The bracelet snapped with a loud crack and fell to the ground.
I stared at it in shock. Holy shit, it had worked! The bracelet was gone! I was free!
Which meant, I could escape. I could leave this place.
I picked up the bracelet and stuffed it into my pocket. I put the books back into their places, except for two fiction ones, and headed to the entrance. Somehow, I would trick the guards on our way back to my chambers, and I would make a run for it.
“Your highness,” Jennie said with a bow of her head as she entered the library. “May I escort you back to your chambers?”
My brow furrowed. This wasn’t how my plan was supposed to go, but I could work with this. “Yes.”
On the way along the hallways, Jennie stayed a step behind me, while the guards followed us a few feet back. Once we were back into my chambers and the doors were closed, I turned to Jennie.
“Have you ever wished you could escape this place?” I asked, knowing I was treading into dangerous waters.
“It’s foolish to wish we could escape, your highness.”
“But if you could,” I insisted.
She paused, her eyes growing sorrowful. “Yes, if I could, I would escape this place.”
My heart squeezed with hope. I could wait for a few more minutes or hours to escape if that meant I could take her with me. “Then, go to your room and pack a small bag. Tomorrow early morning, before the sun rises, meet me back here.”
She stared at me, lost. “Why, your highness?”
“I’m going to make your wish come true.”
20
Wyatt
As expected, the explosion caused confusion and most of the shadow fae guards went to check out what happened.
And I ran toward the prison. Holding the enchanted stone by the piece of cloth, I pressed it against one of the thick metal bars. It turned orange in a few seconds and quickly melted away. I repeated the action with at least other three bars, making a big hole for us to escape through.
Then I stepped into the prison. A remaining guard advanced on me. I sidestepped him, swiped his spear from him, and pierced his chest with it. I dropped the spear, and his body fell to the ground.
“Wyatt,” someone called me. I looked at the voice. Holding on to bars, Daleigh stared at me. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving your ass.” I didn’t waste time. I pressed the stone on the lock of the cage’s door, melting it in three seconds. I swung the door open. “Let’s go before the guards come back this way.”
“What about the others?” he asked, walking to my side. He was as tall as I was, but he had clearly lost weight in these past few weeks.
“I’ll take care of it.” I showed him the stone in my hand.
“I’m coming with you.”
Not in the mood to argue, I directed the frost fae toward the hole that led out of the cages, then shuffled deeper into the prison camp. I melted another lock without any hitches and sent the fae in the same direction. When they hesitated, Daleigh told them it was all right, and they complied with him.
Great. I was the one doing the fucking rescue, and he would be the one to get a medal for it. I shook my head and pushed those thoughts away. I could be angry with him because he sold his sister to an evil prince, but now was not the time to argue about that.
First, I would save him. Then I would beat the crap out of him.
We reached the third and last cage. I pressed the stone on the lock and melted it.
“Stop!” someone shouted.
Daleigh turned to the new voice and I pulled the door open. “Go!” I told the fae, before turning to face the five guards who were pointing their spears at us. I handed the cloth wrapped stone to Daleigh. “Hold on to this.”
Then I shifted into my wolf form.
I pounced into one of the guards, while Daleigh, too weakened, shot a ray of ice into another. I killed the first one too fast and turned to another. Just then, Ariella and Kayden joined us. The fallen angel and blaze fae used their magic and in less than a minute, we had killed the five fae guards.
We heard the shouts of more guards coming.
“Let’s get out of here,” Ariella said. She wrapped an arm around Daleigh’s waist and helped him as we ran out of the prison.
Without another place to gather, we ended up at Farrah’s and Daleigh’s family manor. We knew we couldn’t stay here for too long, but it was a good location to rest for a couple of hours and get organized.
After tending for the wounded, and feeding the weak, I called Daleigh to the back porch of the house, where no one would interrupt us.
Still weak, Daleigh leaned against the cold ice wall. “How did you find out about us?”
“Farrah did,” I told him. Even with my werewolf blood, the air here was too cold for me. I crossed my arms, trying to remain warm. “She overhead some of Lark’s advisors talking about what happened to you.”
Daleigh frowned. “You talked to her? Where is she?”
“Still locked in the fortress. Lark put a bracelet on her wrist that doesn’t allow her to leave the grounds. If she does, she’ll die.”
Daleigh cursed under his breath. “What have I done?”
I nodded as the anger I felt toward him came back full throttle. “What have you done. Good question. As much as I would love to fucking punch you right now, we don’t have time to lose. We need to rescue Farrah somehow. She said you would know what to do.”
He shrugged. “The only thing I can think of is to gather as much of us we can, the ones who can still lift their weapons, and attack the Shade Fortress.”
As much of us we can … that sparked something in my mind. I inhaled deeply. “I have an idea.”
21
Farrah
As soon as Jennie left my chambers, I went around my room and grabbed a few things I might need and shoved them all inside a small bag. Thankfully, there wasn’t much I wanted from this place.
I glanced at the cat, still lying on the armchair as if life was perfect. Well, for him it probably was. I frowned, wondering what I should do with it. Leave it? Hope he followed me? Scoop him up?
Not sure what to do about him, I went to bed and tried to sleep. I barely slept a wink but willed my body to rest. I would need it.
Around five in the morning, I gave up trying to rest and got ready.
The young fae said she would be back very early morning, but soon the sun would start rising and she wasn’t here.
Then one hour passed. The sunlight was visible from behind the mountain.
Two hours. The sun was peeking above the trees.
I was starting to think something had happened. What if she was caught trying to pack? Trying to sneak in here with her bag? What if the poisoning investigation went south and they asked to interrogate her again, detaining her for longer?
Though I had never said it out loud, by now I believed she had to know I had been the one who tried to poison the prince. If they detained her, would she tell them what she knew?
Another hour passed.
In the end, I decided to wait all day, since it would be foolish to escape during the day, when it would be hard to hide. But once the sun started its descent, I was done. Jennie hadn’t shown up the entire day, not even to bring me lunch, which was delivered by one of the guards. She either had been caught or had lost her nerve. Either way, she wouldn’t be escaping with me.