Chapter 47
The Beginning of the End
“None of that,” Winifred snapped, her voice slicing through the charged air like a blade.
She tilted her head at Soren, who released me but didn’t move from his newfound place between me and Zade.
Or maybe it was between Zade and me. Either way, Soren had no intention of letting us stand side by side.
“We are to work together for one purpose,” Winifred continued, her tone smoothing into its usual calm, but the fire in her eyes was hot enough to melt away the tension between them.
“We help Eliana. If anyone has difficulty remembering our main focus or gets distracted by other issues, then they will be dismissed.”
She looked to Zade first. He gave a deep nod.
“That’s always been my purpose,” he said, flicking a glance toward me from around Soren’s unyielding frame. “Taking care of her is my top priority.”
Winifred’s gaze shifted, sharp as glass, to Soren.
His hand closed over mine, firm, possessive, his grip wrapping around that blood-pumping organ in my chest as much as my palm. Said organ gave a traitorous ba-dump in answer, and I forced my fingers to stay still instead of curling back into his.
His actions were the only answer she needed.
“While I am all for reunions,” Winifred said, her attention sweeping the room and pulling everyone else into the conversation, “We have a horde of very evil beings above us and an army of Tower weapons hunting for us.” She turned to Salah’s dad.
“You said you have a way for us to get into The Tower, Marve?”
The pudgy man nodded. “I have a connection that can get us to the 800K level.” His eyes zipped to me from behind fogged spectacles.
“From there, you’ll all be able to rest and regroup to plan out what’s next.
” Then he dared to look at Soren. “But you’ll need to get us to the mansion.
I don’t have a clear path from here. Once we reach the Governor’s Mansion, we’ll be in safe hands. ”
Soren’s fingers slid to the back of my neck, his thumb raking a slow, deliberate arc over my pulse.
“Not a problem.”
He was replying to Marve, but his eyes remained fixed on me, and the touch said something else entirely.
Mine.
He said it without sound, in every drag of his thumb, in the way the air between us tightened. Zade’s presence must have sent his competitive side into overkill.
I shivered—half from the contact and its meaning, half from the jolt of knowing things were finally aligning.
Tower things, not Soren things.
Not only did I have a way back into The Tower. I had a team now. My plans A through H had never required anyone else’s help, but now that I had it, it didn’t feel so much like a weakness.
Especially when one of those teammates knew the location of the weapon I needed to kill Azazel. Soren was going to get me the Jonathon bow whether he wanted to or not.
He probably thought he was the one in control. But in that moment, the truth cut clear: he’d been orbiting me all along. He was the shadow; I was the pull. And shadows don’t survive without the thing casting them.
His words echoed in my mind. Claims and promises:
“You’re mine. And I’ll be damned if anyone else gets to touch you.”
“Because you’re all that matters.”
“To me, you’re everything.”
I’d been acting like the dragged-along prophecy piece, the pawn to be moved. But it was my destiny, and they were the ones following me.
I was done playing the shadow. It was time to be the moon, choosing when and where to cast them.
As if sensing my internal decision, Winifred cleared her throat. “Soren, you lead us all toward the Governor’s, then. Time for something to happen.”
This was it.
The beginning of the end.
Soren laid out the plan as we each took less than fifteen minutes to drink water and eat a snack.
Even with my skin buzzing from anticipation, a pang of guilt crept in at the sight of Astrid. She looked like she could crumble if we so much as brushed past her. But staying under The Red Room was begging for trouble. If she ended up in one of those rooms, she’d be worse off than ever.
We all would.
We moved in groups up from the basement, through The Red Room’s lobby, and into the narrow alley Soren and I had hidden in on our way here.
Salah, Marve, and I were the first out. Zade followed close behind, supporting one side of Astrid while Adriel took the other.
Winifred came next with Marigold and Matthias. Soren brought up the rear.
The streets were eerily clear. Even the air seemed to hold its breath. Apparently, Matthias and Marigold had drawn the Extermins, Mods, and a few other creatures I'd never encountered before away from the hotel before circling back to guard our route.
“Not just a pretty face,” Matthias boasted, flashing a wink once we’d all pressed into the deepest shadow of the alley. His gaze flicked to the necklace at my throat. “You find what you were looking for?”
I glanced down. The pendant rested over the mark on my chest, while the box—stuffed with its secrets—lay buried in my pack.
“Did you know?” I murmured.
Matthias shrugged but didn’t answer.
“No messing around,” Soren hissed, his voice low but sharp. “You follow my orders, and I’ll get everyone safely to the mansion.”
He directed the first group—Winifred and Marigold—toward the open street.
They darted to the maintenance hole, vanished below, and left the cover open for us.
Then we went out in pairs like that. It felt like I was holding my breath until Matthias closed the utility cover over the top of the ladder and hopped off the last rung to the sewer floor, rounding out our little party.
I took in large gasps of the cleaner air. Soren hadn’t been lying about the pollution in The Last City. Even underground, I could breathe worlds better than up there.
Zade put a hand on my back. I noticed how warm and soft his hand was compared to when Soren did the same thing. It didn’t carry the voltage of Soren’s touch, though. It was like a neutral current, something I might feel from Salah or Winifred. Safe in a way that didn’t quicken my pulse.
“Stay near me,” he said too loudly, drawing a shushing hiss from Marigold. He leaned closer. “I can protect you.”
I lifted my crossbow. “I’m fine, Zade.”
He chuckled under his breath. “You have no idea how much cooler I am now than back when we sparred at the range. Stronger, too. Strong enough to give your little demon boyfriend another run for his money.”
Astrid snorted, the sound morphing into a faint whimper.
Before either Zade or I could offer to carry her, Adriel bent to scoop her onto his back. His voice was so soft it almost didn’t sound like him. “Get on.”
Something in my chest squeezed. Astrid didn’t look like herself. No glamour, no armor. But she smiled at him, nestling her face into his shoulder.
I looked away.
They’d known each other for days. How did they already have that ease, that care? How did you let someone in without slipping away through the cracks in the floor?
I elbowed Zade to break the ache in my chest. “Soren’s not my boyfriend. And you’ve always been overconfident, so pardon me if I don’t take your word for it. Pretty sure he’s invincible, by the way.”
Zade’s laugh was loud enough to earn another hiss from Marigold.
“Well, now that you’re sleeping with the devil, I had to get some upgrades.” He dropped a heavy hand on my head, mussing my hair.
I ducked away with a glare. “I’m not sleeping with him!”
“You’ve kissed him, though, haven’t you?” The playful lilt was gone, replaced with something harder.
The truth snagged in my throat. We had kissed—more than once now.
And more than kissed. But we didn’t have what Adriel and Astrid had, that lighthearted warmth.
With Soren, it was a different pull entirely.
It was darker, sharper, like the burn of liquor that made you crave another sip but threatened misery if you indulged too much.
I still hated him. Couldn’t feel all giddy and trusting.
The answer was too complicated.
“None of your business,” I grumbled, slipping ahead to catch up with Salah.
Soren did the opposite, slowing until he was at my side.
My pulse tripped into a gallop.
He slid an arm around my waist, pulling me tight. “Let him touch you again, and I’ll cut his fingers off so you can wear them as a necklace.”
A kiss landed at the crown of my head, the pressure of his grip ensuring I knew he meant it. Then, two long strides and he was leading again.
And they say romance is dead?
I tried to focus on the path ahead, not on the dangerous fizzle blooming under my ribs. Not on how I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to keep running from belonging.
“Don’t forget whose you really are,” the voice hissed in my head.
I was beginning to wonder if it was Soren in my head this whole time, dark and evil as he was. Possessive. Corrupting.
I glanced at Salah, but she was deep in conversation with her father, oblivious to my boy drama.
“Hey, Rapunzel.”
Matthias appeared in Soren’s absence, and I instinctively put some distance between us just in time for Soren to see that I’d heard his warning.
Matthias caught it, too. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to cause trouble for you.” He lowered his voice and tapped my elbow before dropping back a couple of paces. I followed suit, letting Salah and her dad move ahead.
“I need a favor,” Matthias whispered, careful to keep the words soft.
I hummed in acknowledgment, eyes trained on the front of the group where Soren and Marigold took turns silently dispatching the few Mods that appeared. Zade was at the rear, doing little more than keeping pace with no Mods on our tail.
"No matter what happens after this,” Matthias said quickly, “Make sure Salah knows I actually cared for her. That I wasn’t just… playing around.”
“Why are—”
He didn’t let me finish, melting back toward the rear before I could press him for more.