Chapter 44
Leo
The tunnels stank of mildew and shit.
Muddy water swished around my feet with each step. Lia assured me this was the only way into the cave system and I trusted that.
Still. This place was fucking rank.
We moved in near silence—no torches, just the glow of faintly charged stones embedded in the walls, casting everything in a sickly blue light. The rebels had carved these paths generations ago, or so they claimed. Smugglers. Spies. Ghosts.
Now it was our turn.
Lia led the way, moving like she knew every crack and bend. She’d warned us the main caves had been co-opted by Vael’s acolytes. Which meant we had to stay quiet.
And we had to be ready to fight a group of possibly very powerful magicborn cultists.
So… no pressure.
I missed Mads – I hoped she was okay. Somehow that little earth mage had become my best friend and without her next to me I felt kind of alone.
But then I remembered Elle.
What she must be going through…
I’d drink all the fucking sewage in this godsforsaken tunnel if it meant she could be free.
She was so close now.
I kept one hand on the hilt of my blade, the other brushing the wall for bearings.
Behind me, the two rebel scouts barely made a sound.
Their names were Rigg, a grizzled bear of a man with a long straggly beard, and Toma, a thin, sharp-eyed man who smelled like mould and bad decisions.
He hadn’t spoken a word since we met. Rumour was, Vael took his tongue a few years back.
We had to trust they knew the route.
“We’re close,” Rigg murmured. “Feel that? Water’s turning warm.”
Great. We are wading in the fucking piss now.
We were trying to break into the tower.
I nodded. My pulse was steady, but just under the surface, every muscle was coiled tight.
We reached a fork. One tunnel curved up toward the cellars, the other down—toward something Rigg had only called the drowned gate.
I didn’t like the sound of that.
Before I could ask, a boot scraped stone behind us.
I spun, blade half-drawn—then stopped.
“Easy,” a voice said. “Wouldn’t want to accidentally gut your backup.”
Phoenix.
He stepped into view, cloak dusted with grit, eyes calm—but blazing beneath the surface.
“Phoenix!” I ran to him and grabbed his arm. “Did you find –“
“Find who?”
Another voice.
Slade.
He stepped out from the shadows behind Phoenix, just as dry and unbothered as ever.
I froze, staring at him.
He raised an eyebrow. “Did you lose someone?”
Relief swept through me like water.
“You jackass.” I leapt at him and wrapped him in a big (and manly) hug.
He winced at the contact but patted my back awkwardly. “I’m okay.”
“You’re hurt?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
“What, I don’t get a hug?” Caelen drawled from behind.
He stepped out and gave me a nod.
I rolled my eyes. “I can give you a big ol’ kiss if you like.”
Lacey appeared beside him, her expression tighter than the others. Alert. Worried.
“Where’s Maddie?” Lacey asked me.
Before I could answer, Lia joined us from where we’d stalled. “Is there a problem here?”
Phoenix turned to her. “Are you Lia?”
She gave him a quick once-over, then looked to me. “These the other Shades?”
“Yeah,” I said. “My friends – Phoenix, Slade and Lacey.”
I glanced at Caelen. “And Caelen.”
The prince punched me in the side.
“Hey, I know you.” Lacey said to Lia. Lia looked away, pulling her hood tighter.
“I’ve been told I have a distinctive face.” She drawled. “We need to get moving. My contacts told me Ashton has already started an assault on the tower.”
“So what’s the plan?” Phoenix asked her, calm and direct.
“We have people inside trying to evacuate civilians,” Lia said. “We’ll use an old network of caverns that links to the tower’s basement. The goal is to launch a surprise attack on the monks before they can rally.”
“Okay,” Phoenix said. “What are our assets?”
Lia shot him a sideways glance. “Concerned I don’t know what I’m doing, fire mage?”
He didn’t flinch. “Just trying to see how we can help.”
“You can help by following instructions,” she said flatly. “This mission’s been in motion for a while.”
“Lia—”
“Phoenix,” she cut in, sharp. “Your job, now that you're here, is to fight like hell. That’s all I want from you.”
There was a beat of silence before Caelen spoke, voice quieter but cutting through.
“What about Elira? How do we extract her?”
Lia’s jaw tightened. “We’ve given her a way out.”
She looked at each of us, her eyes hard.
“It’s up to her if she figures out how to use it.”
We started walking again, but Lacey drifted to my side.
“Where is Maddie, Leo?”
I cast her a look. “She’s on a separate mission.” I sighed. “She’s infiltrating the tower as a maid—right now, if all went to plan.”
“You let her go alone?”
“I didn’t have a choice!” I snapped, scrubbing a hand down my face. “Mads does what she wants.”
Lacey’s jaw tightened. “She’s brave - but she shouldn’t have gone in alone.”
I looked away. “Yeah. Don’t remind me.”
Lacey’s eyes narrowed, sharp and unreadable.
“What do we do about Ashton?” Slade asked Lia.
“Kill him slowly and horribly, hopefully,” I muttered.
Rigg snorted. “He’s got a small army out front, ready to engage Vael’s forces. If we play our cards right, they’ll kill each other for us.”
“Ashton’s attack is our best distraction right now,” Lia said. “He’s played into our hands better than he knows.”
“Did you know he’d come?” I asked.
Lia gave me a tight smile. “Of course. If there’s one thing Ashton can’t stand, it’s losing.”
“The only wildcard is King Ivan. We don’t know his current plan, only that he has been working with Vael for the past few months.”
“Queen Syrena is here to meet with him.” Phoenix said quickly. “She said they were meeting at The Moon Gate.”
“That’s in the old castle grounds. Not the tower.” Lia said.
“Small favours, I guess.” Phoenix said, his expression glum.
“She shouldn’t have come.” Rigg said. “Today is not the day for diplomacy.”
“All these things have transpired for a reason.” Lia said, her voice calm. “Her majesty needs to be here, just as we do.”
We reached what looked like a dead end—solid stone, no path forward.
Lia turned to me. “Okay, everyone back up. Let Rigg work his magic. Ray should have our people in position on the surface by now.”
Rigg stepped forward and cracked his fingers.
“What are you doing?” I asked, eyeing the grizzled old man.
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Watch and learn, pretty boy.”
Before I could respond, Toma shoved me back a few steps and took position in front of me. His eyes warned us back.
We watched in silence as Rigg’s hands began to vibrate, glowing with a soft, golden-brown light. He stepped forward and pressed both palms against the stone.
To my astonishment, the wall began to melt away—like it had never been there at all.
Caelen and Phoenix exchanged an uneasy look.
“That’s going to hold, right?” Caelen asked.
“That’s the beauty of my magic, princeling,” Rigg chortled. “It always holds. That’s why I’m the best diamond miner in Duskfall.”
Caelen swallowed and nodded—but I caught him scanning the walls anyway.
“There’s no Morrkrin in here, right?” I heard him mutter to Phoenix.
Phoenix actually laughed. “Not that I can see, no.”
I glanced at Slade, who was watching the two of them with mild amusement.
“Don’t ask,” he muttered.
The tunnel Rigg had formed began to stretch under his command—and, somehow, he was sealing the wall behind us just as easily. He ran his hands along the stone like he could read it by touch alone.
“Here we go,” he said.
The passageway opened.
The air from the tunnel was damp and cold. We stepped inside. No turning back now.