Tower of Tempest: A Steamy Fantasy Romance (Stolen Crowns Book 3)

Chapter 37

Shadows. They swarmed me. I stood in a dark, cavernous room, drapes covering the windows with only a dim light flickering from the walls. No. I wasn’t standing. I was flying. I was part of the shadows.

They swirled like a storm, and I swirled with them. Round and round. Dizzying.

“Where is she?” a figure of darkness roared. “How could you let her escape?”

Anger. So much anger.I flew faster, feeling the wrath of this figure, his emotion rising in me with a frenzy.

Must please Master. Must make this right.

He floated in the middle of the room, golden eyes glowing, shadows draping him like a cloak. Dark wisps made up his body, covering his arms, legs, torso, and shrouding his face so that his features were wrapped in an inky black.

“Find her,” Master said in a deadly voice. “Or it will be the last thing you do. You forget I can snuff you out, take the life of you and your body.”

Where to go. Master must tell me. Where. Where.

“Her weakness,” Master murmured. “Find her weakness and that will lead you to her.”

A warm hand found mine.

Master’s voice grew distorted, his words broken and distant.

Skin so soft, hand squeezing mine, drawing me from this darkness.

No. Information. Important. Need more. Must stay and listen to Master.

The hand was so inviting, the touch sizzling through me. Then the hand pulled away, cold seeping into me.

I wanted it back. I wanted its warmth and comfort.

But Master . . .

No, the hand. That soft skin. That touch I craved. I went toward it, leaving the darkness and entering the light.

My eyes fluttered open, and Poppy stood there, looking down at me. Which should’ve been impossible. She couldn’t be here in this cage. With me. It was a dream, the most lovely dream, one that replaced the darkness I’d just felt. Something about shadows and... I shook my head, unable to remember now.

“Just slap him,” Driscoll said from behind Poppy. “He still looks out of it.”

So not a dream after all. I blinked a few times, sitting up straighter. “What in the bloody waters are you all doing here?” I demanded.

Driscoll nodded his head at me. “Oh, we just thought it would be lovely to visit the infamous sky prison.”

Leoni started pacing, the wind howling and rattling the cage. “They won’t keep us in here forever,” she said. “We’ll have an audience with the king, get to explain ourselves. He’ll recognize Loch, and we can vouch for you, Poppy. We can tell him you’re the princess. He won’t throw you in prison if the prince of the water court is on your side.”

Poppy bit her thumbnail. “Except now he thinks I’ve murdered his wife.”

“What?” I asked. “What in the spirits below happened since I got arrested last night?”

Tears sprang to Poppy’s eyes, and I came to a stand, not even thinking as I grabbed her arms and rubbed them up and down in a slow, gentle motion. “Hey, what happened?”

“My mother,” she choked out. “She—” She couldn’t get the words out before breaking into sobs again.

Leoni stepped forward. “The queen of the sky court is dead.”

“A shadow killed her,” Driscoll said. “We think it was here for Poppy.”

No. A shadow here? In the sky court? This was so much worse than we’d thought. I crushed Poppy to my chest. “I’m so sorry.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks, dampening my black silk shirt that I’d worn to the ball last night.

She pushed herself out of my arms. “The king is going to think I did it. My mother was the love of his life, and you speaking on my behalf won’t save me from his wrath.”

“But it’s our best chance at getting out of here.” Leoni’s gaze flicked to my chest. “We don’t have time to waste, Prince Lochlan.”

There was an edge to her voice that I understood all too well. I didn’t have time to waste, not when the blue lines were stretching ever closer to my heart. But everything had changed now. Poppy was in even more danger, and I would not take her near the shadow court when it was all but confirmed the shadow king wanted her.

“No,” I said, and Leoni looked up toward the sky like she might be asking the spirits for assistance in murdering me. “If there’s any chance Poppy could be arrested going before the king on my behalf, I won’t risk it.”

Driscoll raised a finger. “I hate to point out the obvious. But we’re already arrested.”

“Then we’ll figure out a way to escape,” I said.

“Really?” Driscoll threw out his arms. “Because I’m not seeing a whole lot of options.”

Just then the door burst open at the end of the long glass walkway, Erasmus appearing, a mousy blond woman behind him, nodding at Poppy as the door closed on her. He marched toward us, the chain attached to his belt rattling and clinking as it moved with him along the path.

He stopped in front of the cage, gripping it tight. “Saestra came to me, told me everything. She believes you didn’t kill the queen. Why did you run, Princess? Why did you run if you were innocent?”

“Because I was scared,” Poppy said. “I don’t have any allies here. No one except my mother... and maybe you. But I didn’t know if you’d be able to protect me from everyone else, from their suspicions.”

“Now you’re as good as dead,” he said.

My stomach hardened. “No,” I said. “I won’t accept that.”

“Ah, the prince.” Erasmus’s upper lip curled. “We caught this miscreant attempting to break into your room last night, then he claimed to be the prince of the water court.”

“Uh, who wants to tell him?” Driscoll asked.

“He is the prince of the water court,” Leoni burst out.

Erasmus rolled his eyes, but Poppy stepped forward. “It’s true. This is Lochlan Aster, prince of the water court. He was going to my room because... I told him to.”

Driscoll shot me a look that was far too interested, and I shot him a look in return that said cut it out.

Erasmus stared at me in shock. “The playboy prince... you’re telling me we arrested...” His bronze skin went ashen.

I waved away his words. “I don’t care about that. I care about her safety.” I jabbed a finger in Poppy’s direction. “If we go to the king with this information, will we be able to protect her?”

Erasmus shoved a hand through his hair. “You can’t see the king. He is not well. I’ve never seen him in this state before. He’s beside himself with grief, and the rumors are already spreading that the princess had something to do with his wife’s death. No one on this continent could get through to him right now, not even his niece. He’s ordered for Arabella to be captured and put up here until he’s ready to deal with her.”

I swore under my breath.

Driscoll whimpered. “Did no one hear me when I said prison is not a good look on me?”

“Set us free,” Leoni said to Erasmus. “I’m a former captain of the guard from the water court. Driscoll is an ambassador of the earth court. Set us free now, and we’ll come back and find a way to get Poppy out of here.”

Poppy winced as if she’d been punched. Leoni was so loyal to her position that she’d leave her friend here.

“No.” My voice was hard, and I sent a look that could kill toward the former captain of the guard. “We all leave together.”

Erasmus backed away. “I’m afraid right now, I cannot be of any help.”

No.

“Wait.” Poppy reached for him. “My mother trusted you. She wouldn’t want this. Not any of it. You know I didn’t kill her. You know I’d never do such a thing. What would I have to gain from it? Besides, I just found her. I barely got to know her...” Her voice caught in her throat, and I moved to put an arm around her.

“Don’t look down,” Erasmus said. “That’s my advice for surviving the cages. Don’t ever look down.”

With that, he walked away, his chain rattling against the walkway.

“Damnit,” Driscoll said. “Why would he say that? It’s like a mind game. If you tell me not to look down, of course I’m going to look down—Wait a minute.” His tone turned curious. “What is that?”

I sighed, looking to where he pointed to the walkway, right outside our cage. My heart thumped.

Erasmus had helped us after all.

“Is that a . . .” Leoni started.

“A key,” I finished for her.

Right there, lying in front of us, was the key to getting out of here.

The guard that was supposed to be stationed at the end of the walkway near the guard tower had disappeared, likely Erasmus’s doing. Maybe that guy wasn’t so bad after all.

An image popped into my mind, one of him sweeping Poppy around the dance floor. Nope, I still hated him.

Driscoll reached for the key and fumbled with it before finally unlocking our cage. “What do I do with this?” he asked. “Maybe we should keep it just in case.”

Leoni grabbed it from him and flung it into the air. “Are you planning on being trapped in the sky prisons again sometime soon?”

We all stared as the key dropped right onto the spiked platform below.

A gust of wind rammed into us, and we all stumbled backward.

“How are we going to get down from here without getting impaled?” Driscoll asked, then he waved his hand. “Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself. I am not talking about that kind of impaling.”

“I don’t think anyone thought you were,” I said.

“Shouldn’t we have had this conversation inside the cage instead of outside of it?” Leoni yelled, clutching onto the bar to keep from falling.

All of us followed suit, gripping the bars of the cage tight.

Prisoners from other cages began to notice and yelled out, rattling their bars and clanging against them.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but we have to figure this out. And soon. Erasmus is buying us time to escape.”

Leoni peeked down over the edge of the glass walkway. “I can create a wave,” she said.

“Well, that sounds terrifying.” Driscoll shuddered.

“Let us out!” someone shouted from the cage next to ours.

Leoni nodded. “I’ll create a wave, like a big slide, and we’ll ride it down to the castle grounds.”

It could work. It could also kill all of us. But we were running out of time.

“Maybe I can summon the wind to carry us?” Poppy offered.

From the horrified expression on Driscoll’s face, I could tell he’d rather jump right here and now than rely on her magic.

The prisoners were growing louder, creating more commotion. My gaze darted to the guard station. He’d be back any minute, and then we’d never leave this place. Or, at least, Poppy wouldn’t. Driscoll, Leoni, and I would be fine, but Poppy...

“Do it.” I nodded at Leoni. “Create the wave.”

The wind barreled into us.

“Won’t the wind blow it away?” Poppy asked, eyes wide with fear that I wished I could soothe. All of a sudden, the wind died down.

“Saestra,” Poppy breathed.

The king’s niece, whom my mother had been trying to convince me to marry before I went to the shadow court. The mousy woman stood on a glass bridge far below us, holding out her hands, doing what she could to control the wind.

“We have to go now,” I said.

Leoni didn’t hesitate, flinging out her hands. Water unfurled, rolling out like a carpet, sweeping all the way to the castle grounds down below.

“It will hold us,” Leoni said. “I’ll make sure of it as long as she continues to control the wind.”

Without another word, she jumped onto the wave, sliding down.

“I’m going to regret this.” Driscoll jumped after her.

Poppy stared, horrified.

“You can do this,” I said to her. “Think of it this way. If we die, you’ll never get to see my face again. That would be a real tragedy.” I winked, and she let out a laugh of disbelief right as Driscoll screamed.

“This is the worst thing I’ve ever done,” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The door to the guard’s tower clicked open, and all I saw was a sliver of feathers before I grabbed Poppy and yanked her right off the walkway. We tumbled down onto the wave, water splashing our faces, soaking our clothes. The cold wind seeped into me, and I clutched Poppy tighter as we slid down, down, down. Driscoll and Leoni had already reached the bottom near the castle grounds. Shouts rang out from above us, and I looked up to see sky elementals staring at us from windows, bridges, towers—from every part of the spirits-damned castle. Saestra had disappeared, but she’d allowed us to get this far, and we wouldn’t waste that gift. I didn’t even have time to think about why she was helping us.

Poppy swiped her hand left and right, keeping the wind at bay and keeping us from falling to our deaths. The wave dissipated under us, Leoni’s power weakening, and we fell the short distance to the grassy land in front of the towering castle.

“There!” a guard yelled from the doors as they banged open. All they’d have to do was cross the glass drawbridge that stretched over a moat, and they’d be upon us.

I wrung the water from my shirt, heart pounding. I wished I had my magic. Wished I could help in some way.

Winded seemed so far below.

“What are we going to do?” Leoni yelled as more guards rushed from the castle doors and straight toward us.

“We’re going to jump,” I said firmly. “And Poppy is going to get us to the city.”

“That’s not a plan!” Driscoll screeched.

Poppy swallowed, terror flashing in her eyes.

“It’s the only one we’ve got,” I said and looked at her.

She nodded, so I did the only thing I could: I jumped.

It was a free fall.

We tumbled through the sky, the wind whipping around us with a frenzy, the chilly air soaking straight into my bones, turning them leaden with ice.

Driscoll and Leoni screamed next to me, arms and legs flailing. This might have been the stupidest thing I’d ever done. And I’d done so many stupid things.

But no. I believed in Poppy. I knew she could do this.

The ground was approaching with an alarming speed, and I wrenched my head to look at Poppy as she flung out her hands. All of a sudden, I was floating, the wind like a cushion under me, under all of us.

“Fucking fuck!” Driscoll yelled. “What in the fucking bloody-ass earth was that?” He glared at me and Poppy. “That just aged me a good ten years! Ten!”

“At least you’re alive,” Leoni pointed out. “So maybe you look ten years older, but you know, some guys dig the older man look.”

Driscoll gave her a look that could wither a person on the spot. “If I were feeling up for it right now, I’d ask if that’s your fantasy: older men, but I don’t even want to know. That’s how bad this experience has been.”

“Um,” Poppy said, hands out, sweat trickling down the sides of her face despite the cool air. “I don’t know how to make us move.”

I realized then that we were suspended. Not flattened on the ground like bugs, but also not moving toward said ground.

“Just think about what you want the magic to do,” I said. “Command the wind to do your bidding.”

She swallowed.

“We’re totally fucked,” Driscoll said, and I shot him a look that told him he better shut up or he would be.

For once, his mouth snapped closed.

From above, guards started swooping down, their wings pumping with a fury. Panic flashed across Poppy’s face.

“Just pull at that string and shape it into what you want,” I said, keeping my voice calm and steady.

“I don’t think I can,” Poppy said, eyes darting up toward the guards. “Spirit Sky doesn’t know me, doesn’t trust me to wield his magic—” She couldn’t even get the words out, her breathing so erratic.

Wind roared above us, slowing the guards and their descent, but they’d be upon us soon.

“We have to move!” Driscoll yelled.

“You can do this,” Leoni pleaded with her.

Poppy took a deep breath, then opened her closed fists and pushed them down.

And we dropped, the cushion around us gone, no longer keeping us safe.

“I’m sorry,” Poppy yelled, staring at her hands in shock. It hadn’t been fair to expect this of her. She’d only just started using her magic a month ago.

“We’re gonna die,” Driscoll screamed at the top of his lungs. “I’m sorry I said you were annoying!” he shouted to Leoni.

“You didn’t!” she shouted back.

“Oh, right. That was behind your back.”

“Driscoll, use your magic!” I yelled. “A vine.”

“It’s a beanstalk!” he shouted. “Honestly, no respect for earth magic and its intricacies.” He twisted his hand up with a force.

A rumble split the air as a beanstalk shot up between us, all of us grasping for it. Driscoll managed to grab onto it, Leoni right above him, and me below them both. Poppy. Where was Poppy?

She continued to fall, her hair flying up in a wild tangle around her.

“No,” I said, reaching for her. No, no, no, no.

It struck me in that moment. I couldn’t lose her. It was simple, really. A life without Poppy wasn’t a life I was interested in living. That was all it took to make me let go.

“Prince Lochlan,” Leoni screamed while Driscoll commanded the beanstalk to shrink.

I dove through the sky, twisting my body so that I could catch her. At least if we were falling to our deaths, we’d be falling together. Spirits below. This was the type of thing Gabby would do, reckless and without thinking. I could hear her voice in my head.

Finally. You’re taking something seriously.

By luck or sheer willpower, my body tumbled into Poppy’s, and I grasped her tight in my arms.

“What are you doing?” she screamed, twisting in my arms, her wings flapping to no avail.

“Saving you?” I said.

“I’m not worth saving.”

Her words broke something in me. She couldn’t truly believe that. But now wasn’t the time to convince her otherwise.

The beanstalk continued to shrink next to us, the ground coming ever closer. The guards were far above us still, not able to fly nearly as fast as we were falling. But it didn’t matter. We’d be dead before they reached us.

If only I had my shadow. If only I could access my magic. I squeezed Poppy tighter, and she curled into me, even as the wind raged around us.

Then, it all stopped, and we hung in the sky once again. My stomach slowly sank back to where it belonged in my body, my heart thumping hard with adrenaline. I looked down to see Driscoll and Leoni below us, standing on the ground, Driscoll commanding the beanstalk to grab us. It wrapped around our waists and gently lowered us until our feet touched the ground. We both stumbled out of the beanstalk’s hold and onto the stone street, mostly empty as dusk fell over the city.

The guards yelled out far above, swooping downward, flying as fast as their wings allowed against the rough winds.

Driscoll groaned. “Don’t tell me I saved all our asses just for them to get us.”

“In the alleyway.” I pointed between two domed buildings, and we ducked into the alleyway, all of us running around the corner, then twisting through small streets. The guards’ shouts rang out in the distance, their calls to find us echoing through the air.

We had to find a hiding place. But where? I didn’t know this city well enough like I did my own home. Didn’t know the places you could disappear.

“Psst,” a voice said.

My head snapped up, and I looked at a carriage being pulled by horses right at the end of the alley we stood in. “In here,” the woman said, beckoning for us, a thick, white fur coat cloaking her.

Poppy moved forward, but I held out an arm.

“Who are you?” I called.

Driscoll threw out his arms. “If she’s a serial killer, then you know what? I think at this point, our fate is just to die. I’m cold, I’m tired, and I desperately need a drink.”

“He’s getting hangry,” Leoni said out the side of her mouth.

Poppy grabbed my arm. “Emory!” She looked at me. “It’s okay. I know her. She’ll help us.”

“Hurry.” The woman beckoned again, and we wasted no time, all of us filing into her carriage, out of sight, and safe at last.

We’d broken out of the castle, defied death, and were safe with someone Poppy trusted. I should’ve been happy. Ecstatic. But as I stared at Poppy with her windblown hair, tear-streaked cheeks, and furrowed brows, I knew something in her was broken, and this time, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fix it.