Chapter 66
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Ellery
I ran past the last set of guards and was twenty feet from the end of the tunnel when I slowed. Glancing back, I didn’t see anyone, but footsteps rebounded off the walls as someone pursued me through the shadows.
Striding forward, I cautiously approached the end of the tunnel. I could have opened a portal and fled while still in the tunnel, but I had to check the forest to make sure there weren’t any nearby threats before leaving the others.
I stopped near the entrance to survey the tranquil night from the protective shadows of the cave set in the middle of a hill. Part of the reason we’d chosen this location over the others we’d scouted was because the entrance was difficult to spot.
I’d walked past this area a few times before realizing there was an opening here. With some discreet placement of fallen trees and a couple of rocks, we’d further obscured the entrance until it blended almost seamlessly in with the land.
Now, standing to the side and behind one of those fallen trees, I looked down on the forest. Night engulfed the land, and I was sure that, somewhere out there, the duke’s men crept through the woods.
However, there wasn’t an army, or even creatures, stalking up the hill toward us. Because of the colder weather, the night was more subdued than it would be in the summer, but the normal sounds of the woods continued as animals hunted and a night bird released an awful cawing noise.
“Lery,” Scarlet hissed from the shadows.
I should have known she wouldn’t let me go so easily, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue over this. My fingers twitched as I contemplated opening a portal and leaving, but I’d heard the distress in her voice and couldn’t bring myself to do that to her.
Instead, I waited and studied the forest while Scarlet, Luna, and Ianto emerged from the shadows. They moved cautiously closer as they stared over my shoulder to the woods below.
“Is there anything out there?” Luna asked.
“No. I think we’re safe here,” I assured her.
If the forest wanted us dead, it would have sent its creatures for us already. It had no reason to wait.
“Where are you going?” Ianto asked.
“There’s something I have to do,” I told him.
“You can’t be in the woods now. Even if you’re not concerned about your well-being, what about everyone down there?”
When he waved a hand at the tunnel behind him, I recalled everyone hiding in the darkness, deprived of the sun and freedom. “I’m doing this for them. It’s our only hope of survival.”
Scarlet studied me with a wary eye. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get help.”
The three of them frowned as they studied me, then Scarlet’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. “You can’t go alone.”
“Help from where?” Luna inquired. “I’ll go with you.”
“I have to go alone. I’m the only one who can do this.”
Ianto looked between me and Scarlet before shaking his head as understanding dawned. “Oh, fuck no.”
“Fuck no, what?” Luna demanded before spinning on me. “If you know someone who can help, then get them, and I will go with you. I don’t care what it takes, I’ll help you! They have Callan too. They’re hurting him too.”
Tears brimmed in her blue eyes as desperation radiated from her. My heart ached for her and her brother; I knew what she was going through, but she couldn’t come with me to do this.
“I know, and we will get him back,” I assured her, “but you can’t come with me.”
“You can’t go,” Ianto stated. “Leaving here is a really, really bad idea. What happens if they discover you? We can’t free you and Ryker.”
“No one is going to discover me,” I said. “I’m going to open a portal to the trees and let them take over from there.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you hear yourself? You’re going to let the trees take over?” he demanded. “And what if they decide to kill you?”
Luna’s head bounced between all of us as she tried to follow the conversation, but she had no idea there was a way to wake the gargoyles. We’d decided to keep that to ourselves, and Callan had upheld his end of that.
“They won’t,” I said.
Ianto threw up his hands in frustration. “Oh, so because you say it, it’s true.”
“You know it’s true too.”
Ianto glared at me, but I stayed calm. Exasperation and desperation had no place here; besides, we both knew he couldn’t stop me.
“I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t care.
If Ellery can get us help, then she should be allowed to do so,” Luna said.
“We can’t live down there forever; we’ll die.
And we can’t let Callan and the others stay in the duke’s hands.
If they’re not dea… dea…” Her voice broke on the word before she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin.
“If they’re not dead already, they’re probably wishing they were,” she whispered. “I know what those monsters can do to us, how much they can take and take until you think there’s nothing left, but my brother doesn’t, and he shouldn’t. He’s good. He’s kind. He’s… he’s…”
“Easy,” Ianto said as he rested a hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer to his side. His face scrunched as if he were in pain, and his eyes closed.
“I won’t be gone long,” I said.
“You can’t know that,” Scarlet protested. “You might not come back at all.”
“I’m coming back. When I didn’t do what the black dog wanted, the forest turned its back on me, but I’m going to do its bidding. It will keep me safe until then.”
“And after that?” Ianto demanded. “When it has no use for you anymore?”