Chapter 24
It took us three days to confirm what we thought the map might reveal—all the tunnels and hidden passageways.
We spent the first two days studying where each passage connected, where Ivy marked sections most relevant to where Elynor might be held in.
Orin translated sections of old Fae text none of us recognized, while Rydian and I made overlays of the map with the current architecture, using my memory to fill in most of the blanks.
While the map looked mostly updated, it’s obvious that it’s at least twenty years old.
But by today, Ivy and Orin left with a duplicate of the map to report back to Aurelia, leaving me behind to wait. Again. So I do what I always do when I’m left alone—I find something to keep my hands busy.
It takes everything in me not to growl in frustration as I feel this damn wall for the tenth time. My hands scrape over the stone, searching for the spot that moved when I was sneaking back to my chamber a week ago.
Rydian and I will be traveling tomorrow to search for the Siphon in hiding, but he told me to wait for the others before exploring the tunnels, since I’m not good at holding myself in the Veil just yet. But idle hands cause me to do foolish things.
Like feeling this wall at two in the morning.
Yet my frustration bubbles because the moving stone I felt against my back last week should be right where I’m standing. At least that’s what it showed on the map.
The only reason I’m here is because I feel like I need to do something—anything.
Anything to keep my mind off Rydian and my incessant need to want to touch him.
We’ve hardly made eye contact after stealing the map, refusing to acknowledge the heated moment between us in the loft.
And definitely ignoring the curious glances both Ivy and Orin shot at us.
Huffing, I drag my nails across the thick spaces between the stones, hoping for a gap but with no luck. I smack the wall in frustration, resting my forehead against the cold stones, and grit my teeth.
Then the energy shifts as someone steps behind me, and I immediately stiffen, sensing who it is by the way cedar and leather hit my nose. Seriously? How does he do that?
“Your stealth is lacking,” Ren murmurs. “I heard you from down the hall. Why are you groping a wall at two in the morning and being loud while doing it?”
My stomach sinks with a chilling fear, but my irritation flares higher, surging to the surface. I stifle a growl and whirl around, my smile tight as I’m barely concealing the storm brewing beneath my skin.
“Do you just know where I am at all hours of the day?” I ask quietly, my teeth grinding with restraint. “Is there some invisible string I don’t know about that tugs at you and tells you what I’m doing?”
Ren only clenches his jaw, throwing me a cold stare as if I’ve already annoyed him. “Maybe I’m just good at tracking,” he says.
“You tracked me here?”
Gods, I really hope that isn’t the case.
Regardless, my pulse climbs and my eyes quickly scan the corridor, searching for anyone else who may have joined him.
Dim torchlight continues to flicker in the courtyard where the guards remain at the archives.
But knowing that does little to ease the curling in my stomach.
I exhale and snap my attention back to Ren just as the corner of his mouth tips into a knowing smirk. He must be joking since there’s no way he could have known I wasn’t sleeping—not at this hour. The thought barely crossed my mind before I decided to throw on my clothes and slip into the shadows.
Unless he’d been watching.
A chill crawls down my spine at the thought of him keeping an eye on me, but with a lift of my chin, I give him a small smirk.
“You’re messing with me,” I say casually, then suddenly remember that he stole from the kitchens the last time we were in this hall. My eyes instinctively flick to his hands. “Oh my gods, you’re stealing again.”
“Hush,” he snaps.
“Do you have a thing for sweets?” I chuckle as a quiet growl rumbles up his chest.
Again, my eyes dart behind him to ensure we’re alone. That the guards at King Elion’s archives didn’t overhear us. Ren holds my gaze for a breath, then suspiciously squints his eyes.
I suddenly fear he’ll mention this to King Elion in passing, regardless of him stealing. My stomach twists at the thought. I know that his loyalty is with the king first and foremost, so I decide to give him a partial truth for fear of him doing just that.
“Well, since you’re stealing again, I’ll tell you. The last time we were in this hall, I could’ve sworn I felt the wall move when I leaned against it,” I say cautiously, my eyes shifting to the chain around his neck, spotting what looks like the shape of a ring settling beneath his tunic.
He studies me, not answering right away. Instead, his gaze drops slightly as if reading the anxious flicker across my expression. Like he knows what’s currently running through my mind.
“And?” he asks.
I exhale. “And it felt like a door. I was curious and I’m awake so…” I carelessly shrug, but he glares in silence as if deciding whether or not he should believe me. “But I’ve been here for thirty minutes and can’t find anything, so I’m giving up and going to bed. See you later, thief.”
I quickly step around him, eyeing my exit at the end of the hall, and hope he doesn’t chase me down or report me to King Elion. Sweat beads my forehead despite the chill in the air. But then a quiet scraping noise fills the air behind me—stone.
Pivoting, I find Ren aiming his palm toward the wall as a stone door cracks open, right where I was standing.
Excitement pricks my skin, my mouth falling open when he turns to me with a wicked grin.
Then my irritation flares, realizing he just found what I was looking for—for the last half hour—in a matter of seconds.
“Want to explore?”
How I ended up in a dark, hidden passageway with Ren in the middle of the night, I’ll never know. But here I am, striding down the darkened corridor, floating an orb over both of us while listening to him bite into one of those tarts he stole from the kitchens.
Despite my chilling unease.
Pushing the orb higher, I glance at the cobwebs that cling to the walls, dust thick in the air. The floor is cracked and uneven, showing how much of the area has been left untouched—unused. But I notice a few empty crates on the ground and how torchlights hang on the wall.
Ren notices where my attention shifts as he flicks out a hand, igniting the torches. The corridor suddenly lights up, each one flickering to life, and I see how far the corridor goes. Wow.
I assumed he would have killed me by now. The thought still lingers at the possibility, but the thrill of discovering this tunnel outweighs the logical part of my brain. The part where it tells me to go back to my room and ignore the fact that I’m alone with him in a tunnel.
Rydian’s going to be pissed when I tell him.
But Ren pushed out his magic to find the door, encouraging us to investigate it, and I can’t help but think that he already knew it was there. With where it’s located, the entrance sits directly beneath the ballroom.
“Did you know this was here?” I ask, my voice echoing off the walls. “What is this place?”
His hand grazes the dark stone beside him as if dusting it, and then he wipes his hands on his pants.
I listen to the thud of his boots on the ground, but his steps remain light as he reaches my side in only a couple of strides.
He throws me a wary sideways glance, like I should already know, but I brush it off.
I never really bothered to learn about the castle anyway.
“This is an old housemaiden tunnel. They used to use this as a way of getting around the castle from the kitchens without being seen. But now that times have changed a little, they aren’t really needed anymore.
There are multiple entry points in the courtyard, but most are hidden behind the shrubs. ”
“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk, brute,” I mutter, stifling an amused snort. “But I’m not surprised you know that since you’re so familiar with the kitchens. Are you not afraid I’ll go sneaking around and cause trouble?”
This could be useful later, especially if Rydian and I end up exploring the castle with Ivy and Orin.
But I begin to wonder how much of the castle Ren is aware of and if he knows where everything is.
If he does, it could make it a little more difficult to search the castle.
We’d have to stay in the Veil if that’s the case.
“If I thought you were a threat, I wouldn’t have brought you down here.”
“That’s insulting,” I say. “Would you like for me to show you how threatening I can be?”
He huffs out a quiet, disbelieving chuckle. “You could try, but with how loud you are? I doubt you’d be able to reach me before I put you on the ground.”
“You’re arrogant.”
“It’s not arrogance when I know your weaknesses. I just know how to use them for my benefit. The rats practically flee in the opposite direction with you stomping around,” he grumbles.
My irritation spikes at the insult, and as much as I want to punch him, I hate to admit that he’s partially right. Stealth has always been a weakness of mine, and though I’m fairly skilled at remaining quiet, being utterly and eerily silent has always been a struggle of mine.
We reach a sharp left turn, and he lights the torches that line the new hall. I have to glance over my shoulder to ensure he still trails behind me with how silent he is, wondering how the hell he stays so quiet for someone so large. He hardly makes a sound.
Walking down the corridor, I begin to notice the doorways scattered here and there, thinking they may lead to the dungeons below or old servants’ quarters.
“I’m surprised you haven’t tried killing me yet. Changed your mind, brute?” I grin, throwing him a sideways glance as we reach another sharp right turn. Only this time he doesn’t light the torches. He shoots out a palm, urging my steps to slow and muttering under his breath.
“If I wanted to kill you, it would’ve already happened. You wouldn’t have had the chance to know it was coming,” he says, his tone unsettlingly sure. A coldness creeps down my spine as I get the chilling realization of how true that statement probably is.
My steps are calculated and quiet as I inch myself forward before he snaps out a hand again, halting me from going further.
I glance at him. His expression is grim as he puts a finger to his lips and points up.
Tilting my head, I listen as the guards’ boots thud above us, hearing whispers of their conversation.
Then I peek around him, spotting one of the grated doors that’s blocked by shrubbery, and inch closer.
He hovers over my shoulder, looking out as I glance between the leaves, spotting the opposite side of the courtyard from where we just came from. We’re by the archives, hidden in plain sight right under the steps.
After a few more tense, quiet minutes, we finally return back from where we came, striding toward the exit. His boots quietly hit the stone beneath us, hands casually swaying before we reach the small stairs leading to the main floor.
As I move to ascend the steps—following him out—he puts his hands in his pockets and faces me, blocking the only exit with a hardened stare.
My eyes narrow, studying him as he holds me hostage.
A dark expression settles over his features. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you’ve been sneaking around the castle so late at night?”
“What’s it to you? Going to turn me in now that you’ve walked it with me? Or shall I remind you that I know you steal from the kitchens?” I purr, but my tone drops.
He gives me a lazy smirk. “Unfortunately for you, blackmail won’t work since eating sweets isn’t treason.
That’s what sneaking around the castle currently looks like, doesn’t it?
Trying to find new entry points and ways to sneak around undetected?
I’m willing to bet King Elion glazes over my snacks for your treason. ”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I say, exhaling.
“Are you willing to risk finding that out?”
My chest heaves with unsteady breaths as the silence between us stretches, hanging thick in the air. His gaze never falters, but a sinking realization settles in the pits of my stomach—he would go to the king. And he’d do it with a smile.
The thought of him doing that fuels my anger, and my hands warm as the blaze of magic beneath my skin simmers. He’d probably savor the moment, watching as they hauled me to the dungeon, knowing I’d finally be silenced—no more defiance or retorts that ruin his day. Not from me at least.
He steps down from the last step, getting close.
“If you’re curious, you either learn how to be stealthier or risk having a guard find you in the hall.
You’re lucky it was me who found you and not one of the others.
” He gives me a smirk, and if he weren’t so cruel, I’d almost find it charming—almost. “But now you’ll be running laps this week, and expect to work on your stealth over the next two as punishment. ”
I exhale, almost in relief, but then my eyes go wide. “Seriously?”
He crosses his arms, glaring down at me.
“You should’ve known I was behind you. I watched you for ten minutes before approaching, and you were loud.
I’m shocked those guards didn’t hear you, which means they aren’t very good either.
So you’ll be working on that.” He pivots to the side, motioning me up the stairs.
Glaring with each step, I shove past him and return to my chamber in silence. I’ll take the punishment if it means he won’t be reporting me to King Elion.
For now.