Celeste looked back once again when Keegan leaned down and said something to her, but I couldn’t hear. Whatever it was, made her nod, though her hand stayed clenched around the moonstone at her throat.
Gideon paused at the edge of the passage and turned back.
His gaze met mine across the room, and there was something there.
Warning.
Promise.
Guilt.
Maybe all three.
He gave the slightest nod before disappearing into the blue-lit corridor.
Keegan stopped where the chamber narrowed, his hand resting against the stone wall, shoulders rigid with everything he was holding back.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The battle sounds beyond the tower had softened, as if the compound had truly honored the deal and quieted its creatures.Somewhere far away, I heard a faint orc horn, then the answering call of wolves gathering.
I could feel the movement through the walls somehow, the retreat beginning in careful pieces.
The witches were pulling back from the upper towers.
The shifters were collecting the wounded.
The goblins were vanishing from cracks and gutters and places no one wanted to think about.
My father got my mother out while Bella and Caleb guarded the edges.
Everyone was leaving because I had stayed.
Keegan looked at me one last time, and I memorized his face because I refused to let the Priestess steal that too.
He turned and vanished into the corridor with Celeste, Twobble, and Gideon.
The compound sealed the passage behind him with a soft click of stone.
The sound was small.
Final.
I stood there for several breaths, staring at the place where they had gone.
In my gut, I knew it was only for now.
The Priestess stepped closer, shadows curling obediently around the hem of her gown.
“There,” she said softly. “Now we can finally talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My shadow mark burned as I brought my gaze to the Priestess. No longer having the pendant's protection worried me.
“Well, Maeve.” She shook her head as I stared at her expression. “I expected there to be more of a fight. It seems all I have to do is wave the family flag in front of you, and you crumble.”
Fury burned through me, but I knew I had to play the game.
