Page 74 of Blade of the Nightking

Without hesitation, Hamish drew his sword and turned to face the darkened corridor.

“P-please, High Lord.” She let out a choked sob. “J-just as you asked... Lady Levinica…”

“Spit it out!”

“Sh-she can speak to you now,” the girl added, trembling. “Her mind has cleared.”

Aedric released the handmaid, and she crumpled at once to the floor, curling in on herself as sobs wracked her body. He crouched before her, blue flame licking along the tips of his fingers as he pointed one toward her. The fire flared outward, brushing her cheek. She cried out, her hand flying to the thin burn now glistening there.

“Aedric!” I cried.

He ignored me. “Where is she?”

“The receiving chamber,” she gasped.

He ground his teeth, his gaze fixed on her, but I could see it in him—his thoughts turning, calculating, weighing. Finally, his eyes met mine, decision made.

“Hamish,” Aedric said over my head. “Go get the collar and chains.”

From his position in the doorway, Hamish gave a low grunt of agreement, the conflict between them forgotten in the face of the threat we now knew lurked within these walls. He moved down the hallway, slipping into his room without a sound.

“Aedric, please—” We couldn’t afford another minute in the Dusklands. We had to get out of here.

“We need to see Levinica.” Aedric was almost manic. “We get what we came for, and then we leave.”

I shook my head. “We can’t risk it! We have to go.”

“No.” He drew himself up to his full height. “I won’t have you remain bound to that monster. If there’s a way to break it, we need to know.”

My mouth was paper dry, but I managed a nod.

Hamish slipped back into the room, the iron chains slung over one shoulder, the collar hooked at his belt. Aedric flicked a hand toward the young female at his feet, and Hamish hauled her upright. “Not a sound,” he warned, and she nodded fervently.

We slipped into the corridor, torchlight writhing along the walls. By day, the castle had felt like the worn remains of something once formidable but now, in the deep of night, it was something else entirely—a place of darkened corners and eerie silence, where shadows gathered thick and close, as though something watched us from within them.

We moved as quietly as we could, but in the oppressive stillness every footstep echoed too loud, chasing us through the dark like we were being followed.

The corridor widened ahead, and the moment I saw the massive double doors at the far end, I nearly stopped outright, my heels catching against the tiles.

“Aedric—”

Was he mad? If the Dark Prince was in there, waiting…

He glanced at Hamish. “The doors.”

Hamish understood at once. He released the trembling maid, and Aedric caught her arm as Hamish moved ahead, careful and silent.

I watched the shadows nervously, expecting at any moment to see Rìan slip free from behind one of the slender columns, but nothing stirred.

Hamish reached the doors and eased the chains from his shoulder, wrapping them around the handles with painstaking care. He worked quickly, but carefully, ensuring the metal made no sound as he secured it in place. When the chains were tight, he drew the collar from his belt and fastened it around the handles as a final measure, locking them together before retreating toward us just as quietly.

“It won’t keep him out for long,” Aedric said grimly, “but we need to slow him long enough to reach the hearth. It’s the only place we can skeld safely beyond Levinica’s wards.”

Hamish moved in a blur, drawing his knife and pulling Layne back against his chest, the blade poised at her throat.

“Go,” he said gruffly, his eyes fixed on me.

It hit me in a sudden, sickening realization.