“Lock them up, then come join us for supper.”
Levana grunts in agreement before pushing me forward again. I can hear footsteps leading away from us, and the thud of my heart grows quieter.
“Where are you planning on going, anyway?” Levana whispers through the cloak.
“Just take me to the cells where you keep the execution victims,” I say.
She guides me in silence for several moments, our feet crushing the gravel beneath us. The air grows colder as we descend into the bowels of the dungeons. After what feels like forever, she stops. She wrenches the cloak from my head, revealing the cells where Asmo and I rescued Rain.
I’m here. I’m so close. I hold in a shaky laugh.
Levana shrugs her coat back on and stares at me. “Okay, off you go then.”
I shake my hands, wiggling the iron chains. “A little help here?”
She smirks. “Oh yeah, almost forgot.”
I offer her a sardonic smile. She wiggles a finger in the direction of the chains, a slash of dark magic aiming for it like a knife. My hands fall to my sides as the chain linking them splits. My magic rushes to me, my knees buckling at the force of its return.
“Good luck,” Levana whispers before turning and disappearing down the hall.
I turn toward the familiar exit, to the alcove. I run. It comes into view, and I skid to a stop. I can only hope that this wall is connected to Squall’s End and wasn’t just how they portaled in. If it’s not, I’ve most likely signed my death warrant.
I place my hand on the wall where the portal appeared last time. I coax my magic into the stone wall, searching for the dirt on the other side. I imagine my fingers reaching through the stone, grappling for the brush of dirt.
There.
The dirt is softer. I splay my fingers and pull back until it feels like my hand is halfway embedded in the stone and halfway in the dirt. I twist, envisioning opening up an actual hole in the wall instead of opening a portal between the two locations. I imagine the stone and the dirt twisting and compacting, not seeking to destroy, but simply to manipulate.
A tiny pinprick of light bursts through the wall. I swallow the celebratory shout and focus on more, more, more. I lift my other hand and make another hole. My teeth gnash together as I focus on maintaining both at the same time. The stone is unwilling to give easily, but it eventually does. The circles grow wider and wider, eventually fusing together and revealing the hallway I’ve traveled so often in Squall’s End.
I launch myself through the hole, and it slams shut behind me. My knees buckle and I hit the ground hard. My hands slide through the dirt and I fist it in heaps, reveling in the grains in my hand. I never knew this feeling would mean I’m safe.
I push myself to my feet and begin stumbling down the hall. My foot catches on a rock, but I keep moving.
My friends are here. Cally. Holly. Ivan. Etta. Asmo.
My court. My mate.
A squirrel hybrid I haven’t met comes strolling down the hall. The papers in their hand go flying. They turn, disappearing down the hall and yelling, “It’s the queen!”
I want to collapse, but I stay on my feet. A sob escapes me as it hits me. I’m safe.
Through my tears, a figure dressed in black rushes toward. He tilts my chin and forces my gaze upward, to the fern-green and the silver and the darkness of his eyes.
He brushes my tears away, and I allow myself to collapse.
My mate.
Chapter 35
MAE
Asmo refusesto let me go when the healer comes, which makes her job significantly harder, but I don’t care. I can’t stomach the thought of being away from him.
“The wound on your cheek has begun to heal already,” she says with a smile, then glances at the dried blood on my shirt. “Prince, I need to look at her stomach,” the Panthera female says, but he’s silent and unmoving.
Asmo lets me remove his arm from my midsection. I peel my shirt up and hiss as it pulls at the crusted, dried blood.
