Chapter 73
Allie
Three days later, all we had to show for our search were cobwebs in our hair and bleary, tired eyes.
No sign of Nadya, the poison, or her axe.
The few footprints she’d left next to the dungeon window simply stopped next to a lone, gnarly tree waiting in the fortress’ shadow. As if she’d vanished.
I’d probed it with my powers and Dax had dug under its roots to make sure there wasn’t some secret passage Nadya could have used.
We’d searched every closet, bedroom, washroom and web of ceiling beams in the entire fortress. Her room had been ripped apart for any clue, but not so much as a hidden palaver portal waited inside her sparse wardrobe or underneath the floorboards.
We’d wandered down the secret passageways Dax had found, hidden behind mounted deer heads, but they looked to have been forgotten for decades, only used by the spiders which had taken residence in them.
Mrs. Thornbrew had insisted on taking charge of inspecting all the storage areas, pushing aside pumpkins and baskets of turnips, but I’d found her late at night sniffling next to a vat of tea, twisting her embroidered handkerchief.
“How could she do this to us?” she’d murmured, the moonlight turning her pale skin even ghostlier. “To herself? I thought I’d seen her heart. It was scared and prickly, but I’d never imagined she’d ever–Geryll, Vylkor, the babes. How could she?”
“Fear rots people,” I’d muttered, because I had no answer.
Nobody did.
I’d sent the warriors to warn the civilians and patrol the streets. Every soul in Solkar’s Reach was now looking for her and checking their wells and under their beds at night.
Sylvester flew over the city and its boundaries, only stopping to wet its beak every few hours before launching himself back into the heavens.
I’d even warned the trolls she was loose and dangerous, using one of her tunics and the scent trapped between the worn fibers to convey what my words couldn’t.
The troll which had been wounded weeks ago had sniffed it, but no recognition had crossed its face.
When I studied the fabric closer, I detected the faintest hints of a tangy oil that reminded me of a deer’s scent glands.
She’d been hiding her smell. Had probably noticed the troll’s scouting schedule, same as I did. I’d only seen her near the kennels when it wasn’t there.
She truly had been ready.
“What possesses someone to gnaw off the hand that feeds them?” I seethed as Dax and I retraced our steps through the back alleys, in case we’d missed any speck of dust that could lead us to her.
In the distance, I felt Ryker’s growing frustration mirroring my own.
“That’s just a side effect,” Dax grumbled.
While I had to at least try to keep my composure so I wouldn’t sow more panic, he’d been stomping and snapping since that night in the dungeons.
“Of what?” I asked.
“Wanting to feel special and chosen.” He sucked the cold air through his teeth.
“Like she’s part of some big scheme us fools can’t possibly comprehend.
And in order to still be part of that scheme, she–and everyone else that mysterious heir has duped–have to keep following orders.
If he’d told them to plant daisies, they probably would have filled hills upon hills to appease him.
But he wants murder, so that’s what they do. ”
“But she was special here. The Commander took her under his wing.”
“He also took in Geryll. Not special enough. Plus, your Commander didn’t try to twist Nadya’s mind.”
Sylvester flew above us, cawing in annoyance. The warriors had the wolves sniffing for any hint of Nadya and he didn’t appreciate all the scents wafting through the streets.
Every being was on alert because of her and that blasted heir.
I shook my head. “I think she was in too deep to stop. Stuck. If she questioned her beliefs, she’d also have to challenge what she did. That’s hard. That takes bravery.”
“So she’s a coward.”
“Yes,” I said with no hesitation. “It’s easier to tell yourself you’re not when someone else pretends to be brave for you. Whoever’s leading her must have pretended he is very powerful.”
After everything he’d done, he was.
“What happens if we don’t find her?” Dax stuffed his hands into his pockets.
I didn’t want to think about it. My mind crawled with dangers, each more grim than the last. But I had to face them.
“If she got out, then nothing’s stopping her from telling the Northern Clans all the crater’s secrets,” I said. “She can’t return here. She wants Ryker and I dead. She knows where to strike best to achieve that.”
“How can you be sure she’ll help them attack?”
“Because it’s the exact opposite of what I would do.”
He nodded a few too many times. “Good.”
I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. “Why?”
“Because that girl knows secrets we need. I went down to the dungeons to get them, only to find Vylkor–” He trembled.
“That poison is sinister. How did she hide it? How did she poison him? Why didn’t she die as well?
Who cares if we take back the Protectorate throne if we can be offed in mere seconds? ”
“They need to skulk in the shadows and use poisons to try and best us,” I seethed. “I’d take that as a compliment if I wasn’t so damn mad.”
Mad about everyone we’d lost.
Enraged that we still had to protect everyone while this so-called heir touted glory.
Furious that we had no clue who he was or where he could be hiding so that I could make him suffer like he had others.
As we neared the fortress, cold, hungry, and depleted of all hope, my spine tingled at the same time Sylvester cawed. A moment later, Ryker appeared from beyond the pines.
I’d expected to see him stony and stoic once more.
Perhaps tired, after facing the crater’s vengeful wilderness for days.
Instead, he thundered our way like he wanted to rip the ground up to find Nadya.
Maybe others didn’t notice. The warriors who’d greeted him with short, respectful bows didn’t seem to feel anything amiss.
But I saw.
That same fury flowed through me, blazing my veins.
We locked eyes and I felt seen.
Not like Dax and my cousins saw me, as a pillar of certainty.
Not as someone who guided and faced the worst, like the civilians.
But as a person who’d had enough and couldn’t show it.
And I wanted to reveal it.
Roar it.
I muttered a quick goodbye to Dax and met Ryker right in front of the fortress stairs.
“The armory,” he answered my unspoken question.
We marched together, hard enough that the ground rumbled under our heavy steps.
He didn’t say anything.
Neither did I.
We didn’t even look at each other again until he’d closed the heavy doors to the armory, sealing us alone.
“Did you find anything?” he asked, no hope in tone, eyes, or energy.
I shook my head. “You.”
From his belt, he extracted bits of thick, torn rope, like the one the Northern Clans had used to cascade into the crater. He threw them onto the ground like they were nothing more than trash. “She’s gone.”
I stared at the pieces of rope, wanting to tear them all over again. “She’ll be back.”
“Soon.” He kicked the door, the wood vibrating in its hinges. “We need a defense plan.”
“Of course we do.” I clenched and unclenched my fists in the same rhythm as the ticks in his jaw, both of us scarily close to the edge.
“You’ve just come back from the greatest war our generation has seen–after you won it, by the way–and instead of being allowed to mourn in peace, now you have to fight again. ”
“And you, instead of finally taking a breath after you beautifully defended Solkar’s Reach without any army or support, are now forced to face those bastards again.” He rolled his shoulders, but it did nothing to calm the hectic energy bubbling just underneath the surface.
“It’s not fair,” I said, fire pulsing through me.
“No, it’s fucking not.” He stared at the countless weapons hung on the walls and protected behind glass. “I’m tired.”
“Me too.” My power stirred inside of me, incensed as well. “I’m pissed-off.”
“Furious.” He bared his teeth. “They destroy everything and we have to pick up the pieces. Every. Single. Time.”
“And the worst part? Nevermind that they’re mentally tormenting us, but they’re hurting innocent people–”
“Why do they hurt so many people?”
“Because they’re selfish. And greedy. And they don’t care what cadavers they have to walk on as long as they get their way.” The blue tendrils snaked around my wrists. “I’m sick and tired of them ruining lives just because they can–”
My power surged forward. Thankfully, it avoided Ryker with a wide berth. Unfortunately, it hit one of the glass displays, shattering a side of it.
I snapped my wrists back, eyes wide with disbelief. I hadn’t had an accident like this since my toothless, youngling days.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it this time, I swear.”
After all, I had a history of breaking his things.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, confused, and watched him walk to the display. The weapon inside of it–a cross between a fish hook and a dagger with scales on its pommel–lay inside, perfectly undisturbed. “At least the blade’s fine.”
“They’re sturdy enough to withstand a fire.” He looked at the display. Then at the shards. Then at me.
Under my disbelieving gaze, Ryker, Solkar Reach’s Commander, known for his composure, pushed the case to the ground. He grinned as it shattered at his feet, the echo of ruin bouncing around us just like my voice had weeks ago.
“What–” I licked my lips. “What are you doing?”
“Losing my mind, most likely. But you made it look fun when you stomped on the table.” He walked to the next glass case, this time kicking it into oblivion. The arrows which had been resting undisturbed on top of the purple velvet for generations flew onto the floor. “Care to join me?”
I looked at him.
Looked at the shards.
Then I grinned.
All that inner turmoil crashed around us as we wreaked havoc on the armory. In the hazy light shining through the small windows, glass screamed at our feet, wood splintered, and metal groaned against the floor.
Ryker growled with each axe he tore from the walls.
I heard myself giggle at one point.
Perhaps our enemies had won and we were on the brink of going bad.
But I would rather destroy objects than let this emotional storm destroy us.
For an hour–or maybe five minutes–a cacophony of metal, glass, and wood surrounded us.
And godsdamn, it felt good to do something reckless after so much control and composure.
For me, it was only a release.
For Ryker, a heaviness resonated from his energy. This was the place where he’d used to train Geryll and Nadya. He wanted to splinter those memories, not the racks of weapons–but they’d do.
By the time the last axe smashed against the wall and fell to the ground with an unceremonious clink, both of our chests were heaving.
We stood in the middle of a destroyed armory, ears ringing in the silence.
But we were standing.
My pulse hadn’t slowed, though. It roared through my veins, ecstatic for the first time in weeks now that I had unleashed myself. It demanded more audacity.
Judging by the way Ryker’s nostrils flared, he was still on the edge, too.
Across the shattered armory, he ran a hand through his short hair, breaths coming out hard, all of his control vanished.
Now he looked barely contained.
He nodded my way. “You done?”
I licked my lips, the ghost of a laugh on them. “Not even close.”
His mouth twitched in a jagged grin. “My thoughts exactly.”
More metal hissed on the stones as we kicked the strewn weapons from our path. All that energy that still crackled under our skin made us move faster.
For the second time that day, we abandoned ourselves, this time in each other’s arms as his mouth finally, mercifully, claimed mine.