My weak legs obey, and the room tilts with me as I stand. I don’t know if it’s from the explosions outside or if it’s my body giving out again. I lean against the wall, trudging to the door, my breath pressing against my lungs and making them hurt. They usually lock me in, but I still wrap my hand around the doorknob and twist. It doesn’t budge.
“Hey!” I shout as hard as my aching throat allows. “Let me out of here! Let meout!” I hit the wood with both palms, pushing into the door. But where there are usually lots of men walkingin the hallway beyond, this time I can’t hear them. They’re not here. No one seems to be guarding my room.
Hope swells in my chest as I push my hair behind my ears.
“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay. Think,think, Dove.”
There’s nothing in this room that I could use to unlock it… but maybe I don’t have to. I hurry to the window, my pulse quickening the closer I get. My mind begs me to go back and hide under those blankets like the coward I am. I fight it as best I can, urging my legs forward until my hands are on the window frame and I’m looking outside.
My eyes take in the desolate scene. The air hangs heavy with an eerie silence, broken only by the now distant sound of gunfire and the acrid smell of smoke that stings my nostrils. Where is everyone? Either they left me here to die or… or my captors are already dead. I bring my hand to my mouth, the realization dawning on me. Could this be… could it be…
“Rowan.” I breathe out.
He came for me.Of coursehe did. He made it clear countless times that he protects what’s his, that I belong to him, that there’s no corner of this world where he wouldn’t chase after me. But coming into this wretched place… for me… My chest tightens as I consider the value of my life in the middle of all this mess. So many people will die tonight—and have died, probably—just so he can get me out. I know they’re not innocent, but neither am I. I stood there watching Magnus’s life drain out of his body and did nothing to stop it. What makes my life more valuable than theirs? There isn’t a logical explanation to any of this. Rowan acts by his own set of rules, never settling for less than what he wants. But what happens when he finds out? About Magnus… about how much of a coward I am?The world isn’t so black and white, he once told me. And maybe he was right. Maybe when I tell him about what I’ve done, he’ll understand.
Or he’ll regret saving your life, a voice inside my head tells me.
Looking outside, I can almost taste the freedom on my lips. Feel Rowan’s warmth against me, and his strength soothing my wounds. But guilt churns inside me like a restless sea beneath gray clouds, and I pull away, hiding my face from his ghostly presence in the town below.
Thud.
The door bursts in behind me, and I barely get a second to react. My hand goes through the window forcefully, so much so that it breaks and scatters glass everywhere. A brief stinging sensation tells me I’ve hurt myself, but adrenaline courses through me as I pick up a shard and point it at the man who walked in. He wears a mask, a white one with two small holes for eyes, just like Salister did the day I met him.
“Stay the fuck back.” I say in a threatening tone, trembling as I glimpse the tendrils of blood trailing down my arm. I can’t let him take me. If Rowan is here, he’s walking into a trap. I have to find himbeforehe finds me and warn him about everything Cole told me.
“Fuck!” The man—mybrother—groans, taking his mask off.
I sag with relief, leaning against the wall, my head clouded with dizziness.
“Fuck, Dove, what have you done? What have you done?!”
As Cole rushes toward me, the sound of fabric tearing fills the air. The sight of my torn bedsheet catches my eye, its soft texture now turned into jagged edges. He wraps it tightly around my wound, the surrounding air carrying the faint hint of detergent mixed with the metallic scent of my blood.
“You’re okay.” He sighs.
“Is…is he here?” I ask, barely able to form the words, wanting to confirm my suspicions.
My brother nods, helping me back to my feet, though the room keeps spinning. “He brought a fucking army with him. They’re slaughtering everyone out there. I’ll help you find him, and you’ll be out of here.”
“W-What about you?” I shake my head as he leads me out of the room. “I won’t leave you here.”
He ignores me. “Come on. Let’s go.”
He walks ahead first, scanning the hallway. I poke my head out as well, but end up leaning against the door frame, exhaustion claiming me. Fire licks down my throat as I swallow, and I’m feeling hot, like a fever is nesting into my veins. Cole’s eyes meet mine, seeing it, seeing the state I’m in. Something has been seriously wrong with me since I got here, and by the look on his face, he knows it, too.
“What have they done to me?” I whisper.
Outside, the screams of the townspeople are so loud. They travel fast, following us around, some cursing, others pleading for mercy. I’ve never heard these people plead for their lives before—they seemed accustomed to the life of pain and torture they chose for themselves. But now… now they’re different. Whatever Rowan and his men are doing to them, I know seeing it would give me nightmares for the rest of my life.
Cole’s eyes flick down, focused and familiar. “Almost there. Can you still walk?”
Before I get to answer, a dark silhouette barges in between us and knocks Cole to the ground.
“Fucking traitor,” he seethes. He punches, and punches, and I fear Cole will never get a chance to get up. But then the man sags on top of him, and I realize he’s dead almost as suddenly as he showed up.
I suck in a little breath, bracing myself when spotting not one but three other silhouettes now heading toward us. “Oh, my God!”
Cole’s jaw clenches, and he curses under his breath. “Listen to me. We can’t both go at the same time. I’ll cover you so you can run. My men told me the church was empty, that Rowan blocked the way to the crypt, and there’s no way to get in from that side. But you’re small.” He looks me up and down. “You can climb over the bodies and go down.”
