"Then why are you here?"
"Same reason you are." Ferria's gaze shifted to the hidden door. "Eliam."
Hearing Ferria say it, after everything, made Briar’s stomach twist.
"You don't get to—"
"I don't care what I get to do." Ferria's flatness cut through Briar's building tirade. "If I could get him out myself, I would. I'd leave you here to whatever end Malus planned. But the Withered don't respond to illusions, and I can't fight them alone."
The honesty was brutal. No apology, no pretense of redemption.
"She could have raised the alarm," Karse said, doing little to temper Briar’s mounting fury. "Could have run to Malus the moment she saw us sneaking around. She didn't."
"The dungeons are guarded," Ferria continued. "Heavily. But I know the castle's secrets. Service passages that run parallel to the main routes."
"Why should we believe you?"
"Because I spent years sneaking through this castle to meet with Malus." Bitterness crept into her voice. "Years of planning, scheming, and for what? He promised me Eliam. Told me once he had power, I could have what I wanted. Instead, he throws Eliam in the dungeons and starts feeding on humans like we're back in the Night Court's glory days."
A door slammed somewhere above them. They all froze.
"We don't have time for this," Karse said. "Either we take her with us or we leave her here, but standing around debating gives Malus time to wake up."
Briar's jaw clenched so tight her teeth ached. Every instinct screamed against trusting Ferria. But Karse was right. And Ferria was here, knowing the risk, offering help they might need.
"One wrong move," Briar said quietly, "one hint of betrayal, and Karse burns you to ash."
"Gladly," Karse added, heat-shimmer rising from his scales.
Ferria nodded.
Briar turned to the hidden door again, finding the latch by memory and pressure. The mechanism clicked, and the door swung inward on silent hinges. Cold air rushed out, carrying the scent of deep earth and old water and something else—despair, maybe. The darkness beyond was absolute.
"I'll go first," Ferria said. "If there are guards at the top of the stairs—"
"I’ll torch them," Karse said with a shrug.
They stepped through the door, first Ferria, then Briar, then Karse. The moment Briar's foot hit the first step, her fingers found the wall for balance, brushing against the familiar moss. It flared with pale green light at her touch, just as it always did.
She kept her hand on the wall as they descended, the phosphorescent glow lighting their way before fading back to darkness.
"What is that?" Karse whispered from behind, his voice carrying genuine curiosity.
"Luminous moss," Ferria answered flatly. "It grows throughout the lower levels."
The stairs seemed to go on forever, though Briar knew it was just the exhaustion making each step feel heavier.
Behind her, Karse's breathing was controlled but she could feel his heat, his readiness. Ahead, Ferria moved silently, her illusion magic wrapped around her even though it wouldn't work on the Withered.
The warmth in Briar's chest pulled harder with each step down, reaching desperately for what waited below. It knew how close they were.
The door at the bottom of the stairs hung askew, wood rotted through in places, the ancient hinges barely holding. Briar pushed through, the wood groaning and splintering where she touched it. The sound echoed wrong in the space beyond—too big, too hollow.
The chamber opened before them, vast enough that the moss-light couldn't reach the far walls. More of the luminous growth carpeted the floor here, pulsing in slow waves as they entered, casting everything in that sickly green glow. The air tasted of minerals and damp stone, thick enough to choke on.
Cells lined the walls, carved directly from the rock. Most stood open, their bars long since rusted away or torn free. But at the far end, she could see two that remained sealed. Her heart lurched. Eliam was there. She could feel him through the warmth in her chest, that pull so strong now it physically hurt.
"There," she breathed, already moving forward.
