Chapter 46
Maddie
I was fucked.
Monks surrounded me, sniffing the air like dogs scenting meat. They all looked the same, like copies of each other with shaved heads and blue sigils on their faces. One tilted his head at me, alien-like. His eyes were fully black.
One reached forward and touched my arm. One reached for my wrist, clutching the cold silver steel of the bracelet.
“Stop! Get off of me!” I yelled.
He pulled the bracelet from my wrist and my magic flared.
Fuck it.
I pulled the vines from the wood of the tower and sent the monks flying.
The monks slammed against the walls like rag dolls. One crashed through a stack of chairs. Another landed in a heap, groaning.
I didn’t wait.
I bolted.
The halls blurred past me—stone and shadow and smoke. Somewhere above, the tower shook again. Screams echoed. Magic flared like lightning beneath my skin, wild and hot.
I just had to make it to the servant’s stairs. That was the exit plan. That was—
A figure stepped into my path.
I skidded to a halt. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Tall. Pale. Dressed in black robes trimmed in silver. And eyes—gods, those eyes—red like coals burning slow.
Vael.
He smiled, like he’d been expecting me.
“Maddie, isn’t it?” His voice was soft. Almost kind. “You’ve caused quite a mess.”
I raised a wall of vines between us and turned to run.
But he was faster.
A blast of force hit me from behind—icy cold and heavy as stone. I crashed to the floor, vines wilting as my magic stuttered.
I tried to get up.
He knelt beside me, one gloved hand catching my jaw.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “You won’t be harmed. Not yet.”
He smiled again.
“I just need you to deliver a message to your friend.”