by May Dawson
“He always worried about you all,” I said. “He wanted to come back and rescue you from the beginning, but he thought you’d be disappointed…”
“I would have,” she said, even though that would have saved her life. “Your mission is too important, Maddie. And his mission is to protect you.”
I scoffed, shifting uncomfortably; the feeling of fabric against my body hurt, and I was still standing by her bedside despite the invitation to sit. “Maybe. But we protect each other.”
I’d done what it took to keep Silas from journeying all the way to Elegiah just to watch a friend die.
“Silas makes me happy,” I said softly, because it was true. “And that seems to make him happy.”
“If only he could finish his mission and let himself be happy,” she said. “Instead of being incredible.”
I tilted his head to one side. “And who made him… incredible?”
We both knew what incredible really meant.
Reckless. Confident. Fierce. Focused to a fault.
And as ever changing as a chameleon.
And yet… I still felt like I knew the real Silas.
“I have regrets,” she said, and then as if that were the end of the conversation, she fell back into the pillows.
Now Silas didn’t ever let himself have regrets.
“Indulge an old woman and tell her about the Fae world,” she said.
I tried, but I couldn’t help being distracted by Sebastian and Isabelle arguing. She called him a traitor; he returned that she was the traitor, using her power to set up shop instead of helping all the Rebels.
“How?” she demanded. “If there’s a way for us to escape without damning everyone, Seb, you have to know I’m willing. But I won’t ever be responsible for all that death ever again.”
“You have so much power!” he retorted. “You’re the only one who can defeat the runes! And you’re wasting it on mushrooms!”
Genuine horror washed over Isabelle’s face. She started to slap him, but Sebastian grabbed her wrist, stopping her. “It’s not a waste!” she cried.
The two of them glowered at each other.
“Have you even used all your abilities to talk to Frederick?” Sebastian growled.
“He’s a far worse traitor than you are.”
“He’s trying to help us! You know Fred.’
“What if he’s not?” she demanded, and her voice was haughty, but her eyes made me think of someone who was afraid.
“You keep calling everyone a traitor,” he said, his voice soft and dangerous. “But how can you be loyal to anyone when you seem so determined to convince yourself we’re all terrible?”
Her chin rose. “I’m loyal to Keen.”
Keen scoffed. “Please.”
Isabelle turned to face her, lips parting. “I am!”
“I know you are, but what’s the use?” Keen asked. “I’m going to die here.”
She sounded calm, resolute.
Isabelle started to protest, but Keen cut her off. “Please. I don’t care. As long as the rebellion—and with it, the Greyworld—doesn’t die with me.”
“It won’t,” Isabelle promised. She gave Sebastian a look before pulling her wrist back. He shrugged; apparently she wasn’t going to apologize for trying to slap him.
“Then you need to make up with your friends,” Keen said. “You’re all on the same side, no matter how much it feels you’re on different ones. You always will be.”
Her words seemed to hang in the room. Sebastian bowed to the two of us, muttered, “Pleased to meet you, Maddie,” and then disappeared, flinging the blankets out of his way.
It was only when he’d gone that I wondered how he knew my name.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Rafe
I was sitting out on the smoking deck when I heard the door open behind me. I didn’t look to see who it was, but I could sense Silas from the sound of his gait as he crossed the terrace.
He settled into the seat next to me, despite the number of benches scattered out here. We’d had to get through dinner in the officer’s mess together, too, where we’d accepted good-natured teasing about how we’d failed to catch anything. I’d waited for him, but he’d disappeared, and I’d eventually climbed into bed, wondering what the hell Silas was up to now.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.
When I didn’t answer, he lit up anyway. He exhaled before he said, “Never change, Rafe. Always showing your charges how to be mature.”
“You’re not my charge anymore.”
“Oh? That’s probably for the best.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the railing.
I wasn’t going to play his little games and ask why. He just wanted to draw me into conversation. He had a playfulness that made it hard to stay mad at him, but then, that might very well be a practiced act.
The courtyard below us was dark now; the lights were already turning off in the barracks buildings. One of the night shift officers was going to each barracks, checking that the doors and windows were all locked from the outside for the night. Even though I wasn’t the one trapped, it still gave me a claustrophobic feeling that clawed up my spine.
I’d spent the day surreptitiously researching the mechanism that allowed the camp to destroy those barracks.
He squinted suddenly. “They’re opening the gates.”
I followed his gaze. Down below, a few guards were at the gates. One of them called to the night shift guard who had just been patrolling the barracks, who gave him a thumbs-up. The prisoners were all locked away for the night.
They opened the doors, and a truck rolled in.
Silas watched it with bright eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure there was no one around. Then he said under his breath, “Reminds me of something I did once, that’s all.”
Something he did as a Rebel Magician?
Was this another rescue attempt?
“Fuck,” he swore suddenly. He rose and jumped over the bench, heading for the door in a hurry.
I raced after him down the winding steps that he took two at a time, before he hurried out the doors of the castle.
The truck came to a stop. When the driver’s side door opened, I recognized our tail from the museum.
Frederick jumped down, his boots impacting the gravel. He was wearing a blue corrections uniform, and he waved and called a cheerful hello to the other guards, teasing them for help unloading the truck.
Fuck. No wonder Silas was so worried.
Not only was his friend in danger, but his friend might very blow our cover before we could get Maddie and the others out of here like we planned.
Silas stopped abruptly, turning to me. He folded his arms over his chest, rocking on his heels. “Talk to me,” he said softly, the two of us standing to one side in the shadows.
“What about?” I asked.
“I don’t need your ideas,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “I need you to give me some cover while I figure out how to get out of this.”
I definitely did not regret punching the condescending bastard in the woods.
“I worked that spell too well when I tried to convince him that I was a dickhead he couldn’t trust,” Silas muttered.
“Oh? Did you use that spell on me too?”
He wasn’t even listening. He rocked again on his heels, then abruptly seemed to come to a decision. He shrugged one shoulder. “We’ve got to let it play out for now. It’s the best bet.”
I stared at him.
“We don’t want to be here,” he said. He opened the door and paused as if he were waiting for me.
But Tobias and some other guards were coming out of the doors. “Sorry guys, all hands to unload the truck,” Tobias said.
Silas swore, and Tobias laughed, but Silas wasn’t swearing for the reason he thought. Everyone followed Tobias toward the truck and I started to go as well, afraid to risk our cover.
&nb
sp; Silas stopped me, clapping his hand down on my shoulder. “I know it’s your nature to be the responsible, good guy, but these people are never going to see you again. It’s a good day to hide.”
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
Silas glanced at the guys beginning to unload the truck, and fixed me with a smile. “Our old plan to slip out of here with my friends is dead. It’s about to go kabloom, if you know what I mean. Luckily, I’ve got a new one.”
“Oh?” I asked acidly. “Did you always have a new one?”
He flashed me a smile and said, “Just hide for now, Rafe. I know it’s hard for you, but right now, no one needs help. Or a hero.”
Then Silas disappeared into the shadows.
I headed around the barracks building, looking for someplace to busy myself; I decided that walking around each of the buildings checking that they were secure would be a good way.
I didn’t know where Silas had gone. He always managed to disappear, like a ghost.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Maddie
“It makes me nervous when they lock us in,” Isabelle worried, staring out the barred window into the night. She’d told me that trucks usually came to do deliveries at night, once or twice a month—most of their supplies were delivered by train—but that this one was off-schedule.
Like Silas, Isabelle didn’t seem to miss much.
“Don’t they always lock you in?” I asked.
“Yes,” she admitted softly. “It gives me nightmares. I can’t help imagining being in here when…whush.” She raised her hands in an imitation of flame.
Jensen had gone to find Sebastian before lockdown, and I wasn’t sure how he’d persuaded Sebastian to join us, because Sebastian kept fidgeting and looked as if he’d rather be anywhere but around Isabelle.
I could understand that. She was pretty scary.
But when she talked about her nightmares, he leaned forward, worry written across his face. I had a feeling he would comfort her, but we were interrupted.
There was a rattle at the door, and she hissed, “You guys, get back behind the curtain.”
We all traded glances but were already moving. The academy did instill instant obedience—even if we sometimes took a more relaxed approach to obedience when time wasn’t of the essence—and their academy must have done the same, because suddenly everyone scattered.
Jensen twitched the blankets back into place as Keen opened groggy eyes; she was only groggy a moment before she looked clear-eyed and skeptical. Sebastian raised his finger to his lips, warning her off before she could give us away. She raised an eyebrow at him in return, as if to say, I’m dying, not an idiot.
The door swung open in the next room, the sound muffled through the blanket. I barely dared to breathe, wondering what was happening. Isabelle hadn’t seemed too surprised by the late night visitor.
“Tobias,” she said lightly. “How nice to see you again.”
“What have you been up to, my little troublemaker?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, I think we both know that’s a lie,” he said softly. “I saw you coming back home today.”
Sebastian looked at me wild-eyed, as if he were appealing to me for help. Jensen already had his hand on his shoulder, ready to hold him back, and his fingers flexed subtly on the other hand, ready to clap a hand over his mouth. If I knew Jensen, he was very well prepared to choke him out and bring him down to the ground silently rather than let Sebastian’s rescue throw our whole mission off.
Which was funny, because I knew Jensen would destroy dozens of missions to protect me, and trust that together, we would always find another way out.
“Just wait,” I mouthed back. Isabelle obviously was good at finding her own ways out of impossibly bad scenarios; hell, she’d found a way out of Elegiah itself.
“Why didn’t you sound the alarm?”
“I like seeing your pretty face around camp too much.”
“Mm. A prisoner/guard romance? I thought those only happened in the dime store novels.”
“Who says it has to be a romance?” There was a smile in Tobias’s voice, but not the kind that makes you want to smile back.
“Okay,” she said softly.
I’d never thought I’d hear Isabelle sound so mild.
“But not tonight, all right, Tobias?” she asked softly. “I’m on my period.”
I worried my lip between my teeth, hoping he’d be willing to wait. Tomorrow, we’d be gone. We’d get her out of here.
“Tomorrow,” he said, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then he added, “And tonight.”
“Don’t you worry that if I can slip the wards, I might be able to kill you as well?” she shot back at him.
“Do I worry you’re able to?” He asked. “Sure. Do I worry that you will? No. Because you love the thing behind that blanket too much, and you know she’d burn alive in here if you so much as went to the warden about me, forget killing me.”
There was a creaking sound; he must have been sitting down on the bed. Jensen’s face was growing as dark and stormy as Sebastian’s, and I begged them with my eyes to wait. Give Isabelle as long as she needed to find a way out.
“Come here, sweet thing. Undress for me.”
Isabelle’s feet moved quietly over the floor. I dared to glance out through the gap where the blanket met the wall, suddenly certain that Tobias’s attention was focused elsewhere. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his knees wide open, and Isabelle stood between his knees.
“I’m unbuttoning my blouse now,” she said softly, and her fingers went to the top button.
Tobias watched her, impatience written across his face. He suddenly reached up and grabbed her, slamming her down on the bed. She let out a soft cry, and Sebastian moved forward before she said, “It’s okay. It’s fine.”
“You know it’s better for me when you pretend you like it,” Tobias said, climbing on top of her. He must think she meant those words for herself, because he certainly didn’t care to assure her.
I stared at the guys, mouthing to them that we needed a plan. Surely Tobias had left the door unlocked when he came in; we had our way out. We’d have to escape right away, though. Maybe if Isabelle could get through the wards, we all could. We could head through the woods and wait for Rafe and Silas to join us.
Taking Keen with us would be almost impossible, though, since she was confined to bed.
Sebastian suddenly threw off Jensen, whose eyes popped in exasperation, and headed for the blankets. I shrugged at Jensen because Seb was just doing what we all wanted to do; now that the fight was unavoidable, I welcomed it.
The three of us exploded into the room. Isabelle was half-undressed, and Tobias was slobbering a kiss over her lips.
I raised my arms to push him off her with magic, even before common sense kicked in; I couldn’t use my magic.
But magic blasted him halfway across the room.
The next second, the worst pain I’d ever experienced flooded my body. It began with the tattooed rune, which seemed to be on fire, but it swept through every vein, every muscle. I let out a scream of pain as I dropped to the floor. My head slammed into the hard wooden floorboards over and over as my body seized.
There was a violent, wet sound from the corner as Jensen and Sebastian took Tobias down, and then the next second, Jensen was back by my side.
“Maddie,” he said, cradling my head from the floor so I wouldn’t hurt myself.
Then suddenly the pain was gone. The rune tattoo on my hand was smoking, but magic flared between my fingers again.
And the guard was on the ground in the corner.
“What did you do?” Isabelle demanded.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Silas stepped into the room. “You beat the rune, Maddie. I had a feeling you would.”
I just stared at him in shock. “You had a feeling I would? Does it ever occur to you to share your feelings with me, Silas?”
“It’s not good for you to know every guess or prophecy or wishful bit of thinking—you don’t need to worry about what we expect from you,” he said lightly. “I do still have my practical side.”
He squatted, studying the coppery-haired guard who had tried to rape Isabelle. Then he pulled a coin out of his pocket. “I also have my vengeful side.”
He tossed the coin onto the man’s chest.
“What’s that for?” I asked, staring at the golden coin that glittered under the dim lighting, contrasting with the dark blue coat the guard wore.
Silas smiled mysteriously but didn’t answer. He checked his watch and said, “I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I’ve got another date.”
“Silas Zip—” I began, but he was already gone.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Rafe
One of the guards saw me as I came around the corner of a building and called, “Hey, we need you over here, Hunt!”
I nodded and headed in his direction, although my mind was spinning. I didn’t want to risk breaking our cover, but I also trusted that when Silas said stay away from the truck, that there were good reasons to stay away from the truck.
In fact, I caught a glimpse of Frederick moving steadily away from the truck, moving with a purpose toward the castle itself even though this time, he wasn’t carrying any boxes. I headed to intercept him.
The truck exploded behind us.
The force of the blast threw me forward, and I slammed hard into the dirt. I was dazed, my ears ringing, when I sat up. The camp turned to chaos all around me.
Ahead of us, I saw Frederick climb to his feet. The look he flashed me was pure hatred, and he bent down to pull something from his boot. Silver flickered in his hand as he headed toward me. Knife. He must not recognize me in uniform from the few minutes he’d spent following Silas and me.
I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be convinced if I said I was one of the good guys. I got up and ran toward the castle building.
I had to find Silas. If things were turning to chaos, I was sure he’d be at the nexus.