Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
NICO
Istood in the empty dungeon, the silence pressing against my ears. The cells were open, and the keys were on the ground, as if they’d been tossed aside in haste.
I ran a hand over my face, trying to think through the panic clawing at my chest. Where would Edmund have taken them? The square for public executions? A private dungeon somewhere else? The thought of Sammy in chains, scared and alone, made my blood hot enough to burn through my veins.
“We sh-sh-should go.” Kage’s voice was barely above a whisper, and I couldn’t blame him. The dungeon held an echo of terror that seemed to linger in the stone walls.
I nodded, forcing my feet to move toward the secret passage.
We retraced our steps through the narrow crawl space, Kage’s breathing shallow and rapid behind me. The tightness in my chest didn’t ease as we emerged into the forest. The moon cast silver light through the black branches, and I had never felt more alone in my life.
Not alone. I glanced at Kage, his form flickering in and out of visibility as his anxiety spiked. I had him, even though he was a nervous wreck, and I had no clue what I was doing.
I didn’t know how to plan a rescue mission. Some protector I was. The proof was all there. I crushed the thought before it could fully form. I needed to focus on Sammy.
The forest was quiet around us, too quiet. Even the insects seemed to have gone silent, and my shifter instincts screamed that something was wrong. I kept my pace steady but quick, scanning the shadows for movement.
Kage stumbled beside me, his muttering growing louder. “N-n-need to clean. Use m-my rag to w-w-wipe down. Dust, d-dust, du—”
I slowed enough to grab his elbow, steadying him. “Are you okay?”
He shook his head rapidly. “N-no. No, I’m n-not okay. We n-need to f-find them. W-we need to—”
“We’re going to find them.” I released his elbow and kept walking, my eyes on the dark path ahead. “But we need to rest first. We can’t help them if we’re dead on our feet.”
Kage made a noise that might have been agreement or might have been panic—I couldn’t tell. He followed me anyway, his footsteps almost silent beside the occasional crunch of a leaf.
The trees thinned as we moved north, and the path widened into a narrow road. I didn’t exactly know where Val’s village was, but I knew the general direction. If Val and Amari had escaped with Sammy, I could only assume they’d head there.
I didn’t trust Val, but he cared about Sammy, and that made him useful.
“Nico?” Kage’s worried voice pulled me from my thoughts. “W-where are we going?”
“Val’s village. I don’t think it’s that much farther. It’s the safest place we can go right now.”
His face went pale. “V-v-v-v-vampires?”
The house mage clearly did not like that idea. “Yeah. What’s the problem?”
Kage’s hands were twisting in front of him, his rag wrung into a knot. “V-v-vampires can s-s-smell house mages. It’s how they h-h-hunted—” He cut off, his jaw clamping shut.
I didn’t need him to finish the sentence. I knew the history of how house mages had been slaughtered, nearly driven to extinction. It was one of the darker chapters in Inferna’s history, one that most demons pretended didn’t exist.
“I’ll figure something out.” I reached for my pouch automatically, planning to grab a nut to calm him down, but my hand closed on empty air.
“Fuck.” The word came out harsher than I intended, and Kage flinched.
I stopped walking, my heart hammering. The nuts weren’t just weapons. Without them, I felt like I’d lost a part of myself all over again.
“What’s wr-wrong?”
“My nuts. I left them in my room when we went to the council meeting, and now—”
My words died in my throat as Kage lifted the front of his shirt.
Tucked against his stomach was my pouch. The leather strap was looped around his waist and had been hidden completely by the loose fabric of his shirt. I’d been so focused on the castle and saving Sammy that I hadn’t noticed he’d grabbed it.
“These are i-i-important to you.” He untied the strap and offered me the bag, unable to meet my eyes. “I saw you with them.”
He didn’t finish, but I understood. He’d seen me grieving and falling apart. He’d found the ones I’d dropped and thought to gather them. He’d taken something precious to me and kept it safe.
I reached out and took the pouch, the familiar weight settling into my palm like an old friend. “Thank you, Kage.”
Kage nodded, still not looking at me. His cheeks were flushed, and we stood there for a moment, and then I got an idea.
I opened the pouch and pulled out a handful of nuts, examining them. “These will work, I think.”
“W-what?”
I didn’t answer, too focused on the task at hand. I selected four nuts—one star chestnut, two black walnuts, and a pecan—and crushed them together in my palm, spat, and worked them together until they formed a pungent-smelling paste.
“Take off your shirt.”
Kage’s eyes went wide. “W-what?”
“Your shirt. Take it off. Vampires can smell house mages, right? But if we cover your scent with something stronger…”
Kage’s flush deepened, but he pulled his shirt over his head with trembling hands. His chest rose and fell rapidly as I stepped closer. I began spreading the paste across his skin, focusing on his neck and shoulders where the scent would cover his scent best.
He shivered under my touch, his breath catching. “G-gross. It has your s-s-spit in it.”
My jaw clenched, a familiar tension running through me.
The ingratitude stung more than it should have.
Here I was, literally covering him with a concoction I’d made from my most precious possessions, and he was concerned about my spit?
Did he not realize what I’d just done for him?
What the nuts meant to me? I swallowed the flare of irritation, reminding myself that he couldn’t possibly understand.
No one really did.
“Yeah, well, it’ll keep you alive.” I kept my voice flat because the last thing I needed was for him to run off scared.
I didn’t slow down, working quickly to cover as much surface area as possible. “This should mask your scent well.”
Kage nodded, his gaze fixed on some point over my shoulder. I stepped back, surveying my work. The paste left a shiny residue that caught the moonlight. He looked ridiculous, but it did the job.
He pulled his shirt on and fell into step beside me as we continued north, his earlier muttering reduced to a nervous hum.
We walked in silence until the trees finally gave way to the outskirts of the village. I’d forgotten how different vampire villages were from others. The buildings were made of dark stone instead of wood. It was a sign of wealth and ingenuity that many of us had never embraced.
It was late, and the main road was empty, but I could feel eyes on us from the shadows. Those who were awake during peak darkness when the moon was lowest were always the most dangerous.
“Stay close.” I could practically feel Kage vibrating with anxiety.
He grabbed onto the hem of my shirt, his invisible fingers bunching the fabric, creating a disorienting disconnect between my senses.
The three-story inn loomed ahead, and I caught my reflection in a window as we walked to the door.
I was a mess after the journey and the multiple times I’d shifted.
My hair was all over the place, with a few leaves sticking out of it, leaving me looking like I’d lost a fight with a shrub.
And the dirt? I was surprised that Kage was touching my shirt.
I pulled open the heavy wooden door and stepped into a dimly lit room. A woman with jet-black hair looked up, her eyes narrowing as she took in my appearance.
I resisted the urge to smooth my hair or wipe at my face, knowing both would likely make things worse. Instead, I lifted my chin and held her stare, refusing to be the first to look away.
“I’d like a room.” I approached her, keeping my voice friendly and nonthreatening. I didn’t have Sammy to put out any fires from my grumpy demeanor.
Her gaze traveled over me, lingering on my tattoos as her lips formed a grimace. “Shifter.”
“Is that a problem?” At least she hadn’t called me ‘squirrel’ or ‘rodent.’
She tapped her long fingernails on the counter. “That depends. Are you here for trouble?”
“Just rest.” I placed a few coins on the counter, more than enough for a room. “I’ll be gone by morning.”
She eyed the coins, then me. “The fee is doubled given the late hour.”
I bit my inner cheek, using all the willpower I had not to be an asshole. “I appreciate it.” I begrudgingly pulled out two more coins.
She examined them, and I thought she’d ask for more, but then grabbed a key from under the counter. “Room three. Second floor.” She tossed the key at me, and I caught it easily. “Bathe before you touch anything. You reek of nuts.”
At least I knew the paste I made for Kage was working, and the nuts hadn’t gone to waste.
I climbed the stairs, each step confirming how exhausted I was. Our room was at the end of the hall and had a double bed and a window. It was cozy.
I shut the door and leaned against it, finally breathing. “It’s safe now.”
Kage flickered into visibility across the room, shoulders sagging as he took in the space and the bed. “We’re sh-sharing?”
I looked at the bed, which would be a tight squeeze. “Unless you want to sleep on the floor.”
He hesitated, his eyes darting between the bed and the door. He nodded and sat down on the edge of the mattress. His hands trembled as he twisted his rag between his fingers.
“There’s n-nothing to c-c-clean.” He held up his rag, then gestured vaguely at the room.
I let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “It’s okay, Kage. You don’t have to clean everything. Sometimes you can rest.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue. He lay down on the bed, curling into himself with his back to me, and within minutes, his breathing slowed into the rhythm of sleep.
I crossed to the window, placing my palm against the glass. Sammy was out there somewhere. Was she safe? Was she scared?
There was no plan for how to find her. I had a pouch of nuts and a nervous house mage who could turn invisible. It wasn’t much.
But it was better than nothing.
I needed rest. Tomorrow would demand everything I had, and I wasn’t sure I had anything left to give.