The Fallen (Hades Castle Trilogy Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  I closed my eyes, taking deep, calming breaths. I focused on the feel of the sunlight on my skin, and I tried to block out the image of what I'd just seen. When the trembling in my body had subsided, I crouched down again.

  I picked up the note and the photograph, and pulled a little matchbox out of my pocket. I burned both pieces of paper. For one thing, I couldn't be caught with these. If a soldier were to find me, it would lead them back to the Free Men. And for another thing, I wanted that photograph to be burned out of existence. A photograph like that should simply not exist at all.

  As I watched Samael's image burn on the ground, I thought of his body in flames. He needed to die for what he’d done.

  When I'd finished burning the papers, I stepped back into the archway. I closed my eyes, thinking of the one thing that calmed me the most: the night sky. I imagined the stars shining, the sense of freedom in the darkness, plants growing wild beneath my feet under a cloak of night.

  Then I knocked against the stone next to me, and said a prayer to the Raven King. I felt his spirit had been my guardian this whole time. A rush of cool wind over me felt like an answer from his ghost.

  And with that, I felt a sense of calm, of purpose. I was clear-headed again, like this was a holy mission.

  I knelt down, blowing away the ashes from the burned paper and photograph. Carefully, I peeked out from the archway to see if the coast was clear.

  From here, I could simply scale the outer wall unnoticed. On that part of the wall, I would be out of view of the guards who protected the entrances. I supposed right now it was a good thing that this place was ridiculously enormous. Nobody would be able to see me there.

  So I ran for the wall, and started climbing. I slid my fingers into the little cracks between the rocks, hoisting myself up one stone at a time, moving swiftly.

  Whatever happened next, I would fight most of all for Alice. She’d deserved better than a gory death at the hands of a monster.

  My arms and legs burned as I climbed, but I was moving quicker than I ever had. When I reached the top of the wall, I peered over to see the moat far beneath me.

  I started moving down quickly, lowering myself one step after another, until at last I reached the water. I let go of the wall and dropped into the murky moat, which smelled of rotting plants. Holding my breath, I swam to the other side.

  There wasn't anyone around. I hoisted myself out quickly, then started to run. I was running for East Dovren and for Finn and for the life I used to have.

  Maybe it had never been a glamorous life, or within the boundaries of the law. But at least I hadn't been living among monsters.

  40

  Lila

  I’d crawled from the moat like a primordial monster. My thoughts were a haze as I ran, and the streets started to grow more crowded as I went up toward the market areas, making for Underskirt Lane. When I saw a patrolman in his black uniform and his tall black hat, I'd never felt such a sense of relief. Here I was, safe in the mortal world again.

  I rushed over to him. And as soon as I saw his silver cufflink with the lightning strike, I knew I could confide in him. I grabbed his arms, staring into his eyes.

  "Easy there, love," he said.

  “The count murdered all his servants. He’s been killing women, I think. Carving them open. You have to keep patrolling the streets.”

  He leaned in. "I know, love. We're working against them. We're doing everything we can. Their kind are a vermin that has infected our country. Do you understand? And we will have to exterminate them one by one. But you must stay away from them.”

  One by one … How many of them were there?

  This response was considerably darker than I'd anticipated. It wasn’t quite the reassurance I was hoping for. I nodded, taking a step back from him.

  “It’s just the count,” I added. “He’s the murderer, killing servants. I saw a photo. It was my sister. Alice.” I felt flustered, like this was all coming out wrong. “You just need to patrol the streets around here, and make sure women aren’t out walking alone.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, then looked me up and down. “You’re naive if you think he’s the only problem we’ve got. They’re everywhere.”

  What was he talking about?

  I backed away, then started running to find Finn. When I got to the market, I found it bustling, as if life were just carrying on as normal, as if we couldn't lose our heads at any moment. As if I weren’t in hell.

  I found Finn just where I expected him: at his market stall, surrounded by knickers. All perfectly normal, except his expression was grim, skin pale as cream. And he had a new addition to his clothing, a little silver badge with a lightning bolt.

  "Finn," I gasped.

  He turned to look at me, sorrow shining in his blue eyes. "I'm sorry I had to send you that picture, Lila, but I thought you needed to see it. Because of what you'll be asked to do."

  I swallowed hard. “What will I be asked to do?”

  He looked around the market. "We should go somewhere else."

  I nodded.

  He called out to an old woman nearby, asking her to watch the stall in exchange for lunch. Then, he was leading me through the crowded streets.

  As we walked, he turned to me and said, "I'm taking you to a pub where we don't need to worry. It's all Free Men there. They're all like us."

  God, it was good to see his face again. It seemed unbelievable that it had only been a few days since I'd gone to the castle.

  Finn led me to an old pub accessed through a narrow alley—the King and Crown. I’d never been in there before, because it was outrageously expensive. It was a pub for bankers, not people like Finn and me.

  There weren't many people here today, just the bartender and two men at the far corner, smartly dressed. Like aristocrats.

  Finn ordered us two glasses of wine, and I sat there staring at the table until he returned.

  I let my head fall into my hands, still reeling from the shocking memory of that photo. Burned into my mind forever. For a moment there, I’d wanted to believe the best about Samael. Then, I’d been shown incontrovertible proof. The worst thing I could imagine.

  When Finn sat down and slid a wine glass across to me, I drank the whole thing in about two gulps. I needed to dull the jagged pain running through my nerves, to quiet the screaming in my head. I didn’t have the Raven King’s ghost to calm me anymore.

  I hadn’t quite muted the shrieks yet, but with the wine in my system, I was ready to talk.

  Finn leaned in close to me. “The very top know about you now.”

  I frowned. “The top of what?”

  “The Free Men. Our leader goes by the name of the baron. I haven’t met him, but he knows who you are. He says that if you do this for us, you’re a true patriot.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know about that. I just want to stop Samael from murdering more women.”

  “The Free Men think it’s not just the murders. They say Samael actually wants to end the world. An apocalypse, the angels taking over. They want to make us their slaves. They want us in chains.”

  Dread slid through my bones. I knew Samael had some kind of master plan, but not what it was.

  “So you’ll do it?” he asked.

  “Do what?”

  He fell silent, his throat bobbing. “They want you to kill him.”

  I stared at him. “How?”

  “First you have to seduce him. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I already have. I mean, I’m not sure if it was enough. It wasn’t—”

  He clamped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes. “I don’t need the details.” He pulled his hands away. “But from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t have to be the whole … thing. Kissing is enough for most angels.”

  “I’ve certainly done that.”

  He looked furious with me for a moment, then his cheeks went pink. “Okay.”

  I didn’t have time for his prudishness. “What next?”


  “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

  “Whatever it is Finn, I’ll do it.” I said it right away, without even thinking about it. "If Alice is dead, then I have almost nothing left. Just you and Zahra. But Mum has lost her mind and my sister is gone, and she was one of the strongest people I knew, and …” I trailed off, and the screaming rose once more. "I'll do whatever it takes, and I don't care if it's risky.”

  I wanted him to die. It wasn’t that I wanted him to suffer, but he simply needed to go. If he didn’t, more mortals like Alice would lose their lives at his hands.

  Finn nodded solemnly. "Do you think you can get in and out of the castle again?”

  I frowned. "I didn't get permission to leave today. I snuck out. But if I’m careful, I can probably sneak back in at night. I don't think they have any idea that I can scale the walls. And I’ve found a route to move around the castle that no one else seems to know about.”

  “So you could get in and out of his bedroom without him seeing you?”

  I nodded. “There’s a secret passage. I don’t think he even knows about it.”

  “Okay. Look, I don’t want to make you too nervous, but I do need you to understand that if you mess this up in any way at all, you could …” He cleared his throat. “Explode.”

  I let out a long, slow breath. “We’re talking about a bomb, I take it.”

  “It’s designed to be planted in a drawer. Is there something he opens every night?”

  “He has tea every night, I think. He pulls it out of a little drawer by his hearth.” My nerves were electrified. “How does it work?”

  “Give me a minute.”

  He rose from the table and closed the wooden shutters, so no one would be able to look inside. Then he locked the front door. Anticipation made my pulse race, and I watched as he crossed to the two men in the corner.

  Finn pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table to the two Free Men. One of them shot me a pointed look over his wineglass. Then he raised the glass, like he was toasting me. I thought I saw a flicker of disdain in his eyes, but I supposed for men like him, someone like me would always be trash.

  I didn’t really care what he thought. I had a job to do, and that was about it.

  One of the men rose and went through a door at the back of the pub. A moment later, he returned with a brown leather briefcase. He handed it to Finn, who took it very carefully from his hand.

  Finn crossed back to me, his face red, visibly sweating. He was breathing heavily as he slid the briefcase across the table, and his hands were shaking wildly when he reached to open the brass latches.

  I grimaced. “Maybe I should do it, Finn. You’ll set it off.”

  He nodded, sweat pouring down his temples.

  I turned the briefcase to face me, then shot a glance at the two Free Men in the corner. They were watching me carefully, and one of them nodded, touching his forehead.

  I took a deep breath, and popped open the latches.

  My heart started pounding as I slowly inched up the lid. There, neatly tucked into the briefcase, was an instrument of pure death.

  41

  Lila

  It looked almost like a mousetrap glued to a small, wooden box. When I leaned down, I saw that it had a spring, and a switch release. A string attached to the copper switch, with a little pin on the end. Next to the bomb, nestled in the packaging, was a small tube of glue.

  “How does it work?” I asked in a whisper.

  Finn pointed at the wooden box. “First, you glue it to the bottom of the drawer. Carefully. And you’ll need to make sure it’s in the right place. There are two sticks of dynamite in there, in the box part. When that copper switch release is pressed down and hits the contact, the whole thing blows.” He looked like he might throw up.

  He breathed slowly in and out, then pointed at the pin attached to the string. “You pin this string to the back of the drawer, so when he pulls the drawer open fully, the string will pull the switch down. It will touch the contact, and detonate. That’s why it has to be in the right place. But you have to be careful—”

  “I understand, Finn. I won’t let the switch hit the copper bit while I’m there.” At least, I bloody hoped not. “I can do it after night falls. Around eight-thirty, maybe. He usually doesn’t come back to his bedroom till late.”

  Finn scrubbed a hand over his mouth. "I didn't want you to have to do this.”

  A dark thought wound around inside my skull. What if I was wrong somehow?

  But no—I’d seen the evidence with my own eyes.

  “Look Finn, I don’t know if destiny is real. But it seems like the stars are aligning. I am maybe the only person in this city who knows how to get in and out of his room unnoticed. I may be the only person who seduced Samael. This feels like fate, doesn’t it? So I will be fine. As soon as I get it in the drawer and set up the pin, I'm just going to get out of there. I’ll never go back. I’ll leave the city for good.”

  Sadness carved through me, but I had to do this for Alice. As soon as I thought of her, the memory of the photograph popped into my mind. Samael gripping her platinum hair, the blood dripping from her neck …

  I stared at the bomb. “Where did the photo come from?” I asked.

  “The Free Men. I think one of the Clovian soldiers took it. But we have spies within the castle.”

  “You do?” Would’ve been useful to know who they were.

  Finn stammered something incoherent, then looked at the table. “You really seduced him?”

  “I knew it was how I needed to make him vulnerable, Finn.”

  Finn nodded, then pulled a key out from his pocket and slid it across the table. “If you need somewhere to stay today, you can hide out in my flat, get some food, calm your nerves. You’re sure you’re okay?”

  "Stop asking, Finn. I already told you. I feel like I'm on the right track, like it's destiny. And the ghost of the Raven King is on my side.”

  “Just don’t jostle it.”

  I glared at him. “Go back to your market stall.”

  “I’m working at the Bibliotek tonight. Will you find me there after you’re done if you can? Before you leave the city?”

  “Of course. I’ll bring your key back to you before I go.”

  He touched my arm softly. “You know you're my best friend, right?”

  "Of course," I said.

  “And if it weren’t for all this, if it weren’t for the angels … It would have been nice if maybe you and me could have lived together.”

  Finn definitely had a crush on me. And that was adorable, but today was a day for death. Not sweetness.

  I slowly slid the briefcase off the table, my nerves sparking. Then I took a deep breath, focusing on holding it steadily. As I walked out the front door of the pub, the breeze rushed over me. I glanced at the briefcase, making sure it didn’t bump against my leg as I walked.

  I lifted my eyes to scan the street. It wasn’t crowded, but a woman was pushing a pram on the other side. And that made me feel a rush of fear and guilt, because maybe I was doing something completely irresponsible. Just be very, very careful.

  Only when she passed into the distance did I start walking again—slowly, trying to look casual. I kept the briefcase at a safe distance from my legs. Thankfully, Finn’s flat wasn’t far from here.

  He lived in a rickety old tenement in Slainwolf court. A thousand years ago, wolves had roamed the streets. The citizens of Dovren slaughtered them, and tossed the carcasses over the city walls. Here, centuries ago, lay a refuse heap of wolf corpses and garbage. Hence—Slainwolf court.

  Sad, really.

  I’d always had the superstition that their spirits still lurked under the stones. Maybe I was losing my mind, but it was like I could feel them now, still alive and buried beneath the street.

  The city would give me strength, like it always had.

  Dark brick rose up on either side of me—the crumbling remnants of the old Dovren wall on one s
ide, and tenements on the other. Lines of laundry criss-crossed the narrow lane, with petticoats and dresses swaying in the breeze.

  A buried power simmered beneath the dark cobbles. I had the sense that it needed to be unleashed. Finn would say this was all my superstitions, but I could feel that I was on the right path. Today, I felt the magic of the city stronger than ever.

  Raven King, I’m doing this for you.

  I crossed under an old bridge where a railway was supposed to go. No one had ever bothered to finish it in this part of the city, like they’d just given up. Now, a foxglove tree grew from the spot where the trains never ran. It would bloom soon, with pale lavender flowers. In the time of the Raven King, this was a verdant woodland, outside the city walls. I wondered if maybe that was where Dovren’s power lay buried—the old roots, dormant under the ground.

  At last, I found my way to his building, notable for the arched doorway with faded green paint. I unlocked his door and crossed into his tidy flat. It wasn’t fancy, but Finn earned enough to live on his own—no parents or curtain dividers or leering Wentworths. It was a tiny place, with just enough room for a narrow bed, a washbasin, and a cage for Ludd. The crow was sleeping now.

  I stared at what he’d done to the place. Finn had hung every inch with vibrant paintings, a wild riot of colors. And my breath caught as I saw two new ones, oval shaped and framed by painted gold. One was me, my dark eyes sparkling. The other was Alice, dressed in green. Apart from our black eyebrows, we were as different as could be—my hair dark, hers pale as flax. My skin tan, hers peaches and cream.

  But he’d painted our expressions to look alike: mischievous smirks.

  His skill with a brush was so breathtaking, they nearly looked like color photographs. In fact, I was so shocked at seeing Alice’s face alive again before me, I nearly forgot about the briefcase. My heart started pounding again when I looked down at what I was holding.