecting them to be faelights.
But they’re not. They look… older. More organic.
They only give off a low golden glow, but since the ceiling is full of them, they emit enough light to see by.
My heart slams against my ribs as I run across the smooth stone floor to check the nearest aisle.
It’s empty. Only tall bookcases packed with tomes stare back at me.
I continue towards the next one. And then the next one. And the next.
All of them are empty.
Dread crashes over me as I sprint back across the floor, checking each aisle again.
“What?” Orion calls in Bane’s voice from where they are standing in the middle of the open space at the front of the library.
I can barely hear him over the pounding in my ears even though the rest of the library is dead silent. Swallowing down a flash of panic, I finish checking each aisle before I turn panicked eyes towards him.
“She’s not here,” I say.
Their mouths drop open.
“What?” Orion presses out again. “What do you mean she’s not here?”
“It’s empty. There’s no one here. It looks like no one has even been here—”
“Guards are coming!” Alistair bellows into the library.
I snap my gaze towards the door and then drag in an unsteady breath as a sudden realization hits me like a punch to the gut.
This is a trap.
After what happened in the Seelie Court, they knew that we were targeting Lavendera. So they deliberately spread the word among their elite soldiers that she was being kept in here, knowing that we would break in.
Dread pulses through my veins as I stare at the impenetrable stone walls around me.
An isolated building with no windows and only one door that leads out. It’s the perfect place for an ambush. And we walked right into it.
“Alistair,” I yell. “Get in here.” Without waiting for an answer, I whirl around to face Isera and Orion. “Go out there and tell them that we have already escaped down into the city. If Lavendera isn’t here, she must be in the castle.”
While Alistair skids into the library, Isera and Orion hurry across the polished stone floor before slowing to a more regal walk as they reach the door. Grabbing Alistair’s arm, I yank him out of sight right before our fake Icehearts stride out across the threshold.
“They have already escaped,” Orion yells in Bane’s voice. “They disappeared down into the city. Find them!”
“But sir,” a hesitant voice replies from somewhere outside. “Earlier, you told us—”
“Are you disobeying orders, soldier?”
“N-no,” he stammers. “Sir.”
“Then do as I said.”
Boots thud against the ground as the people outside rush to obey the orders. I breathe a sigh of relief and sneak up to the door.
“It’s clear,” Isera says. “Let’s go.”
Alistair and I dart out through the door.
This high up, I can see out across the city and the plains beyond.
Silver dragons are flying out over the grasslands in every direction.
It won’t be long now before they realize that no one is out there.
And once they do, they will fly straight back to the city.
That is when Draven, Lyra, and Galen will be forced to shift and shoot up into the sky in their dragon forms right above the city to draw the Silver Clan’s attention while we find Lavendera.
If that happens, someone is bound to get hurt. So we need to find her first.
“They must be keeping her inside the Ice Palace,” I repeat while panic pulses inside me like crackling lightning. “We need to—”
“More soldiers are coming!” Alistair yells.
My heart leaps into my throat as I whip my head around and stare in the direction he is pointing. Ice sinks into my stomach. He’s right. An entire hoard of Silver Clan soldiers is sprinting towards us from the direction of the barracks.
“Run!” Isera snaps.
We take off across the stone ground and up the path towards the Ice Palace. I know that Isera and Orion could probably fool this next group as well, but we can’t afford to get bogged down here. We need to find Lavendera before Draven is forced to shift in order to buy us time.
My breath rasps through my throat, which still stings from the acidic bile I vomited earlier, as I sprint up the path that has been cut into the mountain.
Isera’s glittering silver dress streams behind her as she runs in front of me while Orion is bringing up the rear.
Alistair and I stay in the middle where we will be least visible.
I have no idea what the soldiers below are thinking of this strange display from their emperor and empress, and I barely dare to turn around to look.
Blood pounds in my ears as I push my legs hard while hurtling up the mountainside. I suck in deep breaths.
“They’ve stopped at the library,” Orion calls from behind. The damn Unseelie King doesn’t even have the decency to sound out of breath. “It looks like they’re busy securing the building.”
“Good,” I rasp between heavy breaths.
“A detour like this wasn’t part of the plan,” Isera says from the front as we crest the hill and the side gate that is set into the high defensive walls becomes visible before us. “We’re running out of time. Ryat and the others will be forced to shift in the next twenty minutes or so.”
A desperate noise slips past my lips. I don’t want to watch my mate battle hoards of dragons practically on his own again.
“Open the gate!” Isera commands.
The dragon shifter who is guarding the side gate leaps to attention. After fumbling with his keys, he shoves the gate open right before we reach it. When I run past him, I flick one glance at his face.
My heart jerks when I realize that it’s the same guard who I tricked so many times when I was a prisoner here.
Which means that he recognizes me as well.
His mouth drops open when he sees my face, and he immediately starts reaching for his sword.
But I was already moving. While sprinting in through the gate, I slash my dagger across his throat.
I watch him gurgle in a breath before crumpling to the ground, blood streaming down from the wound across his throat.
I feel absolutely no sense of guilt or regret whatsoever.
For a moment, I was worried that my little breakdown in the Osteria house would have made me revert back into that insecure girl who wrung her hands about everything.
So I’m relieved to find that it hasn’t. I’m still willing to be a ruthless villain in order to win.
I just won’t wipe out an entire clan full of people for crimes they haven’t committed once we do win.
“Friend of yours?” Orion says from behind as we run across the castle grounds.
“He knew exactly who I was,” I reply, my voice hard and unapologetic. “And I’m not taking any chances.”
“Look at that. I think I’m rubbing off on you all.”
“Focus,” Isera growls from the front.
“Then I have another question,” Orion continues. “This is a big castle. How are we going to find one little fae in it?”
“We should split up.” She casts a glance at us over her shoulder. “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” I reply. “But Alistair and I won’t be able to make it far once we’re indoors. Even if there is chaos inside, there will be guards around the Icehearts’ private quarters.”
“I’ll handle those.” She shifts her gaze to Orion. “You’re not familiar with the layout of the castle, but I trust you can find the throne room at least?”
“Of course.” He gives her a look full of challenge. “I’m a king.”
“I’ll take the kennels,” Alistair says. “That’s where they kept her last time we were here. Mabona knows they don’t treat her very well, so they might be keeping her locked up there now as well.”
“Good point.” I drag in another deep breath before I can manage to say, “There’s a dungeon underneath the castle too. I was locked up in it at one point, so I know where to find it. I’ll check that.”
“We don’t have much time, though,” Orion says, his voice now dead serious.
“I know. Draven and—”
“It’s not just that. These glamours that Nysara created are so complex and detailed that it is draining a lot of her magic. I’d say we have less than thirty minutes before it runs out.”
Alarm shoots up my spine. Without these glamours, we will never get Lavendera to come with us. Let alone get out of the city without being killed.
“Alright.” Isera sweeps her gaze over us. “So we meet back here outside this door in fifteen minutes. No matter what.”
We all nod in agreement.
Yanking open one of the side doors, we barrel into the Ice Palace and immediately take off in separate directions.