28. Wolf
Chapter 28
Wolf
H untyr fell asleep before the moon was high. I waited, listening to the soothing sounds of her breathing until I was certain she wouldn't wake up.
She was a damn light sleeper, too. I learned that much in Moira.
The castle was quiet as I snuck through the empty halls. Being the night before the equinox celebration, everyone was likely resting to prepare. The equinox celebration sometimes lasted three entire days and nights, with way too much drinking and dancing and very little sleeping.
It was what made this plan almost possible.
I reached the main entrance of the castle and waited, not yet revealing myself, not yet approaching those large doors.
Tonight, I wouldn't be navigating through The Golden City. No, I would be walking through the underground tunnels.
I made sure the coast was clear, made sure I didn't hear footsteps or conversations lingering from the guards outside, and I ducked to the right.
There was a small hallway here that was almost never used. Servants to the archangels used it back in the day, back when The Golden City was actually a home for the elite fae and angels of Vaehatis. But servants here were now very few. Luseyar was one of the only my father allowed in his presence, and he was mostly used as a bodyguard.
These small, dark hallways were abandoned now, which made them perfect for me tonight.
My feet were light and silent, these tunnels much easier to navigate now that I no longer had black wings scraping the stone walls on either side. Still, every one of my senses was on high alert. My ears strained in the silence, looking for any threat.
My heart raced too. I wasn't one to get nervous easily, but this?
This wasn't just about me. Huntyr's life was on the line. Jessiah's life was on the line.
Hells, the whole damn kingdom was at stake.
Because when the equinox began tomorrow, when Huntyr prepared to swear herself to me and I to her, it wouldn't just be the wedding.
The rebellion was going to kill Asmodeus.
I made my way further and further into the tunnels, until the stone under my feet turned to dirt and sand, until the air went dry, unmoving, until spider webs and insects littered the walls.
"Took you long enough," Nathan started. "I was beginning to think you changed your mind."
I walked into the room with dimly lit lanterns, the same room Nathan and I had been meeting in since I got back from Moira with Huntyr.
It was safer than the pub, safer than anywhere else in the city with wandering eyes. It was certainly the only place safe enough to plan something so damn idiotic.
"Change my mind?" I questioned. "This is the only way to protect the kingdom, Huntyr, myself, and every damn person living within the walls of The Golden City. I'm not changing my mind; you can count on that much."
He eyed me for a second longer before nodding. "Good, because we have a lot to talk about tonight."
"Is everything ready on your end?" I asked. "You have the rebels ready?"
It sounded so barbaric, but as Nathan and I talked about the safest way to get Asmodeus out of power, that's what we became.
Rebels.
"They're ready and eager. As soon as the ceremony is in full swing, we'll wait for Asmodeus to be distracted, and then, we'll attack."
"Good." I kept my voice strong and unwavering. Nathan did too, although I could hear how fast his heart was beating now that we were discussing the attack.
We spent months planning this, waiting for the right moment, hiding it from everybody.
It was time to act or risk all of us dying before we got another chance.
"What about you?" Nathan asked. "You're really ready to kill your own father?"
I looked him in the eye so he would understand me clearly when I said, "I’ve been ready to kill that man since he laid eyes on her."
Nathan nodded.
"Please tell me you know for certain that this will really end him. Archangels are tough to kill for a reason."
Nathan pushed himself back and began pacing the dark room. Orange light cast shadows on his dark face as he thought, hands tightening on his hips. "My people have gone to the damn edges of Vaehatis looking for the right answer. All our sources say the same thing. Huntyr's magic combined with the angel sword will do the trick."
Huntyr’s magic, we had, but the angel sword? There was only one I knew of in existence, and Luseyar wielded it himself. It was the same sword that sliced my wings from my body. How the rebels planned on retrieving it, I had no idea.
"And if you're wrong?"
He stopped pacing and looked at me. "If I'm wrong, we're all dead. But we’re running out of options here."
We stood for the next few minutes in silence. Nathan continued pacing near the back wall while I leaned against the cold stone with my arms crossed over my chest. Goddess help us if we were wrong about this.
The ways to kill an archangel were anything but common knowledge. Most of my life, I thought it impossible to kill them. They were stronger than angels. Older. More powerful. But the way my father was continuing had to be stopped. This evil could not continue in this world any longer, and I couldn't fucking live with myself if I let it.
"You protect her at all costs, Nathan," I said after a while. "She's the key to all of this. She has to stay alive no matter what."
He faced me with serious eyes. "She's our queen. All of us will gladly protect her with our lives, Wolf. Trust me on that."
I bit my cheek to stop the stream of threats that lingered in my mind. He had to keep her alive. No matter what happened, no matter if we succeeded tomorrow or failed, Huntyr would live.