Chapter Eleven #2
Mirella rolled her eyes—rolled her eyes—like Kade was infuriating and a passed-out Guard wasn’t lying at her feet. “She’s a little busy, and if we want to meet her on time, we’ve got to move. Here.”
She handed him a set of clothes—a Guard’s uniform with turquoise detailing, similar to Elder Quinn’s hair. Mirella pulled a set of her own out, too.
Kade turned around as he undressed and put on the disguise. Moons, by some stars-above miracle, they fit his large stature. “How did you come by these?”
“A friend,” Ruth said. “More importantly, an ally to you and Evelyn.”
Neither Carson gave him a name, but the Guard below released another sigh, snapping him back into focus.
Get out. Meet Ev.
Dressed in disguise, Ruth led him and Mirella down the hall. With stolen keys in hand, she unlocked the main door, and they began their descent down the spiraling staircase. Without a single window, the only sign the outside world existed was the sea wind howling like some demon.
The descent felt like a mile long, sandstone and salt melding together with the distant whooshing of waves.
At the bottom floor, Tùir possessed two large tunnels intersecting like a cross.
Sconces flickered, and a few guards mingled by the entrance to the right.
The contrast between the night and the darkness of the tunnel was too similar to make out the Sapphire Sea or Nūa in the distance.
At the bottom floor, a few guards mingled in a group. Mirella pointed two fingers to the other side. “Fast feet now.”
She darted out into the open, and Kade stuck close, keeping his hood in place.
The Guards were none the wiser, too busy with their conversation to notice as he and the Carsons fell into the shadows of the next tunnel.
Pressed close to the damp wall, Ruth urged them to the opening.
The lights dotting the Wall twinkled across the waves.
Kade searched for Evelyn, but no one was in sight, not even a Guard.
“Where is she?” he asked, heart racing inside his chest.
Ruth groaned. “Goddess, Mirella, we best tell him the plan before he bursts blue again.”
He stopped, and the eldest Carson sister sent the protector a glare. “Sometimes your brashness—”
“What?” Ruth’s one eye jumped between them. “You conjured your power when Evelyn was in danger, no? It also happened last time when Riven attacked during the Blood Moon. It answers when you want to protect. If we tell you Evelyn is a part of the plan, you’ll stop worrying.”
“Doubtful,” Mirella muttered.
Kade fought the urge to growl while his mind warred between Ruth’s assessment of his power and Tenebris’s chilling words. Perhaps if he hadn’t hurt those he loved with it, he’d dismiss the latter.
He sighed, changing the subject. “What is the plan?”
“We’re meeting Evelyn at the abandoned docks on the east side of the island,” Ruth said.
Mirella nodded. “You’re leaving the city tonight.”
Guards walked along the beach, and the three of them pressed themselves to the stone, hidden by the shadow of Tùir. The Guards assessed the waves, but they never studied the perimeter of Tùir and disappeared around the bend.
Ruth didn’t give them time to relax. She trailed the outskirts of Tùir and stopped near an area littered with supplies.
Barrels and abandoned boats lined the beach, and she gestured for them to follow, running from item to item and disappearing behind the darkness cast onto the sand.
Tucked behind an overturned boat, the three hunkered down and waited, the waves lapping towards their boots.
Mirella kept her sights on the sea while Ruth peered around the boat, eying Tùir.
While he sat between them, the tension of their mission heating the chilly air, it reminded him of the Gray Fenris, anticipating his next move aside Yen or Linx.
He’d known his archer and mage healer for years, and though he’d met Mirella a handful of times over the years, neither the Carson Elder nor the protector knew him, and yet here they were, risking themselves to break him out of Tùir.
Kade fisted his hands at his sides, jaw ticking.
“Why are you both helping me after what happened?” he whispered.
Mirella turned and studied him. “A lot of reasons. For one, you’re my sister’s fated, which makes you part of the coven now. Second, Sorin needs you—”
“As well as the blue sparkles,” Ruth threw over her shoulder.
“Yes, and your power. Third, Circe is a bitch, and I quite like pissing her off.” Mirella shrugged, attention returned to the twinkling waves.
“Listen.” Ruth fell closer to his side. “I’ve trained over a hundred bronntanases. Power is power. The hardest step is accepting it, not mastering it. Don’t fear yours, Kade.”
As the moon’s pearly light bled through the storm clouds, Kade wrestled with the question—was it his power he feared or himself?
He was supposed to be the Son the God, a protector.
Yet, the only blade he gripped with precision these days was inadequacy.
Was he worthy of the titles bestowed upon him?
Was he capable of fulfilling the prophecy with Evelyn?
Before Kade had time to answer, movement caught his eyes. Water droplets glistened off a female figure like crystals, illuminating the silver in her stare. Kade’s heart raced. A breath whooshed out of him.
For Evelyn emerged from the waves like a Goddess touched by the night, here to save him.