“I can’t believe it,” Luca mutters. He turns to Asmo and me, both of us standing near the door, watching the scene before us. “Are you sure this isn’t one of those marks?”
“I’m sure,” I say confidently. I’ve gotten no sense of deception from Etta, and my net has been up constantly, its presence now something I don’t even have to think about.
Basil clears his throat from behind Etta. “Mind if we postpone this reunion?”
Etta nearly jumps at the reminder, and I chide myself for forgetting the real reason we’re here—to save someone from execution. “He’s right,” Etta says. “Time is of the essence.” She turns her gaze to Asmo and me. “Are you two ready to hold up your end of the bargain?”
I want to correcther. I’m the one who made the deal. Asmo can leave whenever he wants. He is not beholden to me or my court, I remind myself. “We will assist in the rescue, but we must discuss details of our arrangement once the prisoner is safe,” I say firmly.
She nods. “Done. Did Basil fill you in on the details?”
“He said that it’s essentially the same rescue mission as the last time.”
“That’s right.”
Luca swings his head toward me. “You failed to inform us that we’d be rescuing anyone today, Your Highness.”
I raise an eyebrow. The title is without the near-sneer this time, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s had an attitude adjustment, or if it’s due to our present company. And, if I remember correctly, I implied that was our purpose today. Not to mention, Basil was just reviewing the details. What did he think that was for? A ball? Whatever.
“That’s part of our deal.”
Etta slides past me, heading down the hallway in the direction of the front entrance. “Fill them in as we go. We’re running out of time,” she calls behind her.
We follow Etta, and Basil recounts the details of our rescue mission to Ivan and Luca. Ivan falls in step behind me. “Mae,” he whispers. “How do you know this isn’t a trap?”
“Nobody here is lying.”
“Yes, but…There are ways around that. Just think of Marik,” he says, but he winces.
He’s right. Oh, how Marik got around that line of defense. “Asmo was kind enough to give me that reminder already, Ivan,” I say curtly. I regret it as soon as it’s out. Ivan has been one of the few people I’ve been able to rely on. To trust without a shadow of a doubt. But like Asmo, he can leave at any time.
He rubs the back of his neck. “Just don’t only rely on that.”
I force a smile to my face. If only he knew how much I’ve been thinking of Marik’s betrayal and the ease in which he did it. In fact, not a day goes by where I don’t think of it. It clings to me like a stain. “You’re right.Thank you.”
“Excuse me, Your Highnesses,” Basil mutters as he squeezes between Asmo and me. He joins Etta at the dirt wall.
The portal opens slowly, starting as a pinprick, then spreading outward until it reaches the tunnel’s sloped ceiling. “Trickier than yesterday,” Basil mutters. “They must have put some additional precautions in place.”
“Be on your watch, princess,” Asmo mutters to me. “And stay behind me.” He glances down at me, then adds, “Please.”
I mumble an agreement. Amaris looks at Asmo, a bemused expression on her face.
“Ready when you are,” Etta says.
Asmo’s shadows fall over us, and I swear they linger on my skin as they brush past me and form around us. The dungeons are even colder today. I rub my hands along my arms, my breath forming small clouds in front of me. We creep down the hallway, carefully avoiding slushy puddles of melted gray ice.
My heart drops to my stomach as something splashes in a puddle behind me, entirely too close.
Dozens of rats sprint toward us. I raise my hands, ready to blast them all the hell away from me, but Basil shoves Asmo and me against a freezing cold wall of stone. He looks at us, a finger pressed against his lips.
The rats race past us, an angry mob of four-legged, long-tailed creatures. Basil pointedly looks down the hallway, then back to Asmo and me.
Today’s distraction, then.
I give him a shaky thumbs up. We wait another minute before resuming our slow walk down the hallway.
That’s when the screaming starts. Around the corner, two figures are squirming. They’re covered in rats.
