1. Tezya
ONE
TEZYA
This was a suicide mission. I was all too aware it was downright stupid to let Scotlind talk me into rescuing Sie, not that it took much convincing. I didn’t give a shit what her annoying blonde friend wanted, but the moment she wanted it… I knew I’d do anything she asked.
I was terrified of what would happen next—terrified if we would even make it out alive. I knew our chances of getting caught were just as likely as getting killed.
My brain kept playing out different scenarios. I wasn’t sure what would be worse—having them throw us into the prison or hand us over to the Lux King. I’d heard horror stories of the prison, but there was no way the King was getting his hands on Rumor ever again…
She hadn’t spoken to me since the first day on the balcony when we arrived in Florida, and even then, her words were few and far between and every last one laced with anger. It was torment. I was terrified she wouldn’t forgive all my lies. Not that she should. I didn’t deserve it.
I rubbed the scab over my palm, which I found myself doing more times than I could count. I knew we had to rescue Sie. My feelings aside, it was what Scottie wanted, what she needed . She felt guilty about his imprisonment. I could see it in her eyes. She was determined to get him back, and she’d do it with or without my help.
But what ate at me the most was if by some miracle we did succeed… What would happen then? What if she wanted him? If she chose him over me—
I gritted my teeth as I closed my palm over my scar. I’d accept it if she wanted Sie back in more ways than one.
“What’s your plan?” I asked Peter. “You said you can scope out the prison without getting caught, so how do you plan on doing it?” The male had fully recovered, and I found I liked him unconscious better. He never stopped talking and was enjoying the tension between Scotlind and me too much.
“Go in the trench as a fish, turn into a fly or a spider or whatever small creature I fancy once I get down there, scope it out, then come back up. Easy-peasy.”
He made a motion of a spider crawling with his fingers, and I had to stifle a laugh to even take him seriously.
“You are talking about breaking into the most heavily guarded place of our kind. I wouldn’t call it easy-peasy ,” Dovelyn snapped.
Dove and Kallon came to the Florida condo yesterday. I was thankful they were willing to help, no questions asked, even if neither of them agreed with it. Dove told us the King hadn’t noticed our disappearances yet. Thanks to her cover story and her threats to Arcane, we had a week, maybe two, before he would figure it out.
Peter turned to my sister and smiled, two dimples indenting his silken cheeks. “I’m just having a look. People only notice things when they suspect something. Besides, I’ve snuck into council meetings you had with your father-king, and you never noticed.”
Dovelyn glared at Peter. She’d been lying on the sofa, the perfect image of cool indifference, but I knew she was anything but. “If you ever spy on me again,” her gaze narrowed, “I will remove your eyes from your skull and your tongue from your throat so you can never—”
“Enough bickering,” Kallon interrupted. “If Peter wants to scope out the prison and put his life at risk, then let him. Rescuing Sie is already near impossible, so if he can gather any intel, it will only help us.”
Peter just nodded, having complete dumb faith in himself.
“How long can you stay shifted?” I asked, not sharing any confidence in his skills.
“About twenty to twenty-four hours. It depends on what I shift into and how many shifts I make.”
“Shift as little as possible then. The prison is located at the bottom of what the mortals call the Mariana Trench. It leads to the deepest part of the ocean. The passage is shielded from portal and teleport users, so the only way in or out is to swim. Kallon can portal you to the surface where the opening of the trench is, but from there, you’ll have to go down on your own.”
I could tell he wasn’t taking this seriously. He wasn’t even looking at me as I talked. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I warned. I didn’t particularly care what happened to him, but I knew Scottie did, and it would break her if he didn’t come back. “I don’t care what you see down there,” I added. “You scope out the prison, learn the guard rotation for as long as you can, and then you get out. Don’t rescue Sie on your own, even if you find him.”
Peter glared at me, and I knew it was something that crossed his mind. It would kill him to see Sie and not be able to save him right away. Not that Peter was even capable of rescuing him. He didn’t possess air or water elemental abilities. An Advenian without those powers wouldn’t survive the swim without an air shield over their face. But I didn’t put it past him to convince Sie to compel an air guard and still attempt the rescue himself. “I mean it, Peter. You’ll only get yourself killed if you try to do this on your own.”
“Alright,” he finally agreed before turning toward Scottie. She had been surprisingly silent throughout the whole conversation, taking everything in.
“Please be safe,” she said softly to him. Then even softer she whispered, “I can’t lose you too.”
He pulled her into a hug, tucking his head into her neck, before he smirked. “Well, now I guess I have to come back since I’m so important to you and all.” She laughed, the sound more of a sob being muffled through tears. “I’ll see you in about twenty hours,” he said as he stepped out of her grip.
Peter turned toward where Kallon was lurking in the corner. Her hair was braided out of her face. Today it was black and saffron, the two colors mixing in intricate twists behind her back. She was armed with hidden daggers in case anything went awry. Peter had just as many, and I prayed he knew how to use them. Not that it would do much against all the guards in the prison. They were the most lethal and powerful Advenians from both the Tennebrisian guard and the Luxian army. Only the top of each took shifts watching over the prisoners.
Before Brock became second in command, he used to get rotated down there, which was the only reason I knew anything about it, but he barely went into details. He hated it, claimed over and over it was the most horrid, fucked up place imaginable. A pang of guilt rang through me.
I prayed Rainer was able to find him—not because he knew the prison layout better than anyone, and we wouldn’t have to go in blindly if he were here—I honestly didn’t give a shit if Brock wanted to sit this one out or not. I just needed him to be okay.
I shook my head, knowing Brock, he’d offer to help even if he could barely stand up straight.
I tried not to think about the constant torture he was most likely enduring just because of his association to us. He didn’t deserve whatever he was going through. Everything that’s happened in his life has been from taking on punishments for things he didn’t do, and I fucking hated that I was now adding to the list.
“You ready?” Kallon asked Peter as she came up behind him.
They disappeared before he could nod, leaving a trail of black and purple smoke in their wake.
I didn’t think things could get any more tense as Rumor, Dovelyn, and I ate breakfast the next morning. Twenty-six hours had passed, and they should have been back by now.
“You know we have to leave today. Whether they come back or not. We can’t stay and wait for them,” Dove said as she took a sip from her glass.
Scottie’s plate was untouched. She hadn’t eaten anything since Kallon and Peter left yesterday. She set her fork down—which she was only using to move food around her plate—and glared at Dovelyn. “You can leave whenever you want. The door is there, but I’m staying and waiting for them.”
Dovelyn’s icy eyes turned to her. “Don’t you dare order me around in my house.”
“This isn’t your house. It’s Tezya’s, and I’m not ordering you. I’m informing you where the door is. Unless you want to use the balcony again. Feel free to fly away. Whichever you prefer.”
“Well, you’re a bitch this morning. All I was saying is that the King is bound to notice you and the blonde’s disappearances, and if he realizes it earlier than anticipated, and you’re still here, you’ll regret it when he finds you. We already agreed before Kal and your friend left that we’re leaving the condo tonight. This is the first place he’s going to look for you, and it’s foolish to wait here any longer. ”
“Don’t pretend to care about me,” Scottie snapped. I was surprised to see so much loathing in her voice. I knew the two of them never got along, but this was different.
“I don’t,” Dovelyn said casually, “but my brother does, and I care for him.”
“Is that really all you’re worried about? That your brother would be sad if I was gone?” Scottie nodded her head toward me but didn’t turn her gaze away from Dovelyn. “Or are you worried that if I’m captured, I’d join your father? I overheard the conversation you had with Tezya. I think you used the phrase I will turn against him .”
Holy shit. Everything stilled. Dovelyn actually stopped eating to glare at Scotlind.
“No? You don’t want to talk about that?” Scottie sneered into the silence with a surprising amount of coolness in her voice. Dove and I were still speechless. “How about we talk about the fact that you were the reason I was sent to Tennebris. Did you murder my parents?”
Fuck. That confirmed she overheard everything . My mind whirled. How long had that been stirring inside her?
“What? No, of course I didn’t kill them. I wouldn’t do that,” Dove deadpanned.
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t kill your parents.”
“Then why don’t you enlighten me?”
Dovelyn said nothing.
“No? You don’t want to talk about that either?” Scottie huffed. “Tell me, what other secrets are the two of you hiding?”
I felt gutted, finally understanding the full extent of her anger. I promised I wouldn’t keep anything else from her, but I lied. Again.
I was about to explain when Kallon and Peter portaled back. They were both drenched in water with a puddle already collecting under their feet.
Scottie jumped to her feet and rushed over to them. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Let them breathe,” Dove panned dryly. She continued to eat her breakfast unfazed by their return or the glimpse of the conversation we just had. But I couldn’t let go of Scottie’s words, of what she’d overheard.
“We can get into the prison,” Peter panted. His emotions were flickering so fast between relief and worry, it was giving my ability whiplash. “I found a way to get Sie out, but we have to go right now.”