Another thing to add to their list of things to address. He listened closely for any indication that Jennifer was there. Nothing.
Amos cleared each room on the ground floor, then the upper level, then slowly made his way to the lower level.
Once he’d descended the winding staircase, he halted, looking around the massive room. It wasn’t servants’ quarters and storage like he’d expected. It presented as a large meeting hall or ballroom, but instead of lavish marble floors and crystal chandeliers, the walls and floor were unfinished stone and a giant iron corona with melted wax where candles used to be. The light from his lantern bounced off the floor, revealing a drain and dark staining surrounding it.
What the fuck did they do down here? Murder people? Something eerie slithered up Amos’ spine.
Amos walked farther into the room until his light illuminated someone huddled in the far corner of the room. A shock of red hair had him running across the room as quietly as possible.
He set his lantern down and kneeled beside her. “Jennifer,” he whispered. Her head jerked upright, and she pushed herself farther into the wall. He couldn’t reveal himself to her without revealing himself to everyone. Glamour was all or nothing. “It’s Amos. I’m going to get you out of here.”
“Amos?” her voice shook, and she reached out a hand, bumping his shoulder. She looked at her arm and screamed.
He clamped a hand over her mouth. “I glamoured you. You can’t see yourself, but neither can anyone else. I’m going to let you go.”
She nodded, and when he released her, she sneezed. He hoped being down here didn’t make her sick. Grabbing her arm, he led her through the massive room and up the stairs. They neared the top of the stairwell, and just before they stepped onto the landing, Jennifer sneezed three times in a row.
Amos thought too late that they sounded fake because as soon as he topped the stairs, a cloth covered his nose and everything went black.
SARIAH
Sariah watched as a group of men carried a long, rectangular iron box out of the crumbling house. It rested on their shoulders like a casket, and she knew Amos was inside.
There were too many men for her to take on her own—she outmatched most warriors, but even she couldn’t take on ten at one time. She’d known something had happened when the glamour hiding her dropped. When Amos glamoured her invisible, she couldn’t see herself, and when she reappeared, she lay in wait, ready to attack.
She hadn’t expected a small army, but she should have. When dealing with a royal, you could never have too many people.
Sariah didn’t recognize anyone other than the one man and two women in the back: Paul, Jennifer, and Jennifer’s mother, Jenaveve. Jennifer’s mother had visited her in Dragon Village ahandful of times over the years. Jennifer held Paul’s elbow and looked up at him with stars in her eyes.
The puzzle came together quickly. As a highborn widow with no son and a daughter betrothed to the royal family, Jenaveve could keep her husband’s fortune. She was the one funding the rebel attacks. Sariah knew the why had something to do with Paul and the love-struck look on Jennifer’s face.
They opened the gates, and a horse-drawn cart pulled in for them to load Amos into. Sariah listened as they spoke, getting as much information as she could. They were taking Amos to the capital to execute him.
Once they were out of sight, Sariah ran as fast as she could, thankful for the cover of night, to get her horse. A little northeast of the oasis is an entrance to the den. It would take her an hour to get there on horseback, but it was the fastest way to get someone to Amos.
Sariah guided her horse to a stop and hopped off, thankful this den entrance was at the base of the mountain and not the top like some. She whistled for anyone nearby. The dragons could all speak to each other, and while they didn’t always understand everything the fae said, they understood enough.
Air whooshed with the sound of flapping wings, and Sariah backed up to give the dragon space. To her surprise, Sasha landed and folded her wings tight against her back.
None of the sacrifices had seen Sasha since the night Amos killed Phillip.
“Sasha,” Sariah greeted, bowing her head respectfully. The dragon didn’t move. Right. Sariah had no idea if that was her wild dragon name or not. The way the dragon looked at her told her no.
“I appreciate you coming,” she started, hoping like hell Sasha understood. “Can you deliver a message to Ember? It’s important.”
Sasha didn’t acknowledge her, only stared.
“If you aren’t okay with that, can you ask if another nearby dragon is available?” Shit, did that sound rude? Still, Sasha didn’t react. “Can you tell Ember that Paul has taken Amos? They plan to publicly execute him in the capital.”
Sasha turned without a nod, shake, or fuck-you flick of her tail, and disappeared into the den.
Sariah whistled again, praying another dragon would come. It wasn’t long before a large dragon with pitch-black scales showed up. Sariah went through the same thing, only more in-depth, confident in this dragon’s comprehension. By the end, the dragon nodded, nudged her goodbye, and flew away.
Now she had to get to the capital and alert the Hydra there.
War was coming.
“Something’s wrong,” Clover insisted, trying not to panic that she felt nothing in her chest where the bond should be. The only other time she’d felt that was when Amos slept, which wouldn’t have been a big deal had it not been mid-morning.
