Page 250 of Of Masks and Fury

“I think so. I was trying to help. Trying to investigate the controllers on my own. I thought if I could prove myself worthy again after how I behaved…”

She struggled to sit up, her movements jerky and uncontrolled. “They used a toxin to keep me conscious during—” Her voice broke. “I can still feel it burning in my veins. My hands won’t stop shaking.” Blood seeped from half-healed cuts on her arms, and her fingers trembled. Whatever they’d done to her had left marks that went deeper than flesh. “I don’t know if I can fight,” she whispered, shame coloring her voice. “But I’ll try.” She peered around. “Lexie and Derren?”

“They’re in the dungeon,” I said. “We’re getting them next.”

“Fenmark’s here too. Or he was.” Kira’s voice cracked. “They talked about moving him earlier.”

Gone, then. My blood turned to ice. “To the breach site?”

Her penetrating gaze met mine. “Yes. They’re going to use him to fuel a nasty ritual, something called bloodfire.”

Addie made no sound. She’d gone very still, the kind of stillness that came before something broke. Her drake pressed against her leg, and she reached down to grip his neck spike hard.

The sound of boots in the corridor made us freeze. I rushed over and pressed myself against the closed door, listening. The footsteps passed by, but my heart still raced.

“We need to move,” I hissed.

I helped Kira to her feet while Addie and Kerralyn steadied her. She was weak, but she could walk. After listening again, I urged everyone back into the corridor.

The descent to the dungeon level felt endless. Every shadow could hide a guard, and every sound could mean discovery. Pherin guided us, her tiny form darting ahead alongside Gavelle to scout each turn.

When we reached the lowest level, Kira hid while we stumbled past the Skathe guards who didn’t even look our way.

The dungeon reeked of despair. Iron-barred cells lined both walls, all of them empty. At the far end, I saw our friends.

Lexie sat with her back against the stone wall, her braids hanging in tangles around her face. Dark bruises covered her arms, and her left eye had swollen shut. Derren lay curled on his side in the neighboring cell.

When Lexie saw us approach, she flinched.

“It’s us,” Isi said, her voice garbled by the Skathe vocal cords.

“Isi?” Defiance sparked in her good eye. “Took you long enough.”

Derren struggled to sit up, wincing. “Please tell me you have a plan better than walk out the front door.”

Isi was already working on their cell locks, releasing them quickly. “The plan is still evolving.”

“Evolving,” Lexie repeated as I entered her cell and hauled her to her feet. “Wonderful.” But she was smiling despite everything.

Alarms blared through the fortress, making the stone walls vibrate.

My heart slammed up into my throat as footsteps thundered above us. We may have lost our element of surprise, and now every Skathe in this cursed place could be hunting us. The shout of orders and the scrape of claws on stone rang out.

We raced back down the corridor, half-carrying Lexie and Derren. The alarms echoed, grating across my skin. A pair of Skathes rounding the far end of the passage, moving fast.

Gavelle and Pherin surged ahead, but one got through.

It slammed into Lexie from the side. She went down hard, the creature’s claws raking across her thigh before I drove my torch spike through its skull and it dissolved to ash. Lexie made no sound, which was worse than if she’d screamed.

“I'm fine,” she said, already trying to push herself upright.

Isi dropped to her knee beside her, her hands going to the wound, pressing hard. “Lexie?—”

“Up.” Lexie grabbed her wrist. “We go up. Now.”

The look that passed between them lasted half a second. I’d seen it before, the silent negotiation of two people who loved each other enough to argue and knew they didn’t have time.

Isi stood.