CHAPTER 28
Mallory
Mallory watched the last of the Ruecrag members disappear down the stone corridor, most of them with their heads down and shoulders slumped as Jakob and Sven herded the prisoners toward the dungeon.
Meg walked in the middle of them, but unlike the others, her chin was lifted and her eyes straight ahead instead of at the floor. Her wrists were bound but she didn’t struggle. That somehow bothered Mallory more than if she had screamed.
Sven held Meg back as the others were herded into a cell.
Jakob’s jaw was set, his shoulders tight beneath his coat as he turned the key in the dungeon door.
The heavy clang echoed through the hallway, final and unforgiving.
Sven lingered a moment longer, his eyes sharp as he made sure every lock held before giving Jakob a short nod.
“It’s done,” Sven said. He nodded toward Meg. “What about her?”
Jakob glanced at Mallory. “Do you want to speak with her before we take her to a private cell?”
Mallory hesitated, then shrugged. “Do what you need to do.”
He didn’t push her. The two men walked Meg further down the corridor and ushered Meg into a waiting cell. This time, the clank of the lock reverberated in Mallory’s heart. This was her sister, first and foremost. But she was also a major enemy to the castle.
Her emotions warred. Even if she talked to Meg, she wasn’t sure what she expected.
Maybe confessions, explanations, or some grand unraveling that would make the past weeks make sense.
She doubted Meg would tell her anything, but deep down, she knew that if she didn’t try, the questions would rot inside her.
She motioned to Jakob. “Give me a minute.”
“Are you sure?”
His caring warmed her heart even under the circumstances. “I have to.”
He signaled to Sven. “Come on. We’ll wait outside.” To Mallory, he leaned closer. “One scream and we’ll be in here to handle the situation.”
She kissed him with a butterfly kiss. “I’ll be fine.” She waited until they exited before she moved toward Meg’s prison.
The dungeon smelled of damp stone and cold iron. Lights hissed softly along the walls. Meg sat on a narrow bench in her cell with her hands folded in her lap as if she were waiting for tea rather than judgment.
Mallory stopped just outside the bars.
“Why?” she asked, the word coming out flatter than she intended.
Meg looked up. Her eyes were suddenly tired. Not wild and defiant. Not triumphant. Just… human. But she didn’t speak.
“Did you do all this just for the Ruecrags?” Mallory pressed. “For betraying everyone. For lying to me.” Her voice cracked. “For just leaving me. I worshipped you, Meg.”
Meg’s mouth curved into something that might have been a sad smile. “If I told you it was for power, you wouldn’t believe me. If I told you I was afraid not to, you’d think I was weak.”
“Try me.”
Meg exhaled slowly. “Love does strange things to people, Mallory. It changes them and makes them justify things they never would have touched otherwise.”
“Where is this love that you dumped your whole life for?”
“He died,” Meg answered simply. “About a year ago. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it all caught up with him.”
“So, you could have left the Ruecrags then. A year ago. But instead, you, what? Took over?”
“He was in charge. They needed a leader.”
Anger bloomed in her chest. “Then don’t blame any of this on love.
You knew right from wrong. You knew how you were hurting your own family when you just up and disappeared.
You knew how much it would hurt me, Meg.
” She sucked in a breath. “Not to mention, you ran…you ran away without a thought… after I was shot. You didn’t even try to make sure I was alive. ”
“Power is just as potent as love.”
Mallory’s chest tightened as she waited for Meg to continue. Instead, Meg went silent. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me?”
Meg met her gaze steadily. “It’s the truth. Just not a comforting one.”
Mallory waited and hoped, ridiculously, for more. Excuses. Explanations. The possibility of regret. But Meg only looked away, conversation clearly over.
“I’m not going to tell Mom and Dad that I found you,” Mallory started.
She needed closure and Meg had obviously made her choice.
“Unlike me, they settled in denial a long time ago, and they’ve moved past the pain and worry you caused.
There’s no sense dumping all this crap on them now.
I’ll keep this secret between us. I just want you to know that I’m at peace now as far as you’re concerned. ”
Mallory turned back toward the door as disappointment settled heavy in her heart. Jakob was waiting with concern written plainly across his face.
“Nothing useful?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head. “Just that love messes people up.”
Jakob’s expression softened. “That part, at least, is accurate.” He pulled her into a hug. “But I do have a surprise for you that might cheer you up a bit.”
“What’s that?”
He kissed her silly. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Has anyone told you that cliches are irritating?” she asked with a giggle.
He silenced her with another kiss. “Dragons don’t care about speaking in cliches.”
The surprise came later that afternoon.
Mallory was in the library halfway through her book when laughter echoed from down the hallway. The castle had been quiet so the sound was loud and exaggerated.
She sat up straighter in her chair. That wasn’t just laughter. She knew that laughter.
Their laughter.
Mallory’s fingers tightened on the book.
“Mallory?”
Her heart slammed so hard it hurt. She turned and there they were.
Brooke, all curls and energy was already halfway into tears. Her eyes were bright and shining like she’d been running on pure adrenaline for days. Violet stood beside her, posture elegant and controlled as ever, though the careful composure cracked the moment their eyes met.
For one suspended heartbeat, Mallory couldn’t move. Her chest tightened in a good way and her breath caught like she’d forgotten how lungs worked.
Then Brooke closed the distance in three long strides and threw herself into Mallory’s arms.
“Mallory!” she gasped and hugged her so hard Mallory let out a very undignified squeak. “You didn’t even say goodbye before you came back here. You don’t get to just disappear off the face of the earth and not expect us to hunt you down!”
“I…well…” Mallory laughed, the sound wobbly and wet all at once. “I’m here. You weren’t really speaking to me once we got home, so I didn’t bother you. But I’m still breathing. That’s a good sign.”
“Not speaking didn’t mean we didn’t care.” Brooke pulled back just enough to look at her face with her hands still locked behind Mallory’s shoulders. “And you better be breathing. I have stress lines now. These are your fault.”
Violet joined them then with her arms wrapping around both of them. “We had theories,” she said mildly. “About what was going on. Not all of them were comforting.”
Mallory sniffed. “Oh, I can only imagine.”
“Like, you could have joined a monastery,” Violet continued. “Or married a king who locked you away in a tower. Or were kidnapped by a cult with very aggressive crime sprees.”
Brooke nodded solemnly. “I was personally convinced it involved a cursed mountain and poor communication.”
Mallory laughed, really laughed, the sound breaking loose like a dam giving way. “Some pretty wild conspiracy theories, although I did get attacked by a snow cat. How many can say that?”
There was a beat.
Brooke stared. “Jakob told us.”
Jakob cleared his throat from a respectful distance. He looked faintly amused and more than a little relieved. “I brought them here,” he said. “It seemed unfair that it was my fault that they were kept in the dark. And I wanted them to see for themselves that you were safe.”
Mallory squeezed Brooke’s hands, then Violet’s, and silently thanked Jakob for this gift she hadn’t known she needed.
He had told them everything in calm, detailed explanations. The snow cat. The injury. The days of confusion. Waking in Onyxheim with no memory of how she’d arrived there. He didn’t dramatize it, but he didn’t soften it either.
Brooke swiped at her cheeks with the heel of her hand. “So anyhow,” she said thickly. “I forgive you.”
Mallory blinked. “For… what?”
“For terrifying us,” Brooke said. “For being unconscious in a foreign mountain stronghold. For not immediately sending word like a normal, considerate human, whether you knew what was going on or not.”
Violet nodded. “Next time, try a postcard. Or a flare.”
They all burst into giggles at the absurdity their conversation had taken on.
“I missed you,” Mallory said quietly, and her voice betrayed her anyway.
Brooke’s expression shifted instantly and her grin blazed. “Good. Because we’re kidnapping you.”
Violet arched an eyebrow. “Temporarily. For restorative purposes.”
“The spa,” Brooke declared. “Immediately. No excuses. You look like someone who hasn’t had a proper soak or gossip session in weeks.”
Jakob’s mouth curved into a real smile, the kind that reached his eyes. “I’ll have it prepared.”
The spa was warm and bright. Steam curled lazily through the air from a huge hot tub and the scent of herbs and citrus wrapping around them l. Mallory slid into the water between her friends and felt tension melt from muscles she hadn’t realized were still clenched.
Brooke leaned back with a sigh. “Okay,” she said. “Now tell us everything.”
Violet tilted her head. “And don’t skip the emotional parts.”
Mallory smiled and sank deeper into the warmth. For the first time since the Ruecrags, since betrayal and unanswered questions and waking up not knowing who to trust, her chest loosened.
Whatever came next could wait.
For now, she had Jakob, the man she loved, and her friends back, bickering and teasing and surrounding her like they always had.
And that felt like its own kind of healing.