“We don’t have days,” Eira reminded her. “I’m going to wait a bit longer. I suspect they’re going to him now. After what I said—and all I didn’t—he’s going to want to come and see me for himself.”
“Andthenwe kill him?” Alyss moved up to Eira’s face, cupping her cheeks.
“I’ll let you deal the first blow if you want.” Eira grinned slightly.
Alyss returned the expression. “I very much want.”
“If the next time they come back, it’s without him, we’re breaking me free and running. If it is with him…break me free on my signal.”
Alyss nodded.
“Have you seen the others?” Eira couldn’t help but ask.
She shook her head. “This place is much too large…I admit, when I found you, I stopped exploring and stuck with you.”
“That’s all right.” Eira squeezed Alyss’s hand.
“Want me to get these off you now? Just to be safe?” Alyss touched the shackles.
Eira considered it, revising her plan slightly. “Can you break them?”
“Metalwork is more Noelle’s realm of expertise. But maybe if I…” With delicate, small motions, Alyss worked a thin layer of dirt into the lock of the shackle.
It continued expanding and expanding as Alyss added more and more to it. The metal groaned and began to swell. Sweat dripped off Alyss’s nose from her intense focus. The pressure on Eira’s wrist was minimal. How Alyss was using some of the dirt as a barrier so it didn’t apply pressure beyond the shackle itself was an incredible feat of magical talent. Not that she was surprised in the slightest, given her friend’s skill.
The shackle on her right wrist cracked.
“You can stop there,” Eira said.
“But—”
“The other one now.” Eira glanced up the tunnel. There was no sign or sound of footsteps, but she imagined they wouldn’t leave her alone for long.
Alyss repeated the process, stopping just before the shackle popped off. It held together. But barely.
“What are you—” Alyss was interrupted again, but this time not by Eira. There were the footsteps Eira had been waiting for.
“Go,” Eira whispered as quietly as possible. “Hide.”
Alyss nodded, scrambling back into her wall. As the rock closed, Eira saw the tiny slit—now knowing where it was—that Alyss left behind to breathe and peer through. Eira hung her head as the footsteps grew louder. She didn’t move even as they came to a stop just outside the door. Even though her wounds were healed, the blood was still there, enough to give the illusion of injury should she sell it.
The padlock on the door opened. Two highly polished boots came into her field of view. Eira slowly lifted her head. There was a guard hovering just on the other side of the door—thankfully only one—but her focus was on the man before her.
Salveus had come.
“I hear we have business.” His voice was all arrogance. He crouched down to her level, resting his hand on her head, balling it into a fist and pulling up her face the rest of the way. His fingers relaxed and his eyes went wide the moment he met her intense stare. “You…”
“Hello, Salveus,” Eira said, as soft as the whisper of a dagger sinking between a man’s ribs.
He released her, jumping backward. “No. No…” He laughed. He was so focused on Eira that he didn’t notice the rock slowly crusting around his boots. “You look like her, I’ll grant you. But Adela is dead.”
Eira tilted her head and decided to play along. “Am I?”
“I killed you—killedhermyself.”
“Then perhaps I am nothing more than a ghost back for vengeance.” Eira balled her hands into fists and lunged, tugging on the shackles. Her wrists strained, a moment of nearly unbearable pressure.
Shackles shattered. Time slowed. Eira’s magic surged back to her the moment the bindings were fully broken. Her skin emitted a hazy frost into the air as ice coated her, shielding her.
