My eyes widened as I jolted, surprise too tame an emotion to describe what I felt at his words. All of this…was to get us out?
“Prince Kian—?” I started to question but trailed off.
Calix seemed to understand though, and nodded, “Yes, I’m the way he’s getting you out. You know what he thinks of his family.” He gave me a knowing look. “Do you honestly think he’d send you into the care of worse monsters? And as for war, some sparse attacks aren’t a war. We’re not quite ready for that—not yet.”
With the hand he held in mine, he helped me out from the corner I was still nestled in. I was too confused to think too hard about him helping me.
“Not yet?” Was all I could bring myself to ask.
“Not yet.” Calix smiled. “Don’t worry, I think you’ll more than approve when I explain, but like I said, we need to get you out of here. Once we’re somewhere safe, then I’ll explain everything.” He stepped back and went over to the armoire, pulling out a couple dresses.
“You only need enough to last you a couple of days, just until we get back to my kingdom.” Calix’s face gentled as he looked at me, holding my destroyed dress up in an effort to cover my exposed body. His jaw hardened as he turned and glared at Cyrus—pure fury and absolute loathing filled that stare as he sent a bolt of pure darkness into him. I flinched back, but Cyrus’s body seemed to shake before slumping down further. I turned back to Calix to find him smirking, clearly pleased with whatever he just did.
“I’ll turn around, but I’m not leaving you alone in the room with him.” Calix assured me, before turning, leaving me gaping at his back.
This?This was the monstrous king the continent was afraid of?Something wasn’t adding up. The reputation of the Fae who slaughtered humans was so at odds with the man in front of me. I quickly raced to dress, wanting to get away from Cyrus as quickly as possible. Grabbing my dagger, my necklace from my parents, and a few other little things I might need and stuffing them in a small bag.
“I’m ready. But—” I bit my lip, unsure about asking what was truly on my mind. Calix zeroed in on the motion, biting his own lip as he looked at me. His purple eyes flared with color, and I was entranced by them. I desperately needed a distraction.
“Kian said I would be free. Is that true?” I asked hoarsely. Calix slowly crossed the distance between us and cupped my cheek before he glowered at my neck, where Cyrus surely left bruises behind.
“I promise,” Calix started, looking into my eyes—and he was so intense, so overwhelming, that I felt like I could barely breathe as his eyes locked on mine. “You will never be anything but free from this day onwards.”
I swallowed hard, shaking, wanting so badly to believe his words, but not sure I could trust him. Fae had proven treacherous, and I barely knew the one in front of me. Rumors painted him as the worst of the worst, but my experience said something different—and my instinct said somethingwildlydifferent. I nodded, deciding I’d work it all out later. Getting out was the most important thing right now.
Calix smiled gently and took my hand, a shock running through me as he did. The feeling of my blood sparkling returned, but not in rage this time. The realization of my freedom maybe? He led me out of the room, and I only spared a small glance back at Cyrus, elated to be leaving him and his cruelty behind.
I’d wanted nothing but freedom for so long, and now, it was possible that it was finally here.
Part Two
Chapter 22
reachingthe hallway I stopped short, Calix stopping with me since he was still holding my hand in his. Three warriors in armor similar to Calix’s stood in the hall, staring at me.
“We need to keep moving, before someone comes looking.” Calix urged me forward, “You’ll have plenty of time to meet everyone on the way.”
I only got a quick glance at the three warriors, but did a double take when I noticed one was a woman. Female warriors were practically unheard of—Princess Danique being the only one I knew of. This one didn’t seem much like a princess, though she was certainly just as beautiful—though I’d never seen an ugly Fae. I was fairly sure they didn’t exist.
Her thick red hair was tied back, but I could tell by the way it laid that had it been loose, luxurious waves would fall down past her shoulders. Her eyes were a vibrant, intense amber thatflared as she gripped a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Those amber eyes roved up and down the hallway, searching for threats.
I barely got a glimpse of the other two, only seeing short brown hair and long red hair, respectively. The latter’s a different shade than the woman’s, more copper than wine. But the king still holding my hand quickly pulled me down the hall. I looked around, sure someone was going to pop out and stop us. My fear that had somehow quieted when Calix showed up and stopped Cyrus, ratcheted back up at the mere possibility. I couldn’t stay here—I would rather die than be forced to spend another moment with that bastard.
“Here!” The man with short brown hair called, coming to a stop next to a tapestry lining the wall. We came to a stop, and I watched in confusion. They’d seemed in a rush to get out, now they wanted to stop and admire the art? The brown-haired one moved the tapestry aside and Calix sent magic at the wall. I watched in wonder at the show of magic. I hadn’t seen enough of it since coming to Dusk. I had hoped being around the Fae would mean getting to see more magic than I had in Sonmathion—the lord rarely bothered. Since arriving in Evenfall however, I’d only seen lightning and the occasional use of small other magic. Calix’s magic during his attack was the largest use of it I’d witnessed. I watched, fascinated, as Calix casually flung magic at the wall. My mouth dropped open as a door revealed itself in the wall.
“What?” I whispered to myself.
“Secret door.” The brunette turned to me, light blue eyes alight with mischief as he smiled. “It was meant as an escape route, but I think it’s been mostly forgotten about. Thankfully, I’d felt the magic of it when I passed by.”
“Yes, yes. We all know your greatness, now let’s go!” The red-haired man joked before pushing the brunette forward. I blinkedin surprise, not used to seeing the Fae joke around much. They always seemed so serious. I caught Calix smiling slightly at the two before he pulled me through the door, but as we stepped in, he came to an abrupt stop. Calix looked towards me warily, an eyebrow raised.
“You’re not going to try to stab me again, are you?” He asked dryly. The other three broke into laughter before muffling themselves as Calix turned to glare at them for the noise. I glared back at him.
“Not if you don’t give me a reason to.” I huffed. He chuckled before continuing into the tunnel. The passageway was dark—very dark. It was clear no one had used this in years. None of the light available like the other passages had.
I couldn’t see anything in front of me, but I realized they could all likely see perfectly with their Fae eyesight.
Calix leaned down towards me, “Just hold on to me. I’ll make sure you don’t run into anything.” I could practically feel the smirk he was wearing and glowered at him.
