Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KAGE
Iflinched at the sound of claws scraping against marble, pressing myself deeper into the shadows as Nico darted past my hiding place. The large lion shifter followed seconds later, its massive paws big enough to kill the squirrel with one swipe.
The chaos from inside the council chambers was loud, and I crept to the door like I wasn’t currently invisible. I wished I could have been inside during the meetings, but with so many powerful demons, most would sense my presence.
“Take them to the dungeon.” Edmund kicked Val, who was passed out on the floor. “And make sure to throw this one.”
“What do you want us to do with the squirrel once we catch him, sir?”
Edmund’s lip curled up enough to flash a fang. “It’s been a while since I could indulge in a squirrel’s blood. Bring him to me if he isn’t eaten whole.”
I’d always hated that man. When he hadn’t been kissing Lilith’s ass to stay on her good side, he’d ordered countless deaths of those he deemed beneath him. One thing became certain: I had to save Nico.
My heart hammered in my chest as I went in the direction Nico had gone. It was easy for me to tell because of the disturbance in the air from the lion’s fur. It would be a mess to clean up.
I kept close to the walls where detection was least likely. For centuries, I’d perfected the art of moving unnoticed through the castle. I’d learned which parts of the stone floors squeaked, which servants noticed shadows, and which demons could sense others.
They’d gone up the stairs, and as I reached the top, I heard the lion’s growl. I made it to the open library door just as the lion took a thick tome to his head. Nico was on a high bookshelf, and despite his size, he could move the books that weighed more than him.
The lion shifted with a curse and reached for Nico, batting away another thick book the squirrel hurled at his head.
If he climbed onto the bottom shelf, he’d have Nico in his clutches, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I’d been watching Nico since his arrival with Sammy.
Something about him called to me, something beyond the obvious power that surrounded the princess.
I stepped inside, my stomach clenching with each forward movement. Without thinking, I grabbed a heavy metal statue from a nearby table. I swung it with all my strength, connecting with the demon’s skull.
The sickening crunch and the blood pooling beneath his head as he collapsed to the floor made me want to vomit.
I dropped my invisibility and looked over my shoulder at the open door. I was suddenly aware I was putting myself in grave danger. “Are y-y-you okay?”
Nico jumped from his hiding place, landing on my shoulder. I tensed, the unfamiliar weight of another being sending panic through my system. I grabbed him by the scruff and gently placed him on the ground.
He sniffed toward the hall, then shifted. “They’re headed up the stairs.”
I quickly shut the door and locked it. “Th-th-they’re going to g-give you t-t-to Edmund to f-f-feed on.”
He reached inside his pocket and popped a nut into his mouth. “He will die if he does.”
My eyes widened. I thought his nuts were more of a comfort, like my rag was to me, not weapons. “What w-will we do?”
“Our priority is Sammy. Are they taking her to the dungeon?” He went to the window and opened it as I nodded. “There’s a secret passage in the forest on the other side of Kingsmore. Meet me at the signpost past the inn.”
Before I could argue or make a suggestion that didn’t require me to leave the castle, he shifted and was out the window.
I looked out the window after him and bit down hard on my inner cheek. The pinch of pain momentarily distracted me from the approaching danger. I went invisible as the guards burst into the room.
“Where did he go?” one barked, scanning the space.
“Check the grounds. He can’t have gotten far,” another ordered, moving to the window.
I slipped past them, my form passing through the solid wall as easily as stepping through mist. I quickly went to Nico’s room farther down the hall and grabbed his pouch of nuts.
I walked through the walls and made my way through the castle, my hands shaking and my breath heavy.
Nico wanted me to go to Kingsmore, and I felt like I was going to vomit. Had I known I would be forced to leave the safe walls of the castle so soon, I wouldn’t have tied myself to him. He had seemed like a safe bet since he was a mate of the princess.
Now, I wasn’t so sure.
I really needed to get over the fear I had. Not everyone was bad. Nico wasn’t bad. Sammy wasn’t bad. The jury was still out on Amari and Val, though.
I didn’t trust them. Their families were not supporters of my kind.
But neither was Sammy’s.
For so long, I had hated being able to go invisible. Centuries ago, before I was born, Sammy’s father had decided he didn’t like our invisibility. House mages had been killed or escaped within an inch of their lives.
Many other demons didn’t like us either, even though we took care of their homes and did the work they otherwise abhorred.
We didn’t need food or water, just a good night of cleaning while our home’s residents slept.
It was our life energy, and since there was always something to clean, we had an infinite source of power.
We were a threat.
I paused near the massive entrance, my breathing shallow and rapid.
You can do it. You’ve got this. You’re invisible. You’ll be fine.
The mental mantra did little to slow my racing heart as I forced myself through the doors. I breathed in and then slowly exhaled. I did it again and then started forward.
This wasn’t so bad. I was totally going to rock being outside the castle.
I quickened my pace and went out of the gates and into Kingsmore. It was bustling with activity, and I made myself move. I had to walk straight through the village to get to the sign that Nico had referred to.
I stayed close to the buildings, but every once in a while, someone would get too close to me, and I would freeze.
Clench. Unclench. Clench. Unclench.
My palms hurt from digging my nails into them, and my shirt was drenched with sweat.
I hated it. I hated being scared.
As far back as I could remember, I had always had a fear of being seen. My father had been the same, often returning frantic in the middle of the night. He was worried they were going to find us and kill us, like they did my mom and brothers.
My legs trembled with relief as I drew closer and closer to the sign. I was so exhausted all of a sudden.
I stopped at the side of a nearby building and looked around for Nico. Even if I’d had a light, spotting a squirrel was difficult.
My whole body was tight with worry, and my shoulders ached as my muscles continued to clench. I wished I had been able to tell Nico that I couldn’t leave and that I needed to stay in the castle.
But he hadn’t given me the chance to find my words before he’d scurried off.
There was a small noise in a tree near the edge of the forest. I rushed over to it and looked up into the black branches and leaves. Since my mouth wasn’t working, I flashed back briefly so he could see me.
He made another noise, and I could finally see his brown body jump to the next tree. I followed but grew uneasy as we went deeper into the forest.
I desperately wanted to say something to him, but the words wouldn’t leave my lips. I wanted to shout, “Stop! Wait a second! Let me catch my breath!” Instead, my jaw was clenched tight, not a word leaving my mouth.
I thought counting might keep my mind off what my body was doing, but it made it worse because the more jumps Nico made, the farther we were from safety and things for me to clean.
I dropped to my knees, unable to go on. I wasn’t going to be able to do it. The unknown that lurked in the forest was too much for me to handle.
I needed to go back to the routine of the castle. At least there, I knew what to expect. Even if the castle changed hands multiple times, it wasn’t as if cleaning was any different.
Wipe. Spritz. Re-wipe. Repeat.
Pick up laundry. Take it to the washroom. Sort. Scrub. Rinse. Hang. Fold.
I continued going through all of my tasks and felt myself calming just the slightest bit.
Nico made a chittering noise, but I ignored him. There was wetness on my cheeks, and I was glad he couldn’t see me because I didn’t need him to know I was damaged beyond repair.
He shifted and looked around, searching for me. “Kage? What are you doing?”
“I-I-I.” I swallowed. “I c-can’t.”
Speaking shouldn’t be so hard. I was good at everything I did—cooking, cleaning, reading, writing, dancing. I was even knowledgeable in lovemaking. But speaking?
For once, I wanted to open my mouth and not stumble over my words. I’d been practicing in the mirror when they were gone for the day since now I had the motivation to fix the problem. I could speak fine when alone.
But to actually talk to Nico and Sammy? Nerve-wracking. I didn’t want to think about what would—or wouldn’t—come out the second I had to speak to Val or Amari.
Nico let out a frustrated sigh and walked toward where my voice had come from. I briefly flashed back into the open before going invisible again. The last thing I needed was for him to fall over me and get hurt. He stopped in front of me and knelt down, remembering exactly where I was.
He reached out a tentative hand and touched the top of my head. I scrambled away from him and shook my head, though he couldn’t see it. “No.” At least I could say that without stuttering.
I yearned to be touched, but anytime anyone got close to me, I freaked out. That’s what happens when you spend your life living in the shadows.
“We don’t have a lot of time. Do you need me to hold your hand or something?” Nico seemed unsure and stood back up with his hands on his hips. He looked both confused and concerned.
I took several more breaths and focused my eyes on the ground. I stood and dropped my invisibility. “N-n-no.”
“Okay then. Let’s go.” Nico began moving through the trees, taking it slow and stopping at each trunk to wait for me to catch up.
We came to a large group of boulders that seemed out of place in the forest. He moved around the side of it, running his hand across them and then finally reached a gap between two.
“This leads into a cavern, then to a passageway that takes us right into the dungeon area. Do you think you can handle that?”
I looked up at him and then quickly glanced away. His brow furrowed with concern. I wanted to handle it, but I hated unknown situations. Pushing past the fear, I nodded and followed him as he slipped between the rocks.
It was so dark, and despite my night vision being exceptional, I let out a small whimper. Nico’s large hand took me by the elbow.
“I’ll lead you. It’s going to be okay, Kage. One foot in front of the other. It’s really not that far, and only the royal family knows about this passageway.”
I could barely hear him over the pounding of my heart. I had no business attempting to rescue people with him when I needed my own rescue.
The longer we walked, the more my stomach churned. How far was this secret entrance? He kept saying a little farther, but he was clearly lying.
Just as I was ready to wrench my arm away and run back to the forest, we came to a drop in the floor.
“There’s a short drop, and then we’ll need to crawl.” He let go of my elbow and jumped down, his shoulders and head still visible.
There was a faint light coming from where we were supposed to crawl, which provided a little comfort, but I shook my head vigorously.
“Do you want to wait here then?” The pinched notes in his voice told me he was losing his patience with me.
I was losing patience with myself.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I dropped down, my feet hitting the ground awkwardly. I stumbled into Nico, and he steadied me with two hands on my arms. Before I could tell him I was turning around, he dropped to the ground and began crawling on his stomach.
You can do it. You can do it.
I must have repeated the phrase a hundred times in my head before we pulled ourselves up from the crawl space and into a dimly lit hallway. To a passerby, the hole looked like a vent, much like the other ones in the castle.
We turned a corner, and the large dungeon room stood before us. Empty cells lined the walls, and three cells stood open.
“They were here recently.” Nico went near the stone steps leading up to the main part of the castle. “I don’t smell them going out. Why don’t I smell them?” He was stroking his beard in thought.
Something was wrong, and I started backing up toward the crawl space. “We sh-sh-should go.”
He grunted but followed me to the secret passage. I tried to convince myself that we had just missed them somehow. Maybe there was another exit, or in the time it took us to get to the entrance of the passage, they’d sprinted down it and out into the forest.
Not that the forest was ever truly safe, but the alternative left a sour taste in my mouth. I swallowed hard, pushing the thought away. It was too soon for them to be taken to the square for punishment.