LUCIANA
If I left this building without Lennox, Luka would never forgive me. He and Kara would never forgive me.
But she had been gone for too long, if we waited any longer, I wouldn’t be able to get Nol out.
If I failed to get Nol out, Lennox would have my head. I’d never leave this Goddess-forsaken cell she had been banished to. She’d leave my body here in pieces on the floor.
I saw the look she gave me; I knew the meaning behind it.
But leaving her behind was a lot easier said than done.
Lennox wanted Nol out. I needed to get Nol out. We couldn’t let him remain here for a moment more.
We had finally gotten him back. I couldn’t lose him again so soon when the impact of seeing him again hadn’t even sunk in yet.
Lennox told us to go—to get out while we could.
I’d rather face Luka’s wrath than Lennox’s.
This started as a plan to escape with Lennox, but the plan had to shift now.
Getting Nol out would be a win. And we desperately needed a win.
I’d come back for Lennox. I’d get her out.
But Nol was now my top priority.
“We have to go.” I reopened the wound in my palm. I only had one more symbol to complete, and the spell would be ready.
“We can’t leave without Lennox,” Nol argued.
“You heard what she said when she left; she wants us to go without her. We waited, but we can’t wait any longer, or any chance of escaping for any of us will be done for.”
I dipped my finger in the blood pooling in my palm and began sketching the final symbol.
“I’m not leaving without her.” He knocked my hand off the wall, smearing my blood across the symbols.
“We will, Nol,” I snarled at him. “But I’m getting you out of here right fucking now, with or without Lennox. If I have to knock you unconscious, I will. You will not remain in here for one more day. Lennox isLennox. She’s a fucking survivor. She doesn’t need you to protect her anymore. You haven’t been around to see it, but she’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s stronger than me, Nol. She’s been through fucking hell and back to get to where she is today. I will get her back to Luka if it’s the last fucking thing I do, it just might not be today. Lennox deserves her happy ending—I know that as much as the next person. But her getting that ending does not happen if I’m stuck in here.” I pressed a finger to his chest.
“Nol, I love you but do not stand in my way. You deserve your happy ending, too, and leaving you in here is not how you’re going to get the ending you deserve.”
“I said, I’m not going. I’m not leaving Lennox again.” He crossed his arms over his chest. They had been feeding him while he was here, but not enough. He was thin, the muscles he had before his captivity were all but gone. He still had a couple of feet on me, but I was stronger.
“I wish I didn’t have to keep doing this. You overprotective males.”
I moved before he could stop me, pressing my fingers to his temples. Nol fell in a heap on the mattress. “I warned you,” I mumbled to myself as I turned back to the door, fixing my final symbol. Once it was complete, I spoke the spell, pushing my palms against the metal door. There was a slight click and the sound of a chain clanging.
Time to go.
For as scrawny as Nol looked, he weighed a fucking ton. Carrying him on my back would slow me down too much.
I held his back to mine, using my air magic to float him in the air, counterbalancing his weight as my vines wrapped around our middles, binding us together.
Once he was secured, I took off into the hallway, making sure to relock the door behind me.
Only a single lantern illuminated the narrow cement hallway, casting the shadows in an orange glow.
It was eerily quiet,too quiet.I kept my steps as light as I could to eliminate any sounds.
