Chapter 60
Keira
Light flickered beyond her eyelids. Fresh, gentle air entered her lungs that didn’t stink of damp and filth.
Her first instinct was to deny that this reprieve was anything more than a fantasy conjured by her unconscious, but even her dreams of late had been nothing but blackness.
In fact, Keira felt more awake than she had in ages.
Still, hope was an uneasy thing to hold on to.
As Keira opened her eyes, part of her worried she had finally lost her mind, the other feared she had been ushered into some fresh nightmare.
Maybe they wanted to torture her. Was it possible that the year had passed and the Golden Compass had returned to extend their offer?
What would they do if she refused them twice?
Instead, she was met by the familiar fireplace of Grimlocke’s library.
It was unmistakable from where she lay on the plush sofa that had served as her bed throughout her time with the Blades.
Though she could not explain how she had come to be there, Keira recognised it at once.
The bookshelves ran from floor to ceiling on either wall, a dull assortment that she had augmented over the years to create a more vibrant and varied collection.
The mantle was carved with the same sinister characters, bathed in shifting shadows.
As grotesque as the scene had always been, there was such comfort in the familiarity that she could have cried at the sight.
In a fluttering of feathers, Thaddeus came to perch on her hip, cawing at her tentatively and pecking at her arm. She regarded him, still not entirely certain she was conscious, or sane for that matter.
There was a stiffness in her whole body, which Keira fought against as she shifted upright.
She was wearing someone else’s clothes, a simple underdress.
Beneath it felt as if every inch of her was swollen with bruises, especially her face.
She was afraid to touch it or to open her mouth, which ached worst of all.
Her hair was damp and smelled like fish for some unfathomable reason.
But at least those were weighty arguments toward this all being real.
She’d gotten out… Somehow, the blades must have found her.
Realization struck her suddenly. They hadn’t given her that wretched poison since they’d arrived at Deepgate.
The ward they’d laid into her cell had drained her power well enough on its own.
At her call, magic churned freely through her blood like a salve, and Keira took hold of it desperately.
If she could heal her hurts, if she could restore her strength, then she could get back to Northall, see Caspian again.
She had to make sure he was safe, to figure out what had happened to her and why.
First, Keira laid a gentle touch on her swollen cheek.
She’d worked this magic a hundred times, yet her power wobbled clumsily.
Keira forced it to focus like light through a lense.
Dizziness stirred in her head as she finally felt the bruising begin to fade.
A cool sweat covered her skin as she panted from the effort.
She was falling before she realized it. Thaddeus’s startled sound seemed distant to her ears. She didn’t feel a thing as her body collapsed into a heap on the ground.
“Keira!” a familiar voice called to her, pulling her from her stupor.
She groaned, feeling a hand on her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she was looking up into Florian’s familiar gaze.
“You with me?”
Keira nodded, groaning against the headache swelling like a stone in her skull. She was tangled in blankets, which had only half followed her to the floor.
“Do you remember falling?” Florian asked.
“I tried to do some magic,” Keira grumbled. The words tumbled clumsily from her swollen mouth.
“Maybe you should try eating something first? You’re not in good shape. Knox is brewing a tonic to help get you back on your feet, but it’ll take time.”
Keira made a sour face. Knox’s brews were often as foul as they were effective. She was pretty sure she heard him chuckle as he picked her up and carefully set her back on the couch.
“I’m going to get you some food,” Florian said.
Keira shook her head. She didn’t want to eat. She wasn’t sure she could keep anything down anyhow. What she wanted was answers and revenge, preferably in that order, though she wasn’t feeling too selective. “How did you find me? How the hell did you get me out of there?”
“I had some help,” Florian admitted, looking over his shoulder.
She followed his gaze to see… Lord Redfield’s mistress? Yvette wasn’t it? She was standing in the corner of the room. “What in the Fate’s design is going on?” Keira demanded.
Yvette paled.
Florian stepped forward. “Someone sold you out to the cartel. Yvette came to find us, to help you.”
“What? How did she even know? How did the fucking Highwinds find me all the way up there?”
Florian turned to Yvette, letting her explain.
“It was Vi- Lord Redfield. He wants Lord Caspian to marry Priscilla, to expand his influence,” Yvette explained. “He just wanted you out of the way.”
“But Caspian wouldn’t- He was going to break the engagement,” Keira said at once. The sick feeling churned in her stomach. “He doesn’t love her.”
They looked at her with horrible pitying expressions.
“The wedding is in two days,” Yvette said quietly.
Rage rippled through her, hot as acid, turning her veins a violent green.
Yvette’s eyes rounded, and even Florian flinched backward.
All Keira could think was that all the time she’d been wasting away in that dark hell, Caspian hadn’t even been looking for her.
He’d set to marry someone else all over again.
Had any of it been real? Falling in love again? It had been real for her. The terrible thought that he had sold her out flickered in her mind, but it was too horrid to even consider.
Keira’s chest heaved, steam pouring from each exhalation.
The sound that came from her was between a sob and a howl, a feral cry of heartbreak.
Caspian loved her. She knew it in her bones.
What they had was real, and the only reason he wouldn’t be here now was if he didn’t know where she was or why.
Her pain hardened, honing into malice aimed toward a single focus. If he couldn’t come to her, well then…
Keira was on her feet, striding to the library’s double doors.
“You need to rest and then-” Florian’s voice called at her back, but she ignored him, throwing open the doors.
She was going to a cursed wedding.
Across the hall, the doors to the common room were open. Already Gareth had stepped out, positioning himself between her and the stairs.
“You’re not thinking straight, Keira,” Florian’s voice chased her. “You’re not strong enough.”
They were wrong. She hadn’t felt this powerful in so long. Now that her magic was back, it wasn’t rest she needed; it was vengence.
“Back to bed, now.” Gareth’s tone left little room for refusal.
Keira’s lips curled in a snarl, teeth lengthening into fangs. She had no intention of being held prisoner again.
“Don’t make me-” Gareth’s words were interrupted by another feral rumbling.
Keira’s attention whipped across the hall to where Knox stood. His eyes flashed silver as they locked with hers in challenge. Keira recognized that gleam in his eye. So did everyone else.
“Fate’s teeth,” Gareth cursed.
Keira had already adjusted her posture into a predatory crouch. This is what she needed, to sink her teeth into something. Her body was swelling, transforming into a being of thick fur and wicked claws.
Across the hall, Knox was shifting too. His transition was nothing like her own, not gradual or elegant. The wolfish form burst from him in a heartbeat, and in the next he was charging at her.
Keira barely registered the shriek behind her as they collided into a frenzy of claws and fangs seeking out the blood running beneath thick pelts.
She reveled in the feeling of her fury coursing freely through her.
The scent of blood washed away the memories of that wretched place, of her own helplessness.
Though she was careful to avoid his cursed bite, she savored pain as Knox’s claws raked into her skin.
The sensation was better than the numbness in which she had existed for…
she wasn’t even sure how long. Best of all, the potency of her rage was enough to drown out even the heart wrenching betrayal that threatened to overcome her.
They broke apart, flanks heaving, wounds bleeding onto the scuffed wood floor. Knox’s haunches tensed, and Keira bared her fangs, readying for him to pounce, hungry for it. Before he got the chance, Gareth took the opening to plant himself between them.
Knox’s focus shifted targets, and he growled at his new challenger.
Keira knew what would happen next. She’d seen it before.
Too bad Knox’s wolf had a steeper learning curve.
Lilith appeared from behind her brother, locking her arm around his neck and driving the needle into his fur.
He collapsed, barely catching himself on his clawed hands as the elixir did its work.
Within a moment, he was a man again, an unconscious one.
The room turned to her as her bestial form faded. She could hold it no longer as the surge of adrenaline began to fade.
“I’m going,” Keira growled, looking from Gareth to Rhea, who had come to stand beside him, blocking her way.
“You’re too weak to go alone,” Rhea said firmly. “Recover and plan with us. We can help you.”
Keira snorted, shaking her head against the blackness that was indeed crowding her vision. A tremor went through her muscles. She hated the weakness even as it swelled, growing undeniably within her.
“We’ll do everything we can, Keira,” Florian said from behind her.
Keira’s attention turned. His expression was forcefully calm as Yvette cowered in the corner behind him.