Chapter 33
I lay awake well into the darkest parts of the night. My mind spun an endless web of scenarios and what-ifs. Cora’s soft breathing helped me focus on what I was about to do, a reminder of why I had to do it. For her.
My plan was dangerous. Walking about the halls with guards patrolling could get me caught.
If that happened, I planned on playing the stupid human woman who was wandering around to find Gabriel.
I just hoped that would work. If Gabriel caught me in his office, the only thing I had to give up was my body.
A distraction. I would slip into the role of seductress and tell him I couldn’t bear to wait any longer.
My stomach turned just thinking about the possibility of having to do that.
I had already packed my satchel, ready to grab and go once I had that book in hand.
Silently, I climbed out of bed, pulled on trousers and a warm tunic, and slipped on my riding boots.
The leather made far less noise on the marble floors than the slippers I wore with dresses.
The moon was high and bright in the sky, illuminating my daughter’s soft curls, deep asleep in our bed.
My heart clenched at how much I loved her and how scared I was to do this.
I slipped out of the door to our rooms and walked straight down the hallway with bated breath.
The thrumming of my heart was so hard that I could feel it push against my chest. Could Queen Mollah hear it from her rooms if she were awake?
At the top of the stairs, only one guard was walking through the hallway, heading in the opposite direction from Gabriel’s office.
Was it luck or Clotha helping me along tonight?
It certainly wasn’t Themis. Hallway after hallway and room after room, I focused on where Gabriel had brought me a few days ago.
Finally, I turned a corner to the familiar painting of a battle scene with swords and enchants flying through the air. Gabriel’s office door lay just past it.
This was it. As soon as I had the book in hand, I would get Cora out of here.
I slowly walked down the hall to the door.
The light lining the hallway in sconces gave off a dim glow, creating an ominous feeling as I approached.
I turned the handle of the door, praying it wouldn’t be locked, but it opened with ease, and I crept into his office, lit with a soft, glowing lantern on the desk, forgotten as he left for the evening.
Of course, nothing could ever be that easy, and the mead book was not lying on Gabriel’s desk as it had a few days ago.
Maybe it's on one of the bookshelves.
I picked up the lantern and ran my fingers over the spines, searching the titles.
Most were books on battle strategies, history, and several on blacksmithing.
It seemed like Gabriel’s penchant for watching the blacksmith went beyond just watching, and he harbored some kind of fascination with metalsmithing.
I paused mid-reach for one of the titles.
Muffled voices came, not from the hallway, but from behind a bookshelf, and they were getting louder and clearer with each second.
I hurriedly placed the lantern back where I found it and dove underneath Gabriel’s desk, bringing my knees to my chest and tucking myself into a ball as tightly as I could.
The desk was large but hard to see under unless someone was purposely looking. I hoped it would cover me well.
The bookshelf I was just perusing shifted and swung outward, revealing a hidden passage with stone steps that two pairs of legs climbed.
My heart was beating so hard I was sure that it was the loudest thing in the room.
If I were caught, no amount of feigned ignorance or throwing myself at Gabriel would get me out of this.
I listened intently to two voices conversing animatedly.
I recognized Gabriel speaking immediately.
“I just hope she gives in and makes it easier on herself. She’s exhaustingly stubborn.
I have been using my enchant on her when the occasion calls for it, which is often.
Mostly for my own gratification,” he laughed darkly.
“You’re lucky she’s beautiful. She doesn’t suspect how she got to Tironaill?” The second voice asked.
The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
Gabriel scoffed, moving around the table and rustling pages above me.
“No. I sent her on a fool's errand of going to the scholars to try to figure it out, but all books were scrubbed after the Great War, so only snippets of information remain. The asshole took her to Lord Toolock’s farm estate to get answers, though. She suspects something, but she hasn’t found out how. ”
Oh, my goddess.
The voice stated cautiously, “But she found out about the humans we are bringing in.”
Gabriel’s legs came to a standstill right in front of where I was balled up under his desk. “Yes, unfortunately. Marco, the dumb shit, took her father’s ring off him and sold it to the blacksmith to pay for his gambling debts. I’ll be handling him and his carelessness soon.”
“Speaking of which, how much of the elixir do we have in store?” The unknown voice asked. “My scouts are running low, going back and forth between Edenalee and here.”
I covered my mouth and almost gasped at the revelation. My father could still be alive. Maybe Micah was as well.
“We have plenty. I will provide you with whatever you need for your scouts. Do you think they will be ready to move if we are successful with the ritual?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, with the intel we have collected and the humans that we have been successful at securing, we know the right spots and humans to move on. The females will be easiest to get to the encampments. I am sure the nobles are antsy to get their hands on one,” the man chuckled.
That voice. How do I know that voice?
“Without a doubt,” Gabriel responded. “I must ensure there are plenty to go around. Have you selected a human female for yourself yet, Alec?”
Bile rose in my throat. Alec. He gave us those tinctures, and I didn’t even question it because I thought they were from Greta. How could I have been so stupid?
“I have my eye on a few. I’m still debating which one will bring me the hardiest offspring,” Alec responded.
Gabriel chuckled. “If I remember correctly from our youth, you had a taste for blondes.”
“Redheads. They usually have a little fight in them.”
“Mine has too much fight in her. It is going to take some work to break it out of her.”
Alec scoffed. “You have more patience than I do.”
“I like a challenge.” Gabriel moved to a wooden cabinet in the corner and opened it. Bottles lined the shelves. “Have a drink with me. To the future of Tironaill and any younglings I will squeeze out of Aurora if this plan works.”
The world spun. Gabriel wanted me to have his younglings. I willed myself not to throw up. I wished I had a silver dagger so I could plunge it straight into his dick.
Alec chuckled. “She is certainly a handful. You have your work cut out for you, Gabe. I had to use my enchant to trick her into thinking the human shithead that her mother sent to collect her was chasing us. I was shocked when she offered herself up as a distraction, and she almost jumped, too. So rare for a female to be so bold. Thank Themis, I was able to knock both her and the youngling off and through the barrier in time. I’m glad you found them even though the location we previously agreed upon was off by a couple of miles. ”
“My divination made that easier. No worries at all.” Gabriel closed the cabinet doors and moved past the desk. “I am out of the good bourbon. Come on, let’s go get a few bottles from the king’s stores. I know where he keeps the good stuff.”
Alec and Gabriel left the room in pursuit of their alcohol, their feet disappearing as soon as the door swung closed.
I waited in my hiding place, in case they came back.
The adrenaline in my body coursed through me in rapid waves, panic moving in.
There was no one to save us. No deities. No humans. Certainly, no seraphs.
I moved as quickly and quietly back through the castle as I could, dodging two guards on patrol by a hair. I needed to get Cora out of here and fast. I didn’t know where we were going to go, but I didn’t care. I would figure it out once I put enough distance between us and these seraphs.
Cora startled when I nudged her awake. I had to put my hand over her mouth and my finger touching my lips to indicate she was not to make a sound.
The urgency in my face made her spring into silent action, and I gave her warm woolen clothes to put on so she would be better protected from the cold of the late autumn air.
We had to get to the stables and ride for our lives.
As we slipped to the end of the third-floor hallway, I looked down into the foyer to see a few guards conversing. There, in the center of them, was Darragh.
Shit.
I lightly pushed Cora to the wall, and I stood in front of her, staying in the darkness of the hallway.
“Put more guards on the cells,” he growled. “There has been correspondence suggesting a jailbreak will happen soon by the militia to take their prisoners back.”
“Yes, Captain,” the guards said in unison.
They dispersed, Darragh stalking by the staircase, heading toward the hall of stained glass.
He paused as he passed by the bottom stairs for a moment, listening.
I held my breath, silently willing him to move along.
To have him find us wandering the castle at night would be equally as dangerous as Gabriel, but he moved on through the hallway and out of sight.