When I reached the ladder that descended to the Underworld, I paused to reach out with my Veilsense.No null field.I only hoped I had made it before it was too late.Before Elena was taken for the bounty.Before Kael found her.
I navigated back to the Order headquarters.When I arrived, the entrance was unguarded.
My gut twisted with worry.I had to find Elena.
Even as desolate as the Order headquarters often was, I typically ran intosomebodyon my way from one location to another.But now the halls were entirely deserted, and there were signs of a hurried exit.A meal sat half eaten at the guard station.A forgotten cloak lay on the floor.
On the way to Elena’s chamber, I passed High Steward Mireth’s office.Books and papers were strewn about as if she had left in a rush, taking only critical items.This didn’t look good.
As I approached Elena’s room, I paused, knowing that if she wasn’t there, it would be the literal end of me.I pushed through the door, awaiting my fate.
The room was empty.
On the bed was a hastily written note, scrawled in Elena’s handwriting.
Evacuating with Kael.
I dropped to the floor, the clatter echoing off the walls of the desolate room.The silence that followed was like a punch in the gut.
All around the room were signs of Elena’s hasty departure: the books we’d found at the library, now discarded; her half-made bed; her cloak resting on it as if she were about to return.But she wouldn’t return.
The training sword she’d used to practice forms in her room sat in the corner—forms Darion had helped her to perfect.He had given us such hope when he’d entered our lives.
The desperate note written in a panic sat crumpled in my hand.
Evacuating with Kael.
Pain gathered in my chest, and my limbs felt numb.
My mother’s locket was like ice against my skin, mocking my failure.
I’d spent my whole life protecting Elena, and now, at her greatest moment of need, I had failed her.And I’d failed her because I had followed my heart.Because I’d tried to rescue Darion instead of the person I’d sworn to my dying mother that I’d keep safe.By choosing Darion, I had spat on that promise.
And now I was drowning in the despair of my own making.
This had happened before.
When I was eleven, I’d told Bren, the boy I had a crush on, that I could hear whisperhawks.I had only been trying to impress him.I hadn’t known he would tell others.I hadn’t known what the cost would be.A week later, Orlik had shown up and destroyed my family.
Never again, I had promised myself.I would stay strong, never let myself be distracted, never trust people with my secrets.These had been my guiding principles.They had kept us safe for all those years.
So why did I finally ignore what I knew would keep us safe?
Because I was a fool.Because I’d been caught up in some childish dream about happy endings.But that wasn’t how life really worked.Life was cruel and took no prisoners.
I stayed there in the quiet until I thought it might envelop me.Maybe that was even what I hoped for.
And then…
Footsteps.
Part Three
Chapter thirty-four
What We Sacrifice
Atfirst,Ithoughtthe footsteps were in my imagination.But then they grew steadily louder.
