Chapter Twenty-Five
Emmett hurls himself through the door the minute he glimpses me. There’s no hesitation in his actions. One moment he’s standing
in Kensington Palace, and the next he’s on top of me.
My broken hand screams with pain as I attempt to push myself upright. I look up through tangled hair. My dress is so thoroughly
covered in mud, it sticks to my body like a second skin. “You landed on me,” I rasp.
Emmett pulls himself off of me, then captures my face in his hands. “You’re alive?” he asks with wonder.
“Barely,” I joke.
“How?” He looks around the dungeon.
“The royal family is the door. I thought it just meant Bram and Mor, but I realized it meant me, too.”
“Darling, sweetheart, brave girl,” Emmett whispers as he presses a kiss to my filthy head. “Why did you do that? Why did you
let her pull you away from me?”
“I knew she’d double-cross me. I believed it was my only chance to get close enough to kill him.”
“If I weren’t so relieved to see you, I’d be very upset with you for that plan.”
“Be upset with me later,” I say.
“And did you kill him?” Emmett voice goes quiet. I can’t tell if he hopes I did or not.
I shake my head. “The knife didn’t work, I don’t know why.”
In my distraction, the door to England has winked shut, leaving Emmett and me trapped in the dungeons.
“I need to concentrate. I’ll open the door to England again and get us both out of here.” I close my eyes and reach for that
strange feeling, but nothing comes. I’m too distracted at having Emmett here. Relief and terror course through me.
Focus, Ivy.
My stomach growls.
Emmett reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out a scone wrapped in a cloth napkin. “Olive and Ben baked them this
morning.”
I take a bite and resist the urge to groan as butter hits my tongue. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
It’s finished in just two bites. Emmett watches as I chew and swallow.
“How are they?” I ask.
“Right as rain. Olive has been stress-baking and Eduart wouldn’t stop complaining about the number of cakes filling the house,
and they miss you, of course. We were all so worried.”
“I’m sorry. Can I say I’m sorry again?” I ask, and Emmett answers me with a quick kiss.
My focus is broken by the sound of footsteps crashing down the corridor.
Emmett can’t be here; if we’re caught—
I squeeze my eyes shut and reach for that place inside me, but the door won’t come.
I curse under my breath.
A dark figure comes into view.
“Rhion?” I say as he presses his face against the bars.
“I’m sorry—” he pants, then stops at the sight of Emmett. “How’d you get down here?”
“Ivy,” Emmett answers.
“Never mind,” Rhion says. “Explain later, I’ve come to rescue you.”
“How gallant,” Emmett says.
I shoot him a glare and look back to Rhion. “How are Faith, Marion, and Lydia?”
Rhion gives me an uneasy smile. “Alive, but locked in their rooms. Bram has been in a rage, and I fear Mor is only encouraging
him. We need to get you all out.”
“I opened the door once, I can do it again,” I say, and Rhion’s eyes widen. “I just need the time to focus.”
Rhion sorts through a ring of keys until he finds the right one and sticks it in the lock. “Then let’s get you somewhere safe.”
The cell door opens with a creak and Emmett helps me to my feet.
Rhion looks anxiously over his shoulder. “I knocked the guard out, but he won’t stay asleep much longer.”
Emmett’s body is tense as we creep through the damp corridors of the dungeon, but he carries on without faltering.
We’re to the stairs when Rhion pauses. “Wait—” He stops, his eyes wide, but we’re too late.
The guard is awake, and he’s sounded the alarm.
Dozens of guards stampede down the narrow staircase, blocking our only means of escape.
“Ivy!” Emmett screams. He lunges toward me, but the guards reach me first. My head snaps back as I fight, but they’ve pulled
my hands behind my back and my broken hand makes it agony to pull away. They pull chains from their belts and bind my wrists
while I wail in pain.
“Don’t touch her!” Emmett yells. It takes four guards to restrain him, and six for Rhion.
For a beat they just hold us there, with our limbs pinned.
And then a silhouette appears at the top of the stairs.
Bram walks down slowly, relishing our fear and the power he has over us.
He comes directly to me and bends so his gray eyes are level with mine. “You wanted me dead?” he asks. His mouth is turned
down, his voice thick with pain.
“You’re going to kill us, what does it matter what I want?” I snap.
He leans in even closer, until our noses nearly brush, and I know he’s savoring the hate coming off me in waves.
Over his shoulder, Emmett struggles in vain against his chains, and I hate myself for failing him.
With deep hopelessness, I reach once more for the door, and then I find it. That click.
A small square of light appears in front of me, between Bram and Emmett. Bram’s back is to it, so he doesn’t see, but Emmett’s
eyes go wide.
I nod, just barely. Go, I will him. Save yourself.
“Don’t look at him, look at me,” Bram barks, and my eyes snap back to his. My hold on the door is tenuous. I won’t be able
to keep it open much longer.
“Go!” I yell.
Bram’s head whips around. Fury contorts his features as he sees the door.
He pushes my body up against the wall. “How are you doing that?” he demands.
“You gave me this power,” I mock. “I should thank you.”
The door is narrowing by the second. Emmett and Rhion need to go. “Now! Please!” I yell over Bram’s shoulder at them.
Emmett uses his shoulder to knock a guard off his feet, then kicks his legs out from under him.
With all the strength he has, he lunges at Bram. “Do not touch her.”
Guards have us both pinned to the ground in seconds. The door shrinks to nothing but a sliver of light and then winks out
of existence entirely.
“No!” I shout through tears. “You fool, you idiot. You should have saved yourself.”
One guard shoves Emmett’s face into the dirt and digs his knee in between Emmett’s shoulder blades as he wrenches his hands
behind his back.
Emmett licks blood from his split lip and gives me a grin. “Save myself? That’s not what we do.”