Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
R afe came to, his skull throbbing as if an ax had split it open. Pain was the first sensation. The second was the taste of blood and dust, as if he’d breathed in the fine grit from the tiled floor.
Recollection seeped back. He’d fallen—been pushed—through the door to the dungeon. After a moment of confusion, he realized he was facedown with his feet still on the bottom step. His forehead felt bruised and the spot between his shoulder blades burned as if it had been struck with a brand. He slowly tucked in his legs and rolled onto his right side. Happily, nothing seemed broken, although the room swam as he stood. He swallowed his rising nausea and pulled his phone from his pocket. Luckily, it was intact, but despite the time display, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious. Maybe a few minutes? Not more than a half hour, but a lot could happen in that time.
Lila . Rafe hadn’t seen what happened in the seconds he’d been plunging down the stairs, but the result was clear. Someone had her.
A series of images flashed through his mind—Lila dancing, Lila at the graves in the woods, Lila soft and welcoming beneath him. She didn’t belong in a cage, any more than the wind or rain. Any more than a wolf. A low snarl ripped from Rafe’s throat as he considered his next move.
The only light came from dim sconces sunk into the walls at distant intervals. It was enough to see the door at the top of the steps was closed. It was probably locked, but he had to try it anyhow.
As he reached for the stair rail to climb back up, his knuckles hit something hard. He stepped back, confused, then reached again more slowly. It was like bumping into an invisible brick wall a quarter of the way up the stairs. Feeling a little like a French mime, he felt his way from one side of the stairwell to the other, from the steps to as high as he could reach. While his eyes saw nothing, his fingers told him the story of a wall—rough, cold, and tingling with wild energy that raised the hair along his forearms. Whoever had pushed Rafe down meant him to stay down.
Cursing, Rafe backed away from the stairs. Lila was on the other side of that barrier, and instinct begged him to hurl himself at it until it gave way. How strong could an obstacle be if he couldn’t even see it? But this was magic, and brute force wouldn’t work. He’d have to reason his way past.
He sucked in a breath, forcing himself to think. There were other exits. He’d used some of them in company with his jailors. If he could get out of the basement, he could search for Lila. And he’d take advantage of the search. They’d been on their way here to hunt for Teegar and finding the captain still mattered. Rafe would check the cells while he looked for a way out.
He set off at a brisk pace. He remembered Lila telling him about a confusion spell that kept intruders from finding their way through the dungeon. Since he’d usually been escorted in and out, he hadn’t personally suffered its effects. Still, he didn’t want to waste time going in circles. When he got to the first corner, he took out the ring of keys he’d found in Ademar’s office and scored a mark on the wall. Then he kept going, memory telling him to veer right.
The cells were widely spaced, only one or two doors a side down each hallway. Rafe stopped at the first few, listening for signs of life behind the steel doors. He didn’t have one of the fobs that activated the keypads, but he checked the doors for old-fashioned key locks, just in case one of the keys on the ring might prove useful. By the time he checked a half-dozen cells, a sense of futility crept over him. There were no keyholes and no sounds. More to the point, he wasn’t finding any exits.
At the next turn, he left two short marks. At the next, he left three. Not a sophisticated system, but it would do. He checked a dozen more cells and was on his way to his fourth corner—how big was this place?—when the sound of footfalls froze him in place. Step-step-click. Step-step-click. A man with a cane. Lila’s brother.
Sound bounced off the hard surfaces of the corridor, making it hard to tell which direction Ademar was coming from. Rafe pressed himself against the wall, making himself as small as possible as he peered around the corner. It was only then he noticed the faint scratch in the paint. Rafe’s stomach dropped. It was the single mark telling him he’d gone in a circle and was no closer to getting out. Fido’s balls!
He slid around the corner, but it was a miscalculation. Ademar entered the passage from the other direction. Rafe fell back a step while the fae stopped cold, his expression thunderous.
“Face to face at last and without my sister to save you,” Ademar drawled. “Unlucky dog.”
The possibility of violence hung like a fog in the air. Rafe was unchained and free to shift, but Ademar was too close. The fae would be on him before he fully changed. Rafe had no gun, no knife, nothing but his phone, and he’d never heard of texting a fae to death. Then his hand slid into his pocket and found the bundle of keys. They were almost as good as brass knuckles.
Ademar limped closer, his eyes dark with hatred. “You have no idea how much pleasure I’d find in reducing you to a carpet stain.”
Rafe pulled the bundle of keys from his pocket, then closed his fist so the points stuck out from between his fingers. “You won’t find me such easy prey.”
“Good luck with that.” Ademar flicked his hand.
A circle of blue flame ignited around Rafe’s feet, penning him where he stood. The fire was blazing hot but left no mark on the floor or walls. Rafe shuffled his feet, inching his boots away from the heat. Smirking, Ademar shrank the circle another inch, clearly prepared to make a game of toast-the-wolf. Then he caught sight of the keys in Rafe’s grip, and his brows dipped in fury.
“Give me those,” the fae snapped.
The metal ripped from Rafe’s fingers, taking skin and leaving deep scratches behind. The bundle flew to Ademar’s palm, where he inspected the ring, clearly checking the keys were all there. “You were in my study. I assume Lila took you there.”
Rafe said nothing, just closed his fist around his smarting fingers.
“Well?” Ademar shifted forward, leaning on the cane. The jewels dotting the embroidery of his tunic winked coldly in the cheerless light.
“I follow where Lila leads.”
Ademar shot him a look of pure loathing as he stuffed the keys in his pocket. “So you do, and she has little protection in this place. Your loyalty to my sister is the only reason you’re still breathing.”
“Not everyone shares your sentiment,” Rafe replied. “Someone pushed me down the stairs.”
“Lord Farras,” Ademar replied. “I saw them together in the kitchen. She detests him even more than I hate you, and that’s saying something.”
“Then why leave her in his company?”
Rafe studied Ademar, comparing him to the video of the Magician. He was tall and fair. He could imagine him moving with the grace and energy of the enemy. And Lila’s brother would do what it took to survive. Was selling poison to wolf cubs beyond him? There was no telling with the fae.
“Lila is my sister, and I don’t answer to you, wolf.” The flames inched closer to Rafe’s flesh. “And you don’t understand the complexities of the game I play.”
“No, I really don’t.” The heat intensified. Sweat rolled down the small of Rafe’s back.
Ademar’s mouth twisted. “Well, here is the simple version. Lord Farras is a dangerous enemy, and he already suspects that I don’t share his every opinion.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m sure Lila mentioned that he left me on my own to capture Captain Teegar of the Royal Guard. It was a test I couldn’t afford to fail. As a result, I’m implicated in his schemes. I’m not a free actor.”
“What does he want?”
“Farras plans to crown himself king before he’s done. He’ll crush anyone to do it.” Ademar shrugged. “Correction, he’ll get his hangers-on to do the crushing. Milord does not dirty his hands.”
“Is this a confession or a preamble to incinerating me?” Rafe asked. “I always worry when I get information for free.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Ademar’s smile chilled Rafe to the pit of his stomach. “You’ll pay for this. What were you and Lila doing in my study?”
Rafe thought of a dozen lies, but opted for the truth. He couldn’t yet see where this was going. “We were looking for help. She wanted to send a message. Find someone to slow Farras’s roll. I don’t think it worked.”
“Of course not. She’s no idea how my system works.” Ademar muttered something under his breath about delicate equipment and amateurs. “And when it failed?”
“We planned to get a message out a different way.”
Ademar grimaced. “Release a fae prisoner to make it past the perimeter spells?”
Lila’s brother was quick. Rafe had to give him that. He nodded, doing his best to ignore the smell of his boots’ soles starting to melt.
“Lord Teegar?” Ademar asked sharply. “He is a traitor.”
“According to Lord Farras. Do you trust his opinion?”
Ademar jammed a hand through his fair hair. “I don’t know.”
Rafe thought carefully before he spoke again. “Can Teegar be trusted to leave here and find backup? Will that backup be someone who will help your family so you don’t have to tie yourself in knots for a lord you don’t respect?”
Ademar’s eyes narrowed. “Be careful how you speak of your betters.”
The flames shot high for a heartbeat, dazzling Rafe’s eyes. He clamped his jaw shut, willing down his roar of fury. Then the fire faded to its previous size. Ademar leaned against the wall, a predatory smirk on his face.
“Fine.” Rafe’s throat ached with thirst. “I know you and I have very little in common, but we share one thing. We both want safety for our packs.”
“So?”
“You say you’re not a free actor, but you’re not powerless.If you want change, then make it happen.”
Ademar straightened from his slouch and gripped the handle of his sword cane, as if he meant to draw the weapon. But then the fae went still and silent for so long that Rafe began to wonder if he’d ever speak .
Finally, Ademar released his grip on the sword. “You’re too useful to kill. Not yet. If I let you go, swear you will protect Lila. You took that capability from me, wolf.”
“Fair enough.” Rafe could have argued the last point, but it was clear Ademar cared for his sister. That would have to do. “You have my word.”
The fire at Rafe’s feet blinked out as suddenly as it had flared. He almost cried out in relief.
“Follow me,” Ademar ordered.
Rafe did, but kept more than an arm’s length from the fae. They were having a moment of tolerance, but that was hardly trust. Ademar turned, and turned again, leading him to a part of the dungeon Rafe did not remember. Finally, they stopped before a door a little larger than the rest.
Ademar drew a fob from his pocket, identical to the one Rafe had used to free Izetta. The fae waved it over the keypad and entered a code—a different one than Rafe remembered from the other cells. Clearly, this cell held a special prisoner, because the locks were more complex. When the light beside the pad turned from red to green, a small panel the size of a large postage stamp slid open beside the door, revealing a keyhole.
Ademar flipped through the key ring he’d taken from Rafe and selected a large iron key. He turned it in the lock, selected another, and repeated the process. Only then did the panel at the top of the door swoosh open, revealing the cell inside. Ademar pushed the button that released the lock and stepped aside as the heavy steel door swung open.
He gestured for Rafe to step inside. “He’s yours now. I have no intention of being present when he makes his escape. I suggest he use the exit at the end of this corridor. It leads directly to the woods.”
Rafe glanced down the hall. There was indeed a door there. Then he looked from the fae to the cell, where a figure lay sleeping on a narrow bunk like the one Rafe used. Something wasn’t adding up.
Rafe started with the obvious. “Why isn’t he awake?”
“A spell.” A flash of what might have been regret crossed Ademar’s face. “The soldier we captured the same night did not survive it. He caught it right in the face and stopped breathing.”
Rafe’s stomach tightened. “How do I get the captain out of here?”
“No need to wake him with a kiss, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Ademar held up the ring by the largest key. “This is iron coated in wax. Scrape the wax off and press the raw iron to his skin. Fae are allergic. Plus, iron counters our magic, including the sleeping spell I used. Teegar will wake up screaming, but he’ll wake.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mostly, but he’s your problem now.” Ademar held out the keys. “I was never here.”
Rafe reluctantly accepted the ring. “I know nothing about magic. Shouldn’t you be here in case of an emergency?”
A bitter smile curled the fae’s lips. “You wanted Teegar; you have Teegar. If Farras comes for his prisoner, I will be nowhere nearby.”
“Blame the wolf.”
“Why not?” He made another gesture toward the open doorway.
Rafe stayed glued to the ground. The only encouraging sign was that Teegar’s chest rose and fell. At least he was alive.
Ademar’s smile broadened into something fierce. “Don’t you trust me?”
Rafe looked inside the cell, imagining what would happen the moment he crossed the threshold with Ademar outside. The fae had already killed one of his own kind with his spell—no telling what he’d do to a creature he loathed, especially when Lila was nowhere in sight .
“If you want change, then make it happen,” Ademar quipped, turning Rafe’s words back on him. “You and I have cooperated as far as we’re going to. Now it’s time to put our plans into action. And our promises.”
Rafe met his eyes and found nothing there but anger. “I keep my promises,” Rafe said.
“Good for you.”
“Good for Lila, you mean.”
Finally, Ademar nodded. It was all the reassurance Rafe was going to get.
Heart pounding, he stepped inside the cell.