Chapter 62
Sixty-Two
Pyrite
I jolt awake. Soren is already alert and focused on me.
“Lunaria?” Graylen’s husky, sleep-heavy voice comes from behind me, and I whirl around. “Soren woke me up—what is it?”
I’m on my feet in a flash, stalking toward the door so I can go get Opal. My pulse pounds in my ears, a whir muting something Graylen is trying to say.
“Wait,” Graylen growls, his fingers closing around my wrists. “Talk to me.”
My spine prickles at the command in his voice. I spin around, a flicker of magic sparking in my chest as frustration sinks its claws into me.
“I found Opal in the library while in my dream realm; she needs my help,” I rush out. “I have to find her—”
“You can’t,” Graylen says, cutting me off, and I almost scream.
“I can and I will,” I snap, trying to pull out of his hold. But his fingers tighten further.
He shakes his head. “No, you can’t. Not without your collar on and Adrian within a few paces of you, remember?”
The reminder sinks its claws into me, and my jaw tightens.
But I have to help her—something is wrong. That wasn’t normal behavior from anyone, least of all Opal.
“I can’t leave her there,” I grind out.
Opal chose to stay here, in Crea, when I left. Even without the full story, she still had the right to choose. But now that I know what I do, if I told her, would she change her mind?
“I can go check—”
“Not without me,” I interrupt.
Opal is my friend; she doesn’t know Graylen, and if she’s hurt, she may try to run from him. All she knows is what Moros has told her or the rumors she’s heard of the Prince’s Snake.
When I left, I didn’t know Graylen the way I do now.
“She won’t come to you,” I explain, already moving to the passageway to get Adrian. “Adrian will just have to come with us, and I’ll have to put the collar on so we don’t get caught.”
Graylen grabs my arm as I pass, stopping me so that we’re standing shoulder to shoulder. I look up at him, his eyes stormy and jaw clenched.
“Fine,” he growls. “But Soren comes with.”
Soren trots in front of me, already waiting by the passage entrance as he watches us.
“Deal.” I smirk, reaching up on the tips of my toes to give Graylen a quick kiss on the lips.
I start to pull away, but his hand flies up to grip the hair at the base of my skull, tugging enough to tilt my face up toward him again. He leans down, mouth pressing against mine in a quick but relentlessly brutal kiss.
He pulls away just enough to murmur, “You’re going to be the death of me, little princess.” He steps away, leaving a cool breeze in his wake.
We quickly make our way through the hidden hallway, Soren leading our little trio, and burst into Adrian’s room.
He startles awake, rubbing at his eyes as he blinks away sleep. “Uh—” Adrian stammers, pushing himself up onto his elbows. “I’ve had more than my fair share of multiple partners at once, but don’t you think that would be a little awkward?”
I roll my eyes, ignoring his comment, and start pacing the length of the bedchamber.
Soren settles beneath the window, his gaze following my every move. I can feel the pulse of worry emitting from him, but I can’t tell if it’s for me or Opal.
“We need to go to the library,” I say quickly. “Opal is in trouble—don’t ask me how I know; I just do. We need to go. Now.”
Adrian blinks, his hair tousled and eyes bloodshot. He drags a hand down his face and rolls over, perching on the edge of the bed, all at a painfully slow pace.
“The collar?” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact with me.
I can feel a wave of displeasure roll off of Graylen, but he stays silent.
“Put it on quickly,” I mutter, waving my hand for him to come over.
Adrian scrambles off the bed and snatches the device off the bedside table. He jogs the few steps over to me, muttering an apology as he slips it into place. “Sorry, Lunaria.”
I nod, my stomach souring further with every wasted second.
Once the necklace is clasped, I turn to Graylen. “The guards—”
“Let me handle them,” he says with a smirk. “You and Adrian go straight to the library. I’ll join you as soon as I can. Give me a minute, and then you two slip out.”
I swallow and nod.
“Soren,” Graylen says to the giant beast. “You’re with me.”
Soren growls softly, his gaze slipping to me.
“We won’t let them be without us for long,” Graylen says with a quiet chuckle. “You’re my ticket out.” With that, he slips out of the room—the bedchamber the guards think he’s staying in—with Soren trailing behind him.
The door clicks closed. I rush over to it, pressing my ear against the grainy wood.
“Good evening,” Graylen drawls, his voice muffled.
I can’t make out what the guards say, but it makes Soren growl.
“I’m not sure telling the beast no is something I feel comfortable doing.” I can hear the smirk in Graylen’s words. “But if you’d like to stop us from going out, then be my guest. Tell the creature it can’t.”
A silence follows, and then a crash sounds.
“Oops,” Graylen says without a bit of remorse.
There’s a string of curses and more crashing; I determine now is as good a time as any to sneak out.
“Let’s go,” I whisper to Adrian.
While I’m not particularly fond of involving him, it would be far better to be caught with him and the collar on rather than sneaking around alone.
I creak the door open, peering around to where the guards are stationed one room down.
Soren is going insane. Jumping on the soldiers, chewing on their shields, and bouncing off of expensive-looking decor on the tables lining the hallway.
I bite back a laugh and slip out, feeling Adrian move with me as the guards scramble to get Soren under control. He keeps them distracted enough that we slink down the opposite end of the hallway without them even glancing in our direction.
The castle is eerily quiet as we disappear down the corridor—half of the sconces remain unlit, no other guards to be seen.
“Where is everyone?” I bite out in a whisper.
“I don’t know,” Adrian mumbles. “But it doesn’t feel right.”
I can’t argue with that.
There aren’t any suspicious-looking shadows around, but it still feels far too quiet.
“We just need to make sure Opal is okay, then we can head back to our rooms,” I tell him.
He huffs in agreement. We slip through the hallways without encountering a single guard, servant, or maid. Warning bells chime in my mind, but my goal is still to find Opal.
We get to the doors of the library, where the sound of soft cries echoes around us. I step forward, the hair on the back of my neck raising.
The library is dark, not a single sconce lit inside or by the entrance.
“I don’t like this, Lunaria,” Adrian says, gesturing for me to stop. “Something isn’t—”
A scream pierces the air, feminine and sharp.
I don’t think. My feet move before Adrian can grab me, and I sprint into the darkness alone.