Chapter 14 Luciana
LUCIANA
If I left this building without Lennox, Luka would never forgive me. He and Kara would never forgive me.
But she had been gone for too long, if we waited any longer, I wouldn’t be able to get Nol out.
If I failed to get Nol out, Lennox would have my head. I’d never leave this Goddess-forsaken cell she had been banished to. She’d leave my body here in pieces on the floor.
I saw the look she gave me; I knew the meaning behind it.
But leaving her behind was a lot easier said than done.
Lennox wanted Nol out. I needed to get Nol out. We couldn’t let him remain here for a moment more.
We had finally gotten him back. I couldn’t lose him again so soon when the impact of seeing him again hadn’t even sunk in yet.
Lennox told us to go—to get out while we could.
I’d rather face Luka’s wrath than Lennox’s.
This started as a plan to escape with Lennox, but the plan had to shift now.
Getting Nol out would be a win. And we desperately needed a win.
I’d come back for Lennox. I’d get her out.
But Nol was now my top priority.
“We have to go.” I reopened the wound in my palm. I only had one more symbol to complete, and the spell would be ready.
“We can’t leave without Lennox,” Nol argued.
“You heard what she said when she left; she wants us to go without her. We waited, but we can’t wait any longer, or any chance of escaping for any of us will be done for.”
I dipped my finger in the blood pooling in my palm and began sketching the final symbol.
“I’m not leaving without her.” He knocked my hand off the wall, smearing my blood across the symbols.
“We will, Nol,” I snarled at him. “But I’m getting you out of here right fucking now, with or without Lennox.
If I have to knock you unconscious, I will.
You will not remain in here for one more day.
Lennox is Lennox. She’s a fucking survivor.
She doesn’t need you to protect her anymore.
You haven’t been around to see it, but she’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met.
She’s stronger than me, Nol. She’s been through fucking hell and back to get to where she is today.
I will get her back to Luka if it’s the last fucking thing I do, it just might not be today.
Lennox deserves her happy ending—I know that as much as the next person.
But her getting that ending does not happen if I’m stuck in here. ” I pressed a finger to his chest.
“Nol, I love you but do not stand in my way. You deserve your happy ending, too, and leaving you in here is not how you’re going to get the ending you deserve.”
“I said, I’m not going. I’m not leaving Lennox again.” He crossed his arms over his chest. They had been feeding him while he was here, but not enough. He was thin, the muscles he had before his captivity were all but gone. He still had a couple of feet on me, but I was stronger.
“I wish I didn’t have to keep doing this. You overprotective males.”
I moved before he could stop me, pressing my fingers to his temples.
Nol fell in a heap on the mattress. “I warned you,” I mumbled to myself as I turned back to the door, fixing my final symbol.
Once it was complete, I spoke the spell, pushing my palms against the metal door.
There was a slight click and the sound of a chain clanging.
Time to go.
For as scrawny as Nol looked, he weighed a fucking ton. Carrying him on my back would slow me down too much.
I held his back to mine, using my air magic to float him in the air, counterbalancing his weight as my vines wrapped around our middles, binding us together.
Once he was secured, I took off into the hallway, making sure to relock the door behind me.
Only a single lantern illuminated the narrow cement hallway, casting the shadows in an orange glow.
It was eerily quiet, too quiet. I kept my steps as light as I could to eliminate any sounds.
Even the Dhampirs were quiet, wherever they were.
I crept along the wall, my magic brimming at my fingertips, ready to attack as I slunk through the hallway, keeping to the walls.
It wasn’t far to the door I snuck in through, it was only down this hallway and to the left.
A small part of me itched to search for Lennox, to see if I could break her free.
But with Nol unconscious at my back—I didn’t like my odds. I couldn’t risk him.
We’d come back.
We’d need an entirely new plan, but we’d try again.
We’d get her out.
I rounded the corner, and the light of the moon streamed through the window on the door at the end of the hallway.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
I glanced over my shoulder, finding three guards jogging down the hall in my direction.
“That’s the prisoner!”
Fuck.
“Don’t let her get away.”
I turned so Nol’s body faced away from the incoming guards.
“Nice of you to finally join the party.” They slowed their pursuit, looking at one another curiously. I flexed my fingers. “I’ve been ready to pick a fight with you assholes for a long fucking time.”
They had taken Lennox.
Kidnapped Kara. Held a knife to her throat. Sent Dhampirs after me and my friends. Had taken Nol from us for three fucking years while we thought he was dead.
I had to be careful getting in here, but now—now all bets were off.
My blood thrummed in my veins.
I’d make them suffer.
I’d make their deaths fucking hurt.
Everyone knew not to mess with Lennox Adair.
It was time I made it known you didn’t mess with Luciana Ambrose either.
I bit back my scream as I thrust out my magic, letting it slither out across the concrete floor and up the walls.
It crawled like blackened vines across the surfaces.
I could feel it crackling through my body, waiting to sink its teeth into its target and make its mark.
The guards tried to shake the vines off their legs as they crawled up their limbs. I continued to walk backward as my vines covered their bodies. Digging its claws in as they climbed. Blood dropped on the floor as the guard’s mouths opened, their screams silenced by my magic.
One by one they fell to the ground, their bodies twitching as they tried to escape.
There would be no escaping for them, only for me.
For Nol.