Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
NICO
Istared at the bars of the cell, attempting to bend them with the sheer force of my mind. There was no point in trying since they were spelled. If I’d had my nuts, I might have been able to.
Fuck. This whole thing was a mess because of the bloodsucker. If we got out of this damn dungeon, I was going to kill him. Not just for putting Sammy in danger, but for making me think she was dead.
I didn’t care if Val had nothing to do with what his father had done. They were the same as far as I was concerned.
Knowing Sammy was alive had saved my sanity, but it didn’t mean she was safe. And here I was, trapped in a vampire’s dungeon while she hid in another world.
The worst part was not knowing if she was okay. The image of her wandering some strange landscape, purple hair making her a target for whatever dangers lurked there, sent a sharp pain through my chest.
I was way too old for this amount of grief and worry.
“I have to get the fuck out of here,” I muttered, more to myself than to Amari.
He hadn’t moved from his position with his back against the wall. His eyes were closed, but I knew he was awake because the man didn’t sleep.
His arm and blood-stained clothes were stark reminders of what we were up against—and that he was strong not just physically, but mentally as well.
I still didn’t trust him, but I respected his unwavering loyalty, even if it was directed at the wrong person. Val was a fucking bloodsucker who’d betrayed us all, yet Amari refused to condemn him without hearing his side.
“Any bright ideas on how to break out?” I kept my voice low, mindful of the guards I could hear occasionally patrolling in the stables above us.
Amari opened one eye. “Unless you can pick a lock with your claws, we’re stuck waiting for Kage… or Val.”
At least he’d hesitated to mention the vampire. Maybe there was hope for him.
I glanced at Winston in the neighboring cell. The council member had barely spoken since our earlier conversation. The other prisoner hadn’t moved in a while, and I wasn’t convinced he was still breathing.
A scuffling sound echoed from the stairwell, too light to be the usual heavy-booted guards. My body tensed, ready for whatever new hell was coming our way.
But no one appeared.
“Kage?” The relief I felt was so sudden that my knees practically buckled as my muscles released some of their tension.
I heard keys clanking together, and then he appeared at the cell door. He was covered in blood, and it was smeared across his face and hands. His eyes darted around the room, wide and haunted, before landing on me.
Fuck.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
He shook his head frantically, holding up the keys with trembling fingers. “N-not my b-blood.”
“Whose blood is it?”
“V-Valentino’s and the g-g-guards’.” Kage’s hands shook so badly that he couldn’t fit the key into the lock. He tried again and again, each attempt more frantic than the last.
I wanted to reach through the bars and steady his hands myself, but the iron prevented me from getting close enough.
“You’re safe now.” I remained as calm as I could manage while every instinct screamed at me to run. “Take a breath. You’ve got this.”
But Kage wasn’t listening. His eyes had the glazed-over quality of someone who had witnessed something that terrified him to his core. The blood covering him told me enough. Whatever had happened had been violent and messy, and Kage had been right in the middle of it.
The keys slipped from his fingers entirely, clattering to the stone floor with a sound that made us all freeze.
“Kage, where is Val?” Amari stood and moved next to me, his hand clenched at his side.
Kage slowly picked up the keys, not allowing them to clink together. “V-V-Val killed his father. R-r-ripped out his h-h-heart.” He finally unlocked the door, and it swung open.
I stepped out, immediately taking the keys from him. I quickly moved to Winston’s cell, unlocking it as the council member struggled to his feet. There was determination burning in his eyes.
“What do we want to do about him?” Winston nodded toward the motionless prisoner in the cell next to his.
I unlocked the door, but as I approached the still figure, it became clear he was beyond our help. The prisoner’s skin had taken on that waxy, grayish pallor that only came with death.
I stood there for a moment, looking down at this stranger whose name I’d never know. This could have been me if Kage hadn’t come through for us.
Amari’s hand settled on my shoulder, his fingers pressing just firmly enough to pull me back from whatever dark spiral I’d been teetering on the edge of.
“I h-have your n-n-nuts.”
I turned as Kage lifted his shirt and untied my pouch of nuts, handing them to me.
A wave of relief washed through me. I quickly opened the pouch, selecting a nut and cracking it between my teeth. The tension in my body eased as energy flowed into my system.
“Really? You’re going to eat nuts right now?” Amari’s eyebrows shot up. “Let’s go.”
I opened my mouth, ready to tell him exactly where he could shove his commentary about my eating habits when the scrape of wood against stone stopped me. The trapdoor swung open with a groan that echoed off every wall in this hellhole.
Leather shoes, stained dark with what could only be blood, descended the stairs one deliberate step at a time. Val’s face finally came into view, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. His eyes were nearly black, pupils dilated until only a thin ring of blue iris remained.
Amari stared at him, his mouth slightly ajar as if he had been about to greet him.
“You’re free.” Val’s voice was unnaturally calm and completely at odds with his blood-spattered appearance.
I instinctively moved in front of Kage, my body tensing for a fight. “Stay back.”
Val’s gaze shifted from Amari to me. “I’m not going to hurt any of you.”
“Like you didn’t hurt us already?” I snarled. “You betrayed us. You knew where Winston was this whole time!”
“I did what was necessary.” Val’s attention drifted to Amari’s missing arm, and a flicker of emotion crossed his features before disappearing.
The audacity of standing there in his blood-soaked clothes, acting like he’d done us some kind of favor. Like we should be grateful he’d finally let us out of our cages after leaving us to rot while he played whatever twisted game this was.
“Necessary? You son of a—”
“Nico.” Kage’s hand touched my arm as he stepped forward, surprising me. The house mage who trembled at his own shadow was now stepping between me and the vampire. “He saved me. He c-could have let his father kill me.”
I fought hard to swallow my growl. Kage might believe Val had saved him, but that didn’t erase what had happened.
“We need to leave.” Val wiped at a smear of blood on his face, only spreading it further across his pale skin. “Guards will be coming.”
“Where exactly do you suggest we go?” I kept my body between Kage and Val, not trusting the wild look still lingering in the vampire’s eyes.
Val gestured toward the stairs. “My house. It’s where we were headed before the guards intercepted us in the forest.”
My heart leapt into my throat. “Sammy might have gone there.”
The thought of Sammy finding her way back to Inferna and heading straight to a place she thought was safe gave me a renewed sense of urgency. If she was there, alone and vulnerable...
“Let’s go.” I turned to Kage. “Stay close.”
Winston limped forward, his shoulders squared despite his obvious exhaustion. “I won’t forget this, Valentino.”
Val’s jaw tightened at the use of his full name. “I don’t expect you to.”
Amari moved to Val’s side, his remaining hand reaching out before stopping short of actually touching him. “Val—”
I didn’t stick around to hear what he had to say. The staircase was narrow and steep, forcing us to climb single file. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I spotted the first body sprawled near a stall, throat torn open in a jagged wound that could only have been made by fangs.
Another guard lay face down by the door, his hand still clutched around the hilt of his sword. A third was slumped against the wall, eyes wide and staring, frozen in an expression of terror.
We hadn’t heard a single sound of struggle from below.
Val had done this with a savage precision that made my skin crawl.
I stepped over the nearest body and yanked the sword free. If we had to fight, it would do.
Winston and Amari followed suit, arming themselves from the fallen guards. Val already had a sword, and Kage hung back, his eyes darting nervously between the bodies.
“We’ll take the horses.” Val unlatched a stall door, leading out a massive black stallion. “Winston, can you ride?”
Winston nodded, already moving toward a stall.
I grabbed Kage’s arm and pulled him toward a horse that was oddly calm. “You ride with me. Stay invisible if you can.”
I climbed up as Kage disappeared and got on behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
Amari stood silently with his sword, looking between it and Val. If he’d had his other arm, he wouldn’t need a sword or horse.
Val looked at him. “What are you doing?”
Amari didn’t answer, just shook his head. His eyes locked with Val’s for a long moment before he handed him the sword. He awkwardly pulled himself up behind the vampire, squeezed his thighs to stay in place, and reclaimed the sword.
I had to give it to the panther. He was handling things way better than I would have. I’d probably be in a ball on the floor, not casually mounting a horse.
Val took the lead, guiding us out of the stables and onto a path that wound through the village. I scanned our surroundings, hyperaware of every shadow. Kage trembled behind me, his face pressed against my back.
We made progress quickly, the village quiet in the late hour. Too quiet. My instincts screamed that something wasn’t right.
As we approached the village square, the hairs on my arms stood up.
“Val—” I started to warn him, but it was too late.
They emerged from all sides at once, about twenty guards stepping out from alleyways and doorways, surrounding us in a tight circle. Swords glinted in the moonlight, and I counted at least four with crossbows trained on us.
We were grossly outnumbered.
My mind raced, calculating our odds. Winston could barely stay on his horse. Amari had one fucking arm. Val looked unstable. And Kage... well, Kage was terrified.
Which left me.
Adrenaline pumped through my system, and I patted my pouch, feeling the reassuring shapes of my collection. I grabbed a handful and handed the pouch to Kage, watching it disappear. I chewed quickly, and the familiar rush of energy flooded my veins as the power from the nuts spread through my body.
“Stay invisible.”
Without waiting for a response, my shift rippled through me.
I launched myself from the horse’s back, my momentum carrying me directly toward the nearest guard.
The man barely had time to raise his sword before I was on him, teeth sinking into vulnerable flesh.
Blood spurted as he went down with a gurgled scream.
I was already moving, ricocheting off his falling body and onto the next guard. My size, speed, and strength made me an impossible target to fend off when I landed.
Behind me, I heard Val shout something and the clash of metal on metal as the others joined the fight. But I was in my element now, a blur of fur and fury, leaping from one enemy to the next.
Those bastards had threatened Sammy. It was time they learned exactly why no one should fuck with a squirrel shifter.