AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Here, too!" came a man's voice from another entrance.
More shouts came, and with each one, that tightness in my chest grew.
Why lock us in?
Chapter 52
Kaiya
"Prepare for an attack!" shouted a young woman with pale braids to my left.
The older woman at her side shook her head. "Japhire's a wolf, Selly. Misguided, perhaps, but not stupid."
The young woman shook her head, chin lifted stubbornly. "That was an obvious declaration of war! He wants this stronghold. What do you think he'd do to get it?"
"Calm down," hollered a man as people ran past him, almost knocking over the tray of trash he was returning to the waste bin.
People were terrified, though, and I couldn't blame them. Whatever Japhire was up to, it wasn't good.
"Jaiel, Tye — let's see if we can help," I said. "If Japhire is planning something …"
Jaiel's brow cocked. "I thought we weren't getting involved."
"I'm pretty sure we have no choice," I said, motioning to the locked doors.
"Well then, Princess," he said. "What do you think?"
I surveyed the chaos of the room. All the doors were locked. Alpha Blackwood was surrounded by people looking for orders. And most people had left the food, games, and dance areas to find their friends or families.
"We should start where Korym was standing. Over there by the food tables," I said. "He was acting strange, and the way Japhire looked at him — it just seems suspicious."
But the path between our current location and there was full of people, too panicked to hear.
I turned to Tye. "Care to lead the way, big guy?"
Growling softly, he muttered something about being more than muscles, and gestured for us to follow him.
He worked like a charm, and everyone quickly made way for the mountain of a man to pass.
When we reached the food stands, other mages had already started searching, obviously having the same thought.
Several stood around a table strangely absent of food, sniffing at the air.
"May I?" I stepped forward.
A tall woman wearing an apron looked at me and shrugged. "More help is always welcome."
"There's a strange smell on this table," added a man to her left.
I stepped up to the cart and ran my hands over the top, feeling and looking for anything suspicious.
Nothing.
I reached down to remove the long tablecloth and froze. Why would the table have solid sides?
It wasn't even so much a table as it was a box disguised as a table, fake legs and all.
I dropped to my knees and searched the sides for a way to open the box.
