Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
HOOK
I drag Alice along the corridor, her heels scuffing against the stone as she tries to pull back. "Stop it," she hisses, yanking her arm free, and I turn to look at her, brow arched.
“Whatever you’re thinking of doing, it’s a terrible idea,” I say, noting the stubborn set in her eyes. She’s about to go soft, I can feel it.
“I can’t just leave them there,” she snaps. “They’re my friends—something you know nothing about.”
“You can, and you will.”
“No, I—”
I cock an eyebrow. “Oh? Do you have some brilliant plan you haven’t told me? Or is this the ‘let’s get captured again’ special?”
She glares, eyes blazing. “Leave if you want to. I can do this without you. You’re the one who needs me, remember?”
I swear to god, I could— My thought’s cut off by the sound of guards again. Is there no end to this?
“Come on.” I grab her arm again, pulling her along as we dart through the maze of dark corridors.
Alice mutters something under her breath—unflattering, I’d wager—but she picks up her pace, practically vibrating with indignation. I lead her down twists and turns, not bothering with the way I came in. I pretend to know where I’m going, but mostly, I’m just feeling for it, hoping.
“Where are we even going?” she snaps.
“Somewhere that doesn’t end with us beheaded,” I reply, stopping us for a moment to peer around the next corner. Once it’s clear, I tug her along, and we slip through a narrow doorway that leads to the servants’ quarters.
It’s the kitchen. A large, grimy table sits in the centre, scarred and pitted from years of careless knife strokes.
Cabinets hang open on the walls, shelves sagging under mismatched crockery and tarnished cutlery no one’s bothered to polish.
The smell—stale bread, spilt wine, and something unpleasantly close to rot—clings to the air, thick enough to choke on.
The fireplace in the corner, blackened with soot, looks like it’s been dead for ages, with a single, forgotten kettle dangling above.
Dust and cobwebs drape every corner as if even the spiders have given up and moved on.
There’s a door. Two doors, actually—one leading up a few steps and another going down. I pull us toward the second door.
“This way,” I say, figuring it’ll get us out of the palace and give us a path through this maze. Out the grimy window, I can just see the river running beside us, fields beyond that, and the damned roses.
And then, behind us, come the shouts.
A sudden shout echoes down the corridor, sharp and accusing. "They’re gone."
I freeze, pulling Alice closer into the shadow of the doorway. The clatter of armour follows, louder, more frantic—footsteps pounding, echoing off the stone as the guards scramble. More voices join in, each one more panicked than the last. "Check every cell. She’s got away."
Another guard’s shout bounces off the walls, growing closer. “They can’t have got far.”
Bloody hell. I grit my teeth, gripping Alice’s arm tighter. The guards are spreading out, hunting, their footsteps quickening, closing in on us.
We reach the door with the steps leading up, and I push it open, guiding Alice inside. We start up the narrow staircase, but just as we reach the second step, the unmistakable clang of armour sounds from above. Goddaamn it.. I grab Alice, yanking her back down the steps as quietly as I can.
“Wrong way, love,” I whisper, dragging her toward the other door. I pull it open, the smell of damp and river water immediately hitting us, and peer out. It's not the river, but a drop, long and hard. "Hell." No path, no ledge. Just a drop into the unknown.
Before Alice can protest, the guards storm into the kitchen behind us, voices loud and urgent. She turns instinctively to face them, but I grab her shoulders, pulling her back around. “No time for heroics,” I mutter, giving her one last smirk before shoving her forward.
“Hook, no,” she shrieks, eyes wide as she tumbles forward, disappearing into the dark below, her scream echoing off the stone walls. Almost satisfying in itself. I leap after her, the guards’ shouts fading as I plunge into the darkness.
The floor drops out beneath me, and instead of a straightforward fall, I’m whipped down what can only be described as a slide—pitch black, slick, twisting and turning like it’s got a mind of its own.
I’m thrown from side to side, my shoulder slamming against the stone curve as it jerks me around yet another bend.
The slide pitches down, steep and fast, and just when I think it can’t get any worse, it levels out slightly, only to twist sharply again, sending me skidding around a curve, my fingers barely finding any grip.
Water slicks the walls, making everything slippery and unpredictable.
In flashes, I catch glimpses of Alice’s silhouette just ahead of me, her hair whipping around as she tumbles, no more in control than I am.
The last bend hurtles me forward, the cold air rushing past as I’m spit out into the open, the stone giving way to empty air—just long enough to realise that the ride isn’t over yet.
We crash into misty water, the cold plunge knocking the breath from me as I’m dragged under, no footing in the deep. I struggle upwards, breaking the surface with a sputtering gasp.
“There,” A guard shouts from above. “There they are,”
Bloody hell. They must have found some shortcut down—no twisting slide of doom for them, lucky bastards.
“Hook,” Alice calls, a note of panic in her voice.
“Swim,” I shout back. “Go.”
The guards line up at the water’s edge, bows raised, swords drawn. None of them jumps in to follow, which I’d call cowardice if I didn’t see the reason why…
“Alice...” My gaze shifts, and hers follows.
At the far end of what appears to be a cavernous underground lake, shadowed figures lounge on jagged rocks.
They’re like mermaids, but monstrous—dark scales shimmering in the dim light, teeth glinting as they grin and cackle, their eyes sharp and black.
Their whispering voices echo, a haunting melody bouncing off the cave walls, chilling the blood in my veins.
Then come the arrows. They pierce the mist, raining down from above.
“Go, go,” I shout, shoving her forward, forcing her to swim. I dive below the surface, kicking hard to keep up with her, the twisted laughter of the mer-creatures on one side, the arrows raining down from the guards on the other.
An arrow splashes into the water beside me, close enough to feel the rippling shock. I push Alice forward again. “Unless you’d like to sample the Queen’s archery skills, I suggest you move.”
She shoots me a glare but kicks furiously, swimming towards a faint opening in the rock face that seems close, but hell, it might as well be miles away.
Arrows slice through the air, whizzing past, splashing into the water around us.
I twist, trying to dodge, but pain rips through me as one finds its mark in my shoulder, the force jolting me back.
I grit my teeth, muscles searing with every stroke, but I keep swimming, forcing myself to stay afloat and keep up.
We reach the cave opening, the cold night air hitting us. Relief floods over me—until I look down. Hell. No.
It’s not an exit. It’s a bloody waterfall.
“Hook, grab this,” Alice shouts, gripping a rock at the edge. She reaches out, her reflexes quick, but I shake my head, barely hanging on myself.
“Jump,” I shout. “They’re coming.”
The guards are far behind now, but as I glance back, five sleek heads bob up in the water, inky eyes watching, their sharp-toothed grins growing wider. Without another second to think, I grab Alice’s hand, pull her close, and we leap into the dark void below.