Tehvan clearly sensed that she wasn’t telling him everything. But whatever doubts he had, he brushed them aside, nodding tightly. “You’re right. We need to move before anyone else catches on.”
He released her shoulders, and Elora exhaled, grateful that he hadn’t pressed further. The weight of her choices lingered, gnawing at the back of her mind. She couldn’t shake the image of Viliam’s golden eyes or the dark pleasure she experienced when she had left Gerard to die.
But none of that mattered now.
Tehvan hurriedly slung a satchel over Elora’s shoulders. He gave her no time to open it, no time to explore what it contained. Every second was precious now. She shoved Thorn’s recipe into it and climbed down a ladder into the chilly, moist tunnel below.
The darkness swallowed them whole, the air growing thinner with each suffocating step. Tehvan stumbled slightly, his hands brushing the walls as he struggled to find his balance. The tunnel wasalmost completely black, but for Elora, it was as clear as day. Her enhanced senses allowed her to see every crack in the stone, every turn and bend ahead.
She moved to the front, taking the lead. Her ears perked, listening for the faintest sign of movement, her instincts sharpening with every step.
Tehvan hesitated behind her. She sensed his unease. He didn’t understand what the magic had done to her, didn’t fully trust this version of her. Thisnewversion, twisted by Thorn’s experiments. He was weary of the changes. She knew he wanted to lead, wanted to protect her, as he always had. But it wasn’t the time to argue.
Tehvan slipped in front of Elora as they rounded the bend, his hand pressed lightly against a door. He opened it cautiously; the hinges creaking softly as it swung outward. The room beyond was hazy, its air thick with the salty scent of the ocean. Crates, cargo, discarded tools, and equipment lined the space. This had to be the warehouse by the docks.
Elora and Tehvan moved silently, crouching against the wall beneath a small window. Just beyond the warehouse, the docks stretched out before them, bathed in silver moonlight. Their escape sat anchored nearby, its dark hull bobbing gently with the tide, sails slack and waiting.
The rhythmic creak of the ship and the hushed whispers of the waves against the dock almost felt reassuring. Almost.
Then an alarm split the night. A shrill wail. Elora and Tehvan locked eyes, shock mirrored between them. No one spoke, but sheknew.Someone had found Gerard.
“The Institute is going on lockdown.” Tehvan muttered, already turning toward the dock.
Lantern light sliced through the darkness, swaying beams cutting across the planks. The once-empty dock teemed with movement. Guards scattered like ants, shouts overlapping in the wind. Some stormed onto the ship, forcing the crew back with sharp orders, while others knelt by the mooring lines, ensuring the vessel remained anchored.
Their escape was gone.
The guards moved in pairs, one carrying a lantern, the other with a drawn coil, the perfect tool to snatch up a runaway.
Elora’s breaths grew shallow. Her fingers twitched at her sides, her claws unsheathing on instinct.What now?What now?There was no way out. Not anymore.
Panic clawed at her throat. She forced herself to think—tofindsomething,anything.Could she swim? No, the current was too strong. Fight her way through?Impossible.They were surrounded. Then what? Was this it? Would she die here?
Tehvan was silent beside her, his gaze locked on the ship, his fingers tugging at the graying hair of his beard.
“There’s no other way,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “You know that, don’t you?”
Tehvan didn’t look at her.
She gritted her teeth. A low, animalistic growl rumbled in her throat, barely contained.
“I won’t be taken back,” she hissed. “Not tohim.”
Still, he said nothing.
Her breath came faster. The beast inside her, thethingshe had become, pressed against the edges of her mind, whispering, urging.
“I’ll run out there.” Her claws flexed. “I’ll tear them apart. I’ll make them kill me before they drag me back to Thorn.”
Tehvan’s head snapped toward her.
Her entire body was taut, wired for battle, aching to sink her claws into something soft. “At least,” she whispered, voice trembling with something close to madness, “I can take a few of them with me.”
It would be easy.
Just a few steps forward, and she would rip through the guards like paper. Tear into their throats, feel the hot spray of their lives slipping between her fingers. She wouldn’t even have to think. Justact.
Her body ached for it.
