The stairs are dingy, narrow, and dangerously slick from melted snow and ice. I watch my step to keep from slipping and tumbling back to the bottom.
“Ow!” Koa yelps as my antlers collide with his back. He jumps forward, straight into another dead end.
I lift my head and grimace. “Sorry.”
He gives me an exasperated look before placing his hand on the wall and opening another hidden door. He braces himself and steps onto a roof. Frigid air whips against me, stinging every inch of exposed skin and sending goosebumps erupting. It feels like I’m inhaling crisp scents of pine with a side of glass, the air so cold that every breath is a stab to my lungs. Bouldercrest was a tropical vacation compared to this.
Above us, gray clouds drift past, almost close enough to touch. The moon hangs nearby, its white glow shining upon the snowy peaks of mountains that surround us.
Levana joins us on the roof, sandwiching me between her and Koa. I swallow hard when I realize how high in the air we are. How alone I am with the two of them. With my hands bound behind my back. And no magic.
What the fuck have I done?
Koa reaches for me and I back away, right into the witch. He retracts his hand and holds it up in surrender again. “It’s okay,” he says soothingly. “I’m getting you out of here. Is there a safe place I can take you?”
“Get the cuffs off me and I can do it myself,” I say.
He hesitates. “I’d prefer to do that once we’re out of here. Just to be safe.”
“Safe fromwhat?” I growl. I don’t particularly care to have my hands bound when he takes me to a new location.
He glances behind him to the closed door. “If anyone finds us out here and your hands are unbound?—”
“Oh, it wouldn’t look good for you?” I scoff.
He takes a step closer. “Please, let me funnel you out.”
“We don’t have time for this conversation, Prince. Mae, I will destroy the link the moment we’re out of here. I swear it,” Levana says.
I grit my teeth. I don’t really have a choice. They’re not budging and every second we waste here is another second that someone else could find us and drag me back to my cell. “Fine.”
Koa’s shoulders relax. “Where can we take you?”
I consider Bound, but I have no idea if it’s safe. Maybe Cora and Marik have witches stationed there. Squall’s End is the only place I know is undoubtedly safe, but I can’t let Koa know about the underground court. I can’t risk exposing them to him when I don’t even fully trust him. “Take me to your other dungeons,” I blurt. “Have Levana walk me in. Pretend like I’m a prisoner. You can keep the chains on, then release me once we’re in the clear.”
Koa gives me a dazed look. “What? That area is crawling with witches.”
“I can take care of myself,” I fire back, even though my hands are bound and I have no magic.
“If that’s really what you want, we need to leave now, or we’re going to miss the change in shift, and pulling this whole thing off will be much harder,” Levana says.
Koa looks to the night sky and runs a hand through his hair, dark brown locks shining in the moonlight. “Are you sure?”
No, but I don’t know what else to do. “Yes.”
Koa sighs. “Your choice. Let’s go.”
I shake my head. “Wait.” I turn back to Levana. “Give me your cloak. Throw it over my face and antlers. Nobody can know it’s me.”
She shrugs from the black cloak and tosses it over me, dampening my vision. I’m either a genius or the biggest fucking idiot in the kingdom.
“Get me the fuck out of here,” I mutter behind the cloak.
A hand grips my bicep. The air thickens and the ground changes from the roof tiles to loose gravel as we materialize in a new location. I can only hope this is the entrance to the dungeons.
“Sister,” a female voice says in rough greeting. “Who did you round up?”
“Dissenter,” Levana says, her hand now gripping my arm tightly. “Out of my way,” she hisses as she shoves me forward. My feet barely catch me, and I swallow the string of curses that rise.
