It’s dark inside the room. Really dark. And cold.
“Shit,” I say into the echoing room.
Daegan reaches into one of his many pockets, pulling out a small light orb that immediately illuminates a small area. Not the whole room, though, so we’ll have to stick together to look. Good thing I know exactly where the necklace that sparked my youthful envy lies.
I motion for him to follow me, and he sticks just behind me, slightly off to the side, holding out our only light source.
Once again I get the horrible, bittersweet feeling that everything is too easy, because the bright red and silver necklace is sitting on display exactly where I thought it would be, ready for anyone to grab it. Which I do.
I turn to look at Daegan with a shrug as I stuff it in my bag.
“That’s it?” he whispers.
“That’s it. He really doesn’t know of its importance.”
“Let’s get the fuck out of here before our luck runs dry.”
He grabs my hand and we sprint out of the room into the hallway that’s deserted, minus the bleeding-out body on the floor. We go back the way we came, hoping the distracted guard is still… distracted.
He’s not.
We come face to face with him as we round the corner, and the male immediately goes into attack mode, lifting his sword and raising it at Daegan, who is closer to him.
The guy has the jump on Daegan, but he’s still no match for us. I flick my hand toward him and shoot a very sharp icicle straight into his eye, throwing him off balance and causing him to drop his sword.
“Don’t kill him!” I tell Daegan as he begins to swing.
He freezes, keeping his eyes on the guard who’s wailing and pulling on the ice lodged in his eye.
“He saw us. He may have seen where we came from. The less information that gets back to your father, the better.”
“Shit.” He’s right.
As if remembering a threat still stands before him, the guard steadies his sword, arching back for a killing blow.
Daegan is too fast this time. The guard’s head falls to the floor and rolls toward my feet. I yelp, and then bile threatens to come up.
“Let’s go,” I grumble, holding it down.
We sprint along the lengthy hallway, checking around the next corner quickly before proceeding again.
Everything works out almost perfectly in our favor, minus the two murders and the few guards we evaded on the way out. By the time we get outside, we find Rhydra and Raef, who are incredibly surprised to see us back so soon. We don’t waste time with pleasantries or swapping stories yet. Instead, Daegan leads the way as we sprint back through the grounds, weaving through the sparse trees until we’re at the wall. Somewhere along the way, we’re joined by shimmering gold glitter.
While still catching my breath, I begin to form a new opening in the ice and motion for them to start crawling through. We have to be very careful we don’t encounter anyone on the other side again, though our business is done here, and the four of us could take on one pathetic elf guard If needed.
Raef goes first, then Rhydra, me, and Daegan. Kezra even comes with us to avoid showing her glow over the wall.
Our good fortune continues. The other side is clear.
After we easily cross the river, the final stretch is just ahead of us, and I bask in the feel of the air on my face as we sprint for the edge of the forest where we left our horses.
Kezra stops short first, looking at us with wide eyes, then Daegan halts, looking into the forest.
How very, very stupid we’ve all been.
Chapter 67
Soldiers carrying torches begin to emerge from the trees.
