Chapter 50
Ezreal Kalmont
ANNA
The storm outside was still raging. I saw my reflection in the glass, but I didn't recognize what I saw.
I panted, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I stared at the window, my fist bloody and not a crack in it.
I had poured everything I had into trying to destroy the glass to escape, but nothing worked.
How was this room so secure? I tried everything. I’d pulled every book from the shelves and injured every part of my body trying to break myself out forcibly. Ezreal’s office was a fortress.
I cried out in frustration and kicked the desk, unable to even splinter a piece of wood.
“Damn it!” I muttered, lowering myself to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my forehead against them.
I wanted to see Blake. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to leave Nightfall far behind and never come back. I wanted to be free of this pain.
What did they want with me? Is this why my mom was murdered? For my everi?
Fierce sobs escaped into the still room as the thunder boomed outside. I was trapped here, forced to face the worst demon of all—myself.
What did everyone know about me that I didn’t know myself? My existence was my worst nightmare.
“You sound terrible when you cry.”
A bolt of shock pierced my chest.
I looked up, recognizing Melanie’s sharp tone.
All I could do was stare.
She was the last person I expected to see here.
“Get up,” she snapped. “We do not have much time.”
When I didn’t move, she growled in irritation and grabbed my arm and jerked painfully. I rose before jerking my arm free.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
She threw me a menacing glare. “I am here to get you out of Nightfall. Now come with me.”
“Why in the hell would I trust you?”
Melanie shook her head. “You know, you do not have any other choice.”
I stared at the open door and my temper calmed.
“And what happened to you?” she asked, looking me up and down. “You look and smell terrible. Is that all your blood?”
I ignored her and bolted to the door, but she grabbed my collar, effectively halting me.
“Stick with me unless you want to die,” she hissed.
I shook her off.
“Fine!” I said. “But tell me why you are helping me?”
Melanie looked away and took the lead. “It currently serves my interests.”
I followed her, eyeing her skeptically, but I knew she wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Melanie, wait,” I said. “We have to get Blake. He is still here somewhere. Ezreal took him.”
“I know,” she said. “There is no way to get him out, Anna. He is the one who sent me to get you.”
Her words hit like a gut punch.
“I’m not leaving without him,” I said. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you will,” she said. “Because they are not going to kill Blake, but they will kill you.”
I gasped and took a step back. “I don’t understand. What is happening?”
“I am not entirely sure,” Melanie said, her voice softer than I’ve ever heard. “So far, I have faked my way out of a lot of trouble, but I am ready to get out of here. If you are coming with me, we need to go now, and you need to do everything that I say.”
I swallowed. “What about Isabella? She was with Blake.”
“She is already safe. She is with Malakai,” Melanie muttered.
“Malakai!”
“Shut up,” she snapped. “Now let us go.”
I followed through the dark corridor. The sconces had been extinguished.
I couldn’t tell where we were in the castle in such darkness.
There was enough light to make out the bodies on the ground, but I didn’t see every one, sometimes finding them by stepping on something that was clearly not the floor.
I felt nauseous as we slipped through one of the halls and into another corridor.
I swore as I nearly fell over a blood mage in the middle of the corridor when a light flickered ahead of us.
Melanie grabbed me so fast that panic flicked through my nerves like lightning.
She pulled me behind a pillar and into the shadows, grasping me tightly against her with my back to her chest, and her hand clasped over my mouth.
“Shhh! Hold still unless you want to die.”
She didn’t have to tell me to be still, but for the first time, I didn’t care that she was telling me what to do.
Her grasp on my mouth was tight and I felt her pulse quicken on my lips. Moments later, I realized why.
A presence like I’d never felt before was approaching. It was loud, as if it were screaming. It made my own everi rescind deep within, hiding and cowering from whatever was nearing.
I tried to still myself, but my heart was thundering against my chest. I willed it to stop, as if the sound of it would alert them to my presence. As it passed, I could feel the air in my lungs thinning as I held my breath.
Who was this? Not that it mattered. I hoped I would never come face-to-face with them.
We stood there, unmoving, long after the presence passed and vanished down the hall. When Melanie finally let go of me, I was paralyzed. My everi reaction was so violent, it felt like I’d never move again.
Melanie grasped my upper arm and jerked, “Come on!”
Her hand was charged and sent waves of everi through me, awakening my own. My eyes snapped to hers, and I saw fear there—palpable, unshielded, and in tune with mine.
“Who was that?” I whispered.
“Someone that you do not ever want to meet,” she whispered.
We carefully made our way to the rift, its swirling black and purple layers melting together like liquid metal.
My nerves were fraying and I glanced nervously at Melanie.
The last time I went through here, Blake was supporting me like a newborn baby deer.
I had my doubts Melanie would be so generous.
“Go,” she said. “Calm your mind and walk through. Do not stop until you are fully out of the rift.”
I took a deep breath and did as she said.
It was the oddest sensation. It felt as if every part of my body was everywhere all at once. I could see everything, hear everything, but despite feeling weightless, I could keep moving if I willed myself to. And as I did, the feeling in my body returned to me, and my back was to the rift.
The weight of Valendial’s power was upon me immediately.
I fell to my knees, catching myself with my hand flat on the marble floor.
I labored to catch my breath, the cool touch of the floor soothing as my skin flushed under the new pressure.
Slowly, I rose, forcing my body to adjust. Melanie appeared at my side, only pausing briefly to adjust.
“Come on,” Melanie said.
I summoned my strength and moved to follow her when I felt a shift around me.
My feet left the ground as I flew through the air, smacking against the stone wall. Shocked, I saw Melanie before me. Beyond her, having stepped through the rift, was Ezreal Kalmont.
“You are quite the expert in clandestine affairs, are you not, Melanie?” he asked.