“Is this a dungeon?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” she replied as she continued down the hall. “It hasn’t been used in a very long time.” She took another few turns, pulled him into a small, dark room, and closed the door. “What’s happened?”
Dume shined his light around the room and shuddered. “Gedeon has Rory,” he explained. “We can’t reach Sam because he’s in Vincula, and a group of us came with Lauren to look for her. A guard caught me and was hauling me to a holding cell.”
Adila listened intently and when he was finished, said, “We must find her. If Gedeon kills her, Caius won’t survive it.”
Dume felt the blood drain from his face. If one of them dies, does it kill the other?”If Caius died, would it kill Rory?
Adila was already opening the door to leave. “No, but theAeternumbond is strong, and Caius won’t want to live in a realm where she does not exist.”
Dume hurried after her. “Do you know where he would keep her?”
Adila shook her head, making her golden waves sway over her back. “No, but his office and chambers are a good place to start.”
“Lauren was going to Gedeon’s chambers to look. Is there anywhere else you can think of?” he asked.
“Then we’ll check his office,” she replied. “They’re next to each other, and we can make sure he hasn’t hurt Lauren while we’re at it.”
Dume blew out a breath and took long strides to keep up with her. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I think we should split up.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” she deadpanned. “I know my brother, and his rooms are probably the most secure locations in this palace. If he has her, she is there or in the area.”
“Lauren said if we find him to lie low and call her. We can’t just barge into his office.”
“How stupid do you think I am?” Adila scoffed. “Gedeon’s guards might tell him everything I do, but they’re still required to follow my orders. If I tell them there is a problem somewhere and demand they follow me, they must do it.” She shrugged. “They’ll just report the incident to him later. We might not be the ones to fight Gedeon, but we can at least clear the way for Lauren.”
She turned and walked away, leaving Dume no choice but to run after her.
50
The shackles duginto Rory’s wrists as she yanked on the chains. Half of the hair from her ponytail hung in her face, and she tried to shake it out of her eyes.
Her ponytail.
Since cutting her hair, the shorter front strands refused to stay up, and she had to use hairpins to keep them back.
Hairpins she could use to pick the locks.
Now to figure out how to remove them from her hair.
Craning her neck, she inspected the chains. They hung from a hook higher on the wall. In her current position, they stretched her arms to the point of pain, but if she stood, there would be slack.
Pressing her body against the wall, she dug her heels into the floor, but the blood made them slide around. “Shit.” There had to be a way.
The pools of blood were mostly isolated to the area under her body, with only droplets further out. When she spread her legs wide, her body dropped lower, and the weight ripped the crotch of her leggings. She was thankful Gedeon hadn’t touched her there, but she didn’t want her exposure giving him ideas if she couldn’t escape in time.
After wrapping her hands around the chains, she lifted herself enough to gain her footing. Her arms screamed as they took the brunt of her body weight, but she managed to stand and leaned over to find the pins in her hair.
Her fingers passed over one of the thin pieces of metal, and hot, happy tears pricked the backs of her eyes as she pulled it out and studied the cuff on her wrist. From this angle, her hands didn’t come close enough to touch.
As she twisted to see her options, the door to Gedeon’s room slammed open, and he stormed through, dragging a lifeless body by the leg. It didn’t take Rory long to recognize Lauren, and she lunged forward on instinct. “What did you do?” she screamed in a panicked fury.
One of Gedeon’s guards must have caught her when she and Sam were doing their rounds last night.
Lauren looked like a fresh corpse, but Rory caught the slight rise and fall of her friend’s chest. She forced herself not to react in case Gedeon thought theAngelwas dead. Lauren also had immortal healing, and if Rory could distract the Lux King long enough, Lauren could heal and escape.
Gedeon dropped Lauren’s leg and crossed the room in seconds. Rory tried to back up when she saw the pure rage in his eyes, but he wrapped his hand around her neck, pushing her up the wall. The lack of airflow made her panic, but when he called on his searing light and pushed it into her, she wished for death.
