Chapter 24
Elira
I woke up tied to a goddamn pipe in a boiler room.
My wrists and ankles were lashed with coarse twine, stretched uncomfortably wide like some sacrificial offering. My head throbbed like a war drum, and the metallic tang of blood lingered in my mouth.
Across from me, Kyra — bird shifter, resident psychopath — stood grinning like she’d already won. Two of her minions lingered behind her, snickering like hyenas.
“What the actual fuck, Kyra…” I groaned, testing the bonds.
“Oh look, Sleeping Beauty’s up. Now we can talk,” she said, all teeth.
“You know how normal people talk?” I muttered. “They use words. In daylight. With consent.”
Kyra smirked. “You’re a smartass. That won’t last.”
“Wasn’t trying to be funny.” I jerked at the ropes, wincing. “So, what is this, exactly? Bondage initiation? Kinky hazing ritual?”
She ignored me. “It’s come to our attention that you haven’t quite figured out your place in Shade Tower.”
I blinked. “You mean as the prisoner forcibly dragged here? Yeah. Totally my dream gig.”
Kyra’s smile tightened. “Becoming a Shade is an honour.”
I laughed — actually laughed. “You’re serious.”
Her fist slammed into my jaw so hard my vision flared white. My head snapped sideways. I tasted blood.
“Okay. Not kidding. Got it.”
“I’ve wanted to be a Shade all my life,” she hissed. “My parents were Shades. My brother. And now Leo—”
“Leo?”
“He’s mine! You don’t get to walk in here and just take him from me without consequences, shadow-bitch.”
“Right, ok, crazy pants. Let’s make one thing clear. There is nothing going on between me and Leo.”
“Bullshit. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”
“Me too,” said another girl, glowering at me.
“See, even Skye sees it.”
I peered at the girl. She was curvy and blonde, with sparkling brown eyes. “Maddie’s Skye?”
Skye blinked and stepped back.
“Look, Kyra. Skye. And whoever the fuck you are. If it’s true, that Leo holds some deep dark affection for me, don’t you think stringing me up to do… whatever this is.. may be a little unwise?”
I could see the cogs turning in Skye’s face. Kyra just smiled with mock bravado. “Lion’s value strength. Once he sees how far I am willing to go for him, he will understand how much of a better match I am.”
“And you plan to do this how, exactly.”
“By destroying you, of course.”
I blinked. “None of the Shades will let you get away with killing me.”
“Who said anything about killing? I said destroy. First up, your pretty little face.”
Kyra pulled a knife from her sheath and started to prowl towards me.
“Hey, whoa, wait a minute…”
Suddenly from the back of the room near the door I heard a familiar voice. “Hey, Skye? Did you come in here?”
“MADDIE!” I yelled, before Kyra leapt up and covered my mouth.
“Shut up!” She hissed.
Maddie stepped inside, her eyes taking in the scene in stunned horror.
“Elira? What the hell—”
Kyra spun, knife to my throat. “Get out, Maddie. Now.”
“Hey, now. Why don’t we all calm down here, shall we. You Ok, Elle?” Maddie asked me.
“Just super.” I bit out.
Maddie hid her grin. “I’m sure there is a way we can all talk about this rationally.” She said. “Why don’t you drop the knife, huh Kyra.”
“Maddie, just go.” Skye hissed.
“Well, see… that’s the thing. I can’t,” she said casually. “Because a scary mind mage is currently on the warpath looking for his little shadowmancer. And I don’t know if anyone here really wants to fuck with Thorne… do you?”
Skye and the other girl—Paige, I think—visibly paled.
They exchanged a single, panicked glance.
And started backing toward the door.
“Paige? Skye? What the hell?” Kyra shrieked, her voice cracking with disbelief as her grip on the knife twitched.
“I’m sorry, Kyra,” Paige stammered, already halfway to the hallway. “Thorne terrifies me.”
Skye looked between Maddie and me—guilt writ all over her face—and bolted after Paige. Maddie didn’t flinch, just stared her down with the kind of calm that screamed you’re dead to me.
I took the opportunity and dropped my next bomb like a dagger.
“Now might be a good time to mention that Leo, Phoenix, Slade and Thorne all have magical tracking on me.” I let the words sink in. “So… you might want to rethink the whole murder thing.”
Kyra’s eyes went wide.
The blade twitched in her hand—then pressed harder against my throat. I felt it kiss the skin, warm blood beading.
“Then I guess I’d better be quick, huh?”
A strange humming filled the room.
My eyes snapped to Maddie.
Her fingers were glowing—a low, soft purple like bruised lightning.
Maddie can use magic within the wards? I didn’t have time to process it.
The earth cracked with a sudden snap—and vines burst from the stone floor like serpents, curling up around Kyra’s legs.
“What the fu—!” Kyra shrieked, but her words were cut short as the vines lashed upward, wrapping her wrists, her arms—her face.
She thrashed. The knife clattered to the floor. I gasped.
I reached for my shadows, instinctively—but the wards shoved me back again, slamming me into the psychic wall like always.
But I didn’t need them.
Maddie stepped forward, shaking, her eyes locked on Kyra as more vines twisted around the girl’s body like a straitjacket.
“Stop moving,” she said quietly.
Kyra tried to scream—only to have her voice muffled by thick, creeping tendrils.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
And now Maddie… Maddie was glowing.
When Kyra finally went limp, Maddie exhaled shakily and knelt beside me. Her fingers trembled as she picked up the fallen knife and started sawing through my bindings. She wouldn’t look at me.
The silence between us was taut—stretched thin with unspoken fear. When the last rope fell away, I touched her arm gently.
“Can you pull them back?” I asked softly.
Her violet eyes flicked to mine. She gave a single, hesitant nod.
“Do it,” I whispered.
That same low hum vibrated through the air. I watched as the vines around Kyra slithered away—receding like smoke into the cracks of the floor. Moments later, there was no trace they’d ever existed. Kyra lay unconscious and eerily still.
Maddie stood frozen, breathing hard. I wrapped my arms around her without thinking and held her tightly.
“I won’t tell,” I murmured. “I promise.”
“Elira!” Leo’s voice boomed down the hall, followed by pounding footsteps.
Maddie pulled back just as the door slammed open. Leo burst in with Thorne at his heels, both of them armed and furious.
“What the hell happened?” Thorne demanded. “Where did you go?”
Leo didn’t wait—he grabbed me in a fierce hug that knocked the wind out of me. I coughed, still dazed.
“I’m fine. Just your average impromptu murder attempt from your girlfriend,” I muttered dryly, eyeing Kyra’s limp body.
Leo blinked. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Then maybe someone should tell her that,” Maddie said under her breath.
“She saved my life,” I added, nodding at Maddie. “Took Kyra down before she could do anything permanent.”
Leo looked at Maddie, impressed. “Damn, Mads. You badass.”
Maddie offered a small, sheepish grin. “You know it.”
“We should get her to the infirmary,” Leo said, already stooping to lift Kyra. Maddie fell into step behind him.
I caught Thorne’s arm before he could follow. “Wait.”
He paused immediately. “Are you okay? What do you need?”
I stared up at him, at the sharp line of his jaw and the unreadable weight in his eyes. There was something in the way he watched me—too careful, too constant. It made my breath catch.
“I need a favour,” I said. “Don’t ask me any questions about it. Just trust me.”
His brow furrowed. “Elira—”
“Please. I need you to wipe Kyra’s memory. Just the last fifteen minutes. And I need you to not look too deep while you do it.”
He recoiled slightly. “What? Why?”
“I’m asking you not to ask,” I said, voice steady. “Can you do that for me?”
He studied me for a long moment—eyes hard, jaw tense. Then finally, with a reluctant exhale, he nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “For you… I can.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Thorne.”