CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Iwas curled up on the freezing floor of the washroom when my eyelids finally forced themselves open.
Lantern-light pulsed against my vision in hurried flashes, as if warning me of something. I winced as the brightness drove a needle of pain through my skull, followed by a phantom vibration humming deep in my ears.
My hand braced against the stone as I pushed myself upright. The crystalline shriek of shattering glass split the small space. Shards of mirror lay scattered around me, one biting deep into the meat of my palm.
I stared at the crimson welling in the cut, a strange numbness settling over me before I flicked the bloodied shard to the floor.
I rose on legs that felt like water, picking my way through the wreckage of the mirror. Shards littered the stone like fallen ice, each step forcing me to move carefully as thin crescents of glass scraped beneath my feet.
A smear of blood trailed across my palm where the shard had bitten deep, but the pain felt distant beneath the pounding in my skull.
The sleeping chamber waited beyond the doorway, dim and silent.
My gaze fell immediately to the bed.
Talon’s side was empty. The pillow lay undisturbed, the blankets barely shifted, as though he had risen hours ago—or had never returned at all. A tight unease settled low in my chest.
I moved toward the narrow window, drawn by the faint gray light creeping through it, hoping the view beyond the glass might offer some answer as to where he had gone.
Before I could reach it, a heavy thud rattled the walls.
Another followed.
Then the unmistakable roar of a stampede.
I scrambled toward the arched doorway, my fingers fumbling to knot the belt of my tunic.
My skin was a map of sweat and glass, the fabric clinging to me, stained with small blossoms of my own blood. There was no time to scrub away the grime. If the High Court had breached the border, I would not meet them hiding in the washroom.
I melted into the corridor shadows, the bioluminescent glow of the walls catching the edges of my vision, when two figures stepped from a side passage.
Their silver armor caught the living light, the crests of frozen flame upon their chests gleaming. Their faces were masks of marble beneath their helms, their eyes fixed on me.
My thoughts lurched at the sight of them. Talon would have sealed the weaknesses in our gapped fence—so how had they gotten inside? And how had they reached the sleeping quarters as if they knew every crooked turn of the halls?
The guard’s words flashed through my mind.
They are always watching.
I stole a glance through a narrow window slit.
The city below was no longer a sanctuary.
The Thrynn River foamed and churned, a violent silver torrent swallowing the banks whole. The lush greenery was gone, crushed into the mud beneath iron and boots.
An army was crossing.
Their armor rippled like a sea of mercury in the dark, their banners snapping in the wind as the High Court’s crest flashed again and again. Row upon row of silent soldiers pressed toward the heart of Umbral.
I could almost hear the silk of those banners tearing through the air. Almost feel the river’s icy current pulling me under.
The scrape of a boot dragged me back.
The two guards were advancing, their movements swift.
I leaped ahead, darting away from their outstretched hands, but one was faster. He caught my hand, pulling on my finger until it gave a sickening pop. I screeched as pain radiated through my knuckle, traveling down to my wrist, but he only tightened his grip.
The other guard maneuvered around me, interlocking his arm with mine and tugging me forward. My forehead collided with his steel-covered chest, but I used the impact, throwing my body weight forward to knock him off balance.
My twisted finger was still grasped by the first, so I lifted my leg and sent my heel straight between his thighs.
“Let go of me!”
He grimaced, dropping my hand to cup his lower region, his knees bowing inward.
“You stupid girl,” he roared.
I cradled my hand to my chest, scooting back. “You are not welcome here.”
The guard to my left scoffed, using the wall as leverage to pull himself back to his feet. “We do not need an invitation. Least of all from a traitor.”
I glared at him, kicking my leg out until it connected with his unarmored kneecap. He shouted, hobbling back into a seated position. My head whipped back to the other guard.
“What are you here for?”
“Is it not obvious, girl?” he sneered, taking a step closer. “You.”
“Do not come any closer,” I hissed, raising my pointer finger in warning.
He barked out a mocking laugh and withdrew his sword, a large silver rod with a scythe-like curve. “You do not scare us, Kaelia.”
The guard on the ground withdrew a smaller dagger from a holster strapped around his calf. It glinted as he held it toward me, the tip dangerously close to my achilles tendon.
“I wish I could say I am sorry for this.”
The guard in front of me tilted his head, his sword dropping ever so slightly. “Sorry for what?”
A volatile heat ignited in the tips of my blunt nails and climbed up my arm with celestial speed. I rounded the inky wisps in the palms of my hands until the form spun into a large, floating mass of smoke and shadow in front of me.
The guard gaped, taking a single step back just as I rotated my hands in a half-circle and snapped my arms out.
The sphere split, one section aiming directly for the standing guard and hitting him square in the chest. He shrieked as he was flung backwards, his armor skidding noisily across the stone.
The other half completely encased the seated guard, until only his outstretched legs were visible beneath the storm.
He kicked his feet out. “I cannot breathe! I cannot breathe!”
I clenched my fingers, urging the ball to tighten and with a squeal, the guard dropped limp, his booted feet collapsing outward as his back hit the ground.
I did not waste another second looking at their bodies, I ran.
I rounded the corner and nearly collided with a petite, dark form.
Neya was standing eerily still, shadowed tendrils shooting from her shoulder-blades and forming a wall of shadow in front of her.
“Kaelia,” she snapped, angling her hip in front of me to block me from the lashing spirits. “Where are you going?”
“Talon,” I gasped, my hands bracing themselves on my knees. “I have to find him. An army is here, Neya. They are here for me.”
Confusion flickered across her face before her gaze slid past me to the guards I had left in the haze. “Get to the Gauntlet. Head down the way you came. There are too many guards beyond this wall.”
Neya’s monstrous shadow expanded, filling the empty corners of the corridor.
I watched, paralyzed, as she shaped the darkness into spears that hissed through the air, cleaving through silver armor we could not see.
She was a whirlwind of unleashed fury, a storm of lethal grace. A single strike shattered bone, another cleaved a helm in two.
“Neya, stop!” I pleaded, fingers gripping her forearm. “You will get hurt!”
She did not look back but shook out of my grasp. “Do not waste time on me. Leave.”
I could not move. Because my eyes were glued to the deeper shadows, where a new figure appeared. He moved with cautious steps, a glinting weapon hoisted above his shoulder. The blade vibrated with a frequency that looked all too familiar.
The silver from the Sunken Cells.
“Watch out!”
Before Neya could even turn her head, the guard struck, the gleaming tip piercing her throat, just below her jugular.
Her eyes widened in utter horror as black ichor spread from the wound. Her form faltered, her shadows sputtering and collapsing like a fire doused in ice.
She reached out toward me, her strength failing as her body hit the floor with a sickening thud.
“Neya!” I stumbled forward, my fingers stretching into the space between us.
She tried to speak, her lips parting as if to shape a plea, but nothing escaped her.
Before my hand could reach her, a violent grip fisted in my hair and yanked me backward. A cry of agony escaped me as pain blazed across my scalp and shot down my spine.
My hands clawed over my shoulders, fingers scraping against thick leather gloves as I fought like a cornered animal, but my blunt nails found no purchase against the smooth fabric.
“Shut it,” the man growled, tilting my head at an angle that forced a sob from my lungs.
A needle punched into the tender side of my neck, just below my clenched jaw. My whole body jolted as a cold fire burst through my veins, flooding outward until I no longer knew if my arms were striking out or falling limp.
My body screamed, trying to fight the toxin, but it froze my muscles much too quickly.
I tried to cry out, but my jaw was locked. It was as if my body was no longer mine.
The corridor tilted and the light from the walls smeared into long, blurred streaks. My chest heaved, but even my breath felt like it was not happening.
Metal bit into my wrists—two rings of anti-shadow silver slamming shut with a final, chilling click.
They dragged me across the stone, my bare feet scraping against the uneven floor, and I could not fight them.
I was paralyzed, but my eyes remained wide. My last view was of Neya, her fingers twitching against the stone.
The guards did not spare her a glance.
“Kaelia Vaser,” one intoned. “You are under arrest for treason against Haelen.”