Chapter 34 #2
Koa reaches for me and I back away, right into the witch. He retracts his hand and holds it up in surrender again. “It’s okay,” he says soothingly. “I’m getting you out of here. Is there a safe place I can take you?”
“Get the cuffs off me and I can do it myself,” I say.
He hesitates. “I’d prefer to do that once we’re out of here. Just to be safe.”
“Safe from what?” I growl. I don’t particularly care to have my hands bound when he takes me to a new location.
He glances behind him to the closed door. “If anyone finds us out here and your hands are unbound—”
“Oh, it wouldn’t look good for you?” I scoff.
He takes a step closer. “Please, let me funnel you out.”
“We don’t have time for this conversation, Prince. Mae, I will destroy the link the moment we’re out of here. I swear it,” Levana says.
I grit my teeth. I don’t really have a choice. They’re not budging and every second we waste here is another second that someone else could find us and drag me back to my cell. “Fine.”
Koa’s shoulders relax. “Where can we take you?”
I consider Bound, but I have no idea if it’s safe.
Maybe Cora and Marik have witches stationed there.
Squall’s End is the only place I know is undoubtedly safe, but I can’t let Koa know about the underground court.
I can’t risk exposing them to him when I don’t even fully trust him.
“Take me to your other dungeons,” I blurt.
“Have Levana walk me in. Pretend like I’m a prisoner.
You can keep the chains on, then release me once we’re in the clear. ”
Koa gives me a dazed look. “What? That area is crawling with witches.”
“I can take care of myself,” I fire back, even though my hands are bound and I have no magic.
“If that’s really what you want, we need to leave now, or we’re going to miss the change in shift, and pulling this whole thing off will be much harder,” Levana says.
Koa looks to the night sky and runs a hand through his hair, dark brown locks shining in the moonlight. “Are you sure?”
No, but I don’t know what else to do. “Yes.”
Koa sighs. “Your choice. Let’s go.”
I shake my head. “Wait.” I turn back to Levana. “Give me your cloak. Throw it over my face and antlers. Nobody can know it’s me.”
She shrugs from the black cloak and tosses it over me, dampening my vision. I’m either a genius or the biggest fucking idiot in the kingdom.
“Get me the fuck out of here,” I mutter behind the cloak.
A hand grips my bicep. The air thickens and the ground changes from the roof tiles to loose gravel as we materialize in a new location. I can only hope this is the entrance to the dungeons.
“Sister,” a female voice says in rough greeting. “Who did you round up?”
“Dissenter,” Levana says, her hand now gripping my arm tightly. “Out of my way,” she hisses as she shoves me forward. My feet barely catch me, and I swallow the string of curses that rise.
“Lock them up, then come join us for supper.”
Levana grunts in agreement before pushing me forward again. I can hear footsteps leading away from us, and the thud of my heart grows quieter.
“Where are you planning on going, anyway?” Levana whispers through the cloak.
“Just take me to the cells where you keep the execution victims,” I say.
She guides me in silence for several moments, our feet crushing the gravel beneath us. The air grows colder as we descend into the bowels of the dungeons. After what feels like forever, she stops. She wrenches the cloak from my head, revealing the cells where Asmo and I rescued Rain.
I’m here. I’m so close. I hold in a shaky laugh.
Levana shrugs her coat back on and stares at me. “Okay, off you go then.”
I shake my hands, wiggling the iron chains. “A little help here?”
She smirks. “Oh yeah, almost forgot.”
I offer her a sardonic smile. She wiggles a finger in the direction of the chains, a slash of dark magic aiming for it like a knife. My hands fall to my sides as the chain linking them splits. My magic rushes to me, my knees buckling at the force of its return.
“Good luck,” Levana whispers before turning and disappearing down the hall.
I turn toward the familiar exit, to the alcove. I run. It comes into view, and I skid to a stop. I can only hope that this wall is connected to Squall’s End and wasn’t just how they portaled in. If it’s not, I’ve most likely signed my death warrant.
I place my hand on the wall where the portal appeared last time. I coax my magic into the stone wall, searching for the dirt on the other side. I imagine my fingers reaching through the stone, grappling for the brush of dirt.
There.
The dirt is softer. I splay my fingers and pull back until it feels like my hand is halfway embedded in the stone and halfway in the dirt.
I twist, envisioning opening up an actual hole in the wall instead of opening a portal between the two locations.
I imagine the stone and the dirt twisting and compacting, not seeking to destroy, but simply to manipulate.
A tiny pinprick of light bursts through the wall.
I swallow the celebratory shout and focus on more, more, more.
I lift my other hand and make another hole.
My teeth gnash together as I focus on maintaining both at the same time.
The stone is unwilling to give easily, but it eventually does.
The circles grow wider and wider, eventually fusing together and revealing the hallway I’ve traveled so often in Squall’s End.
I launch myself through the hole, and it slams shut behind me. My knees buckle and I hit the ground hard. My hands slide through the dirt and I fist it in heaps, reveling in the grains in my hand. I never knew this feeling would mean I’m safe.
I push myself to my feet and begin stumbling down the hall. My foot catches on a rock, but I keep moving.
My friends are here. Cally. Holly. Ivan. Etta. Asmo.
My court. My mate.
A squirrel hybrid I haven’t met comes strolling down the hall. The papers in their hand go flying. They turn, disappearing down the hall and yelling, “It’s the queen!”
I want to collapse, but I stay on my feet. A sob escapes me as it hits me. I’m safe.
Through my tears, a figure dressed in black rushes toward. He tilts my chin and forces my gaze upward, to the fern-green and the silver and the darkness of his eyes.
He brushes my tears away, and I allow myself to collapse.
My mate.