The Hollow. Hidden in plain sight.
The two guards we’d heard talking stood at the carriage ahead of Devora, and I quickly made sure she was still blocked from their view before turning back to them. Each had a sword strapped across his back and two daggers protruding from their waistbands. One of them put several herbs to his lips and whispered a spell over the opening in the ground. It was more than likely warded and needed a certain enchantment to get inside. I filed the spell away to tell Silas.
The other one yanked open the carriage door and dragged out half a dozen prisoners one by one, all bound together with black metal cuffs. The youngest one appeared to be around eight, while the oldest was in their twenties.
So young. All of them, so veryyoung.
My hackles rose at the sight. Blood boiled beneath my skin, making my hands tremble and my nostrils flare. I wanted to rip off the guards' heads and whisk these innocent people back to their homes. I wanted to race down those steps, grab Scarven by the throat, and sink my teeth into him until his blood coated my hands.
I took a steadying breath and tried to calm my wrath. I had to play this smart, like Kieran would. Level-headed. I couldn’t give myself or Devora away. We’d found the Hollow, so we could come back with better resources and make a coordinated strike. For now, my priority was these prisoners.
Walking back to Devora, I whispered, “Can you create a distraction?”
She jumped at the sound of my voice. “A distraction? I barely know what I’m doing with this magic.”
“You can do it, Devora. We just need something that will draw the guards away from the carriages.”
She nodded and bit down on her lip. “Right. I’ll think of something. Then what?”
“I’m going to signal for Kieran. Get this back carriage full of prisoners”—I motioned to the one we knelt next to—“unhooked from the front one and attach it to Kieran in his stag form. He’ll pull it out. I’ll worry about the other carriage.”
A swell of shadows formed at her feet as she nodded again. I raised both hands to my lips and blew through them, two sharp, quick breaths, creating an owl call to signal Kieran. Two calls meant to come in his Shifter form. I paused and strained for a moment to listen. Sure enough, the sound of four clopping hooves met my ears. A hint of white fur and gleaming, majestic antlers peeked out from the edge of the tree line.
“Now, Devora,” I commanded.
Her brow furrowed as shadows seeped from her, gliding along the ground and toward the stalls at the far end. When she raised her arms, the stream of shadows broke off into a dozen trails, eachleading toward the individual stalls. Small clouds of smoke billowed beneath the doors.
The horses went wild.
Hooves stomped as straw went flying. Panicked whinnies filled the air, and the animals banged against the stall doors in an attempt to escape.
The two guards spun around with bewildered expressions. One of them cursed. “What the?—”
The doors on two of the stalls came crashing down, sending dust and hay flying. A couple of horses sprinted from their confines and out the other stable entrance. Several more doors creaked as hooves rammed into them.
“What are you looking at me for?” The first guard slapped the younger one on the back. “Go get them!”
He scrambled forward and grabbed a rope off the wall, then darted after the loose horses. Another one broke down its stall door and nearly trampled him. Shadows swirled in the empty stalls, licking at the walls.
I glanced behind me, relieved to find Devora hurriedly fastening a collar around Kieran’s long white neck, then hooking the harness of the carriage to him.
When another pair of horses got loose, the remaining guard dropped the shackles connecting all the prisoners. “Stay put, or I’ll cut your feet off before Scarven ever gets ahold of ya, got it?” he snapped at them, then turned on his heel to shout at the beasts.
I narrowed my eyes. I wouldn’t mind killinghim.
Still invisible, I rushed toward the group, knowing I had few precious seconds to make this work. “Don’t be scared,” I started, my voice making several of the children jump. “I’m here to help. Get back into the carriage as quickly as you can.”
Some of them were more alert as they looked around for my disembodied voice, while others were still sluggish from whatever drugs had been pumped into their system. Their clothing was torn and dirt-smeared, many of them with wet streaks of bloodand other body fluids. Half of them were shivering uncontrollably. Fates, how long had they been in these carriages?
I grabbed the oldest-looking one by the arm. His eyes flew to where my invisible hand touched him. “Get them into the carriage. We’re going to get you all out of here. Do you understand?”
He nodded jerkily and beckoned the younger ones back toward the carriage, doing his best to keep them quiet as others finally started catching on. The pair of horses still harnessed to the carriage pawed anxiously at the ground, and I half expected them to dart off any moment. I just needed them to hold on a little longer…
I crept ahead to put myself between the carriage and the remaining guard as he slammed on the stall doors to try and quiet the horses. “Come on, come on,” I muttered, looking back and forth between him and the prisoners.
They were moving too slowly. There were still two of them to go, but their motions were weak and stilted, their shackles dragging against the ground.
My heart hammered as I crouched on the balls of my feet, skin buzzing with anticipation. I barely allowed myself to breathe.
