Chapter 45
Elira
I had no idea where I was going.
I only knew I had to move.
I tore down the hallways, ducking into shadows wherever I could—but there were people everywhere. Guards. Monks. Acolytes. Servants fleeing in all directions.
Then—
“Hey! What are you doing out of your room?”
A guard in a Shattered Crown uniform rounded the corner. I froze.
He started toward me. “Wait—!”
Instinct took over.
I spun and drove a kick straight into his head.
He crumpled, out cold.
I dragged him into a nearby bathroom, heart hammering. He was young—barely twenty, if that. Light frame. Lucky for me.
I stripped off his uniform and yanked it on as fast as I could.
The pants were huge—hung off me like curtains. No way I could run in them. I tossed them aside.
Thank the gods I’d dressed in my most practical option: a set of navy slacks Vael had left behind without thinking.
They weren’t regulation, but they’d have to do.
I just hoped no one noticed the difference. I pulled the helmet down over my short hair. It was heavy on my head, but I didn’t care.
I ducked into the hallway and fell in step with a troop of soldiers charging toward the front gates.
As we moved, a strange hum echoed through the stone—low, rhythmic, like the beat of a buried drum.
I glanced toward a window—and stopped.
A shimmering barrier was rising over the tower, silver-blue and pulsing like liquid light.
Vael was shielding.
Shit.
This could be a problem.
If he blocked the Sentinels from getting in, it might be even harder to get out.
We reached a stairwell. At the top stood a wolf shifter—tall, dark-haired, eyes sharp as flint. He was supervising the flow of soldiers, barking orders with clipped precision.
Something about him made me pause.
There was a glint in his eye—almost familiar.
Wolf shifter.
But how did I know him?
I paused—just for a second. Involuntary.
He turned, glaring down at me. “You have a problem, soldier?” he growled.
“No, sir,” I said, pitching my voice as low as it would go.
“Good. Then get your ass down there and defend our master.”
“Yes, sir,” I growled, forcing my voice low as I turned and started down the stairs.
I was nearly to the next floor when I heard it—sharp and unmistakable.
“Elira!”
Shit.
Thorne.
I quickened my steps, head ducked, heart hammering. Maybe he hadn’t seen me clearly. Maybe—
But no. Behind me, the crowd was shifting—parting like water.
“Wait—Is that—”
“Stop her!”
No choice now.
I vaulted the stairwell railing, hit the landing hard, and took off at a sprint.
Two soldiers stepped into my path, weapons half-drawn.
But I wasn’t helpless. I hadn’t been that girl in a long time.
And I never would be again.
I dropped my shoulder and slammed into the first like a cannonball, sending him sprawling. Another lunged from behind—too slow. I caught his arm, twisted, and flipped him over my shoulder, hurling him into the soldiers rushing up the stairwell.
Chaos exploded behind me.
“Don’t touch her! She’s mine!” Thorne’s voice cracked like thunder—raw, furious.
Panic clawed at my ribs.
I couldn’t let him catch me.
I ran. Hard. Fast. Like my life depended on it.
Outside the barrier shook as another bomb hit, and another. The tower, though protected, was showing signs of distress.
I threw myself into a group of panicking servants, pushing my way through to the front. Thorne just tore them away like paper, his eyes black once again.
I failed him.
I turned a corner and saw another group of approaching soldiers. I was surrounded. I ducked into a room and slammed the door shut. This was an office of some kind. I slammed my fists against the window—nothing. The glass didn’t even crack.
I ran to the desk and began frantically checking for weapons. I emptied the drawers tipping all the contents to the ground.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the key.
That tiny thing—I’d thought it was for a door. But what if—
I dropped to the floor, breath catching, and pulled it from my boot. My hands were shaking as I slotted it into the manacle at my wrist.
Click.
I stared in disbelief as the manacle fell to the floor with a dull thump.
Holy shit.
I fumbled with the second.
Click.
The weight fell away—and the world shifted.
My shadows surged forward like they’d been holding their breath. Like they’d just come home.
They wrapped around me, whispering, cold and familiar and alive.
I turned my hate filled gaze to the pounding on the door.
Time to get out of this hellhole.
I exhaled—and let go.
My body dissolved into smoke and shadow, a wraith reborn.
I blasted through the door, a streak of darkness tearing past the guards before they could blink.
No chains. No mercy.
Not anymore.