Chapter 23
MAE
Someone has locked me inside my room. The handle only twists by a fraction, then stops. I consider beating on the door for someone to let me out but think better of it. That would defeat the entire purpose of trying to sneak out.
The window also refuses to budge.
I don’t have time for this.
I throw up a sound barrier, then summon wind as cold as ice and pour it into the lock. I use the hilt of my dagger to smash the ice into bits. And just like that, the door swings open.
I manage to slip from the cabin undetected.
Not even Holly stirs on the couch as I tip-toe through the living room and click the door shut behind me.
I spent all night arguing with everyone about rescuing the next execution victim.
Luca and Ivan were firmly against the idea, while everyone else remained silent.
“You’ll get yourself killed,” Luca said tersely.
But what the hell is the point of living if I sit back while innocent people die? I stopped arguing and went to bed without another word, then spent the entire night planning how to sneak off in the morning.
I make it to the edge of the forest and turn back to the safehouse. Nobody follows. I turn, preparing to somehow funnel myself to a court I’ve never visited, when a voice cuts through the silent forest.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I whirl. Asmo leans against a pine tree, one foot propped against the thick trunk behind him, his all-black outfit blending in with the dark. Dawn is still far off.
“Fuck!” I gasp. My hand flies to my chest, heart hammering against its cage.
“Well?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Nowhere,” I say.
He scoffs at the answer. “At least come up with something creative.”
“Fine. I’m going on a hike.”
He shoves away from the trunk and stalks toward me. “Mae.”
I cross my arms and plant my foot in the thin layer of snow. “Asmo.”
He reaches for me, placing a warm hand on my forearm. “If you’re going on a rescue mission, at least let me tag along.”
“Me, too,” a voice calls from behind me. Asmo’s hand tightens briefly around my arm, then relaxes when he looks over my shoulder.
I turn. Holly’s honey blonde hair catches moon beams as she walks between the trees. Like Asmo, she’s dressed in all black.
A grin spreads across my face.
“Where are we going? The truth this time,” she says, arching a thin eyebrow.
“Panthera. To rescue the citizens that are going to be executed,” I say firmly.
There is no room for negotiation on this.
I will not watch more people die for this war if I can do something about it.
All I’ve done is sit and watch people get hurt.
Asmo’s words echoed through my head all night.
Do something about it. I’m done feeling powerless.
I have power and I can—and will—use it to help.
“Alright then,” Holly says. She forms a portal and we all step through at once, landing in a deserted building. A hole in the dilapidated roof reveals a sliver of the moon.
“Where are we?” I ask, nose scrunching at the smell of dirt and rotting wood.
“An old barn on the outskirts of Beckinsdale,” Holly says, shutting the portal behind her. “I used to come here to hook up with a Panthera hybrid a couple years ago.”
Asmo grabs a knife from his boot and pulls his shirt up, cutting his sigil into his perfectly chiseled stomach. He transforms in front of me, then hands the knife to Holly. “Do you remember your person?”
“We used them yesterday,” she says in confirmation as she carves the mark. She hands the knife to me, and I cut mine into my stomach. “What’s the plan?” she asks, staring at me expectantly.
“I don’t know,” I admit with a laugh, because it’s absurd to have a rescue plan without a plan at all.
Holly’s face falls and I hurriedly add, “I was thinking we’d try to find the prisoner before they can even be brought to the town square.
” I resist the urge to wring my hands together.
“But if I’m being honest, I have no clue where to even start looking for them. ”
“Mother’s sake princess,” Asmo mutters, running a hand through his hair. “Well, they must be keeping them in the dungeons.”
“Great,” I say cheerily, ignoring the first part of his response. “Let’s go, then.”
Asmo stares at me, eyebrows raised. “You can’t just waltz into the dungeons.”
“I’m not going to. You are.”
He scoffs. “What makes you think I can do that?”
I motion toward him. “You’re…you. You’ve been here before. You know where they are, don’t you?”
“Well, yes…” he says cautiously, lips pressing together in a frown. “But that doesn’t mean we can just walk in there. Don’t forget that Panthera is now a friend to the High Court. They’re going to be guarding the dungeons. And if we get caught…”
I wave him away. “I know, I know. I just need to get eyes on the prisoner and see how tight their security is.”
Asmo lets loose a sigh that borders on insulting. “Mother help us.”
Something soars through the night air, inches from my face. I jump back with a squeal, heart racing and magic flaring as I look around the room.
Holly’s laughter fills the dilapidated barn. “It’s just an owl,” she says between laughs. She points up in the corner and sure enough, a tawny owl is perched on a wooden beam, yellow eyes watching us.
Just as I feel my heart rate returning to normal, the owl soars from its perch and shifts mid-air.
Into a human male. The last time I saw someone shift, they ended up naked, but this male wears a pair of trousers covered in dirt and patched holes.
His linen shift was once white, but is now a worn gray with fraying cuffs.
Asmo throws up a protective barrier around me as Holly fists a dagger in one hand and moves to stand in front of me. The male shifter holds his hands up.
“I come in peace.” His voice is calm and steady. He speaks the truth. “I’m here to help.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Asmo asks, voice low and thrumming with power.
“My name is Basil.” Truth.
“And what do you want, Basil?” Asmo asks, all but spitting his name at him.
He takes a step forward, posture relaxed and hands loose at his sides.
“First of all, you guys were being loud as all sin in here. We could hear you. Ever heard of a sound barrier?” Basil asks nonchalantly, as if completely apathetic to the fact that Asmo could obliterate him with a flick of his hand.
But then again, I’m forgetting that Asmo doesn’t look like Asmo.
“So, it’s true, then,” Basil says. “You’re alive.” He stares at me now with those wide, yellow eyes.
I shake my head. “What?”
He snorts. “Come on. You’re the High Queen.” He cuts his gaze to Asmo. “And you’re Prince Asmo.” He looks back at me. “We knew you’d come. We’ve been waiting.”
Again, his words ring true. They jar me, and my skin tingles— either from nerves or magic ready to defend me and my friends, I don’t know. Maybe both. I don’t move an inch.
“Oh, come on,” he repeats. “I see the way you both guard her. It’s your instinct to protect her.
Plus, I can see your auras.” He gestures toward Asmo and says, “Yours is black, like the High King,” then to me and says, “Yours is white, like King Silas’s.
Well, mostly white, just like yours, is mostly black.
” He gestures back to Asmo. He glances at Holly and says, “No clue who you are, though, if I’m being frank. ”
Auras? What is he talking about? The only person with an aura is Cora, and hers is black. Asmo doesn’t have an aura, and I certainly don’t.
“It’s my gift. Auras aren’t visible to everyone, but I can see them,” he offers in explanation. “I don’t know why or how, but I can.”
Truth.
Asmo reaches for me. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Basil says.
“What do you want?” Holly asks.
“I already told you. I’m here to help. We’ve been waiting for you to come.”
Holly doesn’t ask what the hell he means by we, but instead asks, “Help with what?”
“Rescuing Rain.”
“Who is Rain? And who is we?” I ask.
He huffs impatiently. “We don’t have time for this. First light grows closer the longer we stand here.”
I don’t need to look outside to know he’s right. The darkness within the barn is slowly but steadily waning. But I’m not willing to risk everything without hearing more from him. I narrow my eyes at him in silent demand.
He catches the movement and says, “Rain is the next hybrid to be executed by the Crown.”
“Who is we?” I repeat the question, more forcefully this time.
His foot taps against the dirt floor and he frowns, cutting another glance to the barn exit.
“Rain is a lynx hybrid who has connections with the Lower Houses. There are several of us—yours truly included—who have been fighting the Cursed the witches have been setting loose in our forests,” he says, his words hurried.
“We’ve been trying our damndest to fight back against them in the only way we can.
But we need you to save Rain, Your Highness. We can’t do this without you.”
This is only bringing more questions to mind, but Basil is right about the impending first light.
He continues, “This isn’t how we anticipated asking for your help, but we already have a plan to rescue her. We just can’t do it alone. We need someone more powerful.”
I look at Asmo, but he’s watching Basil with a dubious expression on his face. So far, Basil has only told me the truth. I steel myself, then say, “Fine.” Holly whips her head toward me, but I hold a hand up. “He’s telling the truth.”
Asmo’s eyes are wild as he stares at me. “Are you crazy? Marik was telling the truth and look where that got us.”
Ouch. “Fuck you.”
His face softens. “Mae, I didn’t mean…I just meant it as a reminder that there are ways around the truth.”
Basil makes the sound of a clock ticking. Every second we stand here is another that we could be helping. Someone’s life hangs in the balance. This is the closest I’ve felt to helping, to actually doing something for my kingdom.
Asmo stares at me for another silent moment, then dips his head. “Okay, if you trust him…Let’s go.” He turns to Basil and stalks toward him. “If you even think about hurting her, I’ll rip out those talons and use them to gouge—”
“Asmo!” I hiss.
Basil bows his head. “Yes, Your Highness.” He takes his right hand and places it over his heart. “I swear to the Mother that I’m here to help. My sole purpose right now is to rescue Rain, then to work with the High Queen to rescue the kingdom in any way I can.”
Truths, all of them. Whatever they mean.
“Let’s go,” I say. “Lead the way, Basil.”
He shoots one last worried glance at Asmo, then walks out the barn and into the darkness.
Tall grass surrounds us as we follow Basil down a well-trodden trail.
He stops in front of a thick tree, a gaping hole at the bottom of its trunk.
He crouches and gestures for us to follow him.
I stop, not dumb enough to follow a random owl shifter into a hollowed-out tree trunk.
He looks back at us, yellow eyes quickly darting between all of us. “Are you okay if I bring out my first-in-command?”
“What?” I ask. “Are you not the leader of your group?” I assumed as much, since he was the one who came out to speak with us.
He straightens a bit and says, “No, Your Highness. I do not lead the resistance.”
Truth. My blood chills at his choice of words. Resistance? What the fuck is he even talking about?
“Um, sure,” I say, and he disappears into the tree trunk.
“I don’t like this, princess,” Asmo whispers. He shifts on his feet as he looks around us, hands open and ready to fight, defend, or funnel us away.
Holly steps closer to me. “Me either. This feels weird.”
My ears pick up on shuffling, two pairs of footsteps coming toward us from inside the tree. We move back, hands splayed and ready.
Basil returns, a stunning female beside him. Her chestnut hair is pulled back into a braid, but her amber eyes match mine. Her build is tall and rail thin, but she bears the hallmark features of a deer hybrid.
Holly stumbles back.
“Etta,” Asmo whispers in disbelief.