I put on several layers of my simple clothing, then tightened my hand on the small leather satchel that Tristan had instructed me to pack, which contained a few trinkets I’d collected over time. I didn’t own much, but what I did own I was eager to hold onto—especially since I had no idea what would come next.
Voices rang distantly in the hall, pulling my attention. My body tensed every time a sound echoed through the hallway outside of my door, wondering if our plans would be demolished by something as simple as a castle maid coming by my room and catching me ready to bolt. Even worse, what if one of the other guards, or Malakai himself, came in here and found me dressed to go on a journey?
My stomach churned at the thought of what Malakai’s wrath would be with two escape attempts back-to-back. His ruse of being patient and ‘caring’ about me had its limits.
Calm down, Kyella. You’re being paranoid.
Realistically, I knew everyone was down at the party and that Malakai would never leave his adoring fans. But it would be just my luck to be caught escaping again.
Except this time, it wasn’t only my life on the line. Now the lives of Tristan and his family were held in the balance, so I would do whatever I could to not fuck this up. My chest seized as I thought about the one element of this plan that everything was reliant on…
The three Lords.
I didn’t know how to feel about them, truth be told. There was a part of me that craved to see them, to feel that almost unnatural connection between us…but that same part of me feared them. I didn’t want anyone to ever have any semblance of control over me. If I was escaping, I wanted it to be a better situation, not another of forced servitude.
A prickle of unease crawled up my spine as I once again considered what motives they would have for helping if they did agree to Tristan’s plea. Did they want me to be their Thrall?
My door flew open, jolting me from my thoughts.This was it. Someone had found me out, and now I’d be locked up and starved again—
I breathed out in relief when Tristan strode in, determination plastered across his expression. There was a new sense of hopeful energy emanating from him, evidenced by the way he pulled his shoulders back and held his chin high.
Without a word, he strode towards the window and looked down before facing back towards me. “Are you ready to leave?”
My mouth dropped. He said the words like they were nothing, as if he wasn’t literally handing me my freedom on a platter.This was really happening.
Tears welled in my eyes, and I barely kept them at bay as I tightened my jaw and nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
As ready as I would ever be.
Nervous butterflies erupted in my stomach. This time it had to work. We had to escape; there was too much on the line. But I was scared to get my hopes up because the odds felt slim to none that we would be successful.
Turning back towards the window and looking down again, he tilted his head before a sharp, high-pitched whistle rang out in the night, causing me to raise a brow in question. Apparently though, that was the signal he was looking for.
“Alright, up you go, onto the window ledge,” he said with a smirk. “The Lords are waiting.”
I blinked at him repeatedly. “I’m sorry, come again? Up on the ledge?” Swallowing the knot that had suddenly formed in my throat, I added, “Of the window?”
My quarters’ positioning in the castle had been purposeful. The stone turret it was located in gave me gorgeous views of the empire, but the drop from my window was sizable—more than several stories. There was no texture to the stone for me to grip onto, no plant life to help me climb. A vampyre could survive the fall, but unless I was about to be turned right here and now, I wouldn’t. The fragile human, completely at the monsters’ mercy.
“Yep, they’re waiting. Come on,” Tristan urged.
“Are we positive we can trust them? Are they even real Lords?” I asked, assuming he was talking about the three Lords. I approached the window, feeling my pulse race at the prospect of what I was about to do—not only escape, but jump out of a fucking window.
“I promise that you can trust them, and yes they are Lords,” Tristan swore while holding my gaze.
I nodded, stepping up onto the window ledge. I gripped the stone frame to balance myself as my nerves shook my entire body.
It would be just my luck to accidentally trip and fall in the wrong direction, plummeting to my death instead of into a handsome vampyre’s arms.Wait, why was I thinking about how much I wanted to be wrapped in their embrace when my life was literally on the line?
They had somehow burrowed themselves into my brain like an infestation I couldn’t rid myself of. Not that I think I wanted to. That was a thought forafterI jumped, which I was currently putting off.
“How are you so sure?” I whispered breathlessly, my knees feeling wobbly as my hands tightened on the stones.
“Because I know that look I saw in their eyes when I spoke of you. They won’t hurt you,” Tristan murmured, distracted by something on the ground, I guess, as he kept his gaze down. “Just trust me, Kyella. I have no reason to lie, considering my family’s life is on the line as well. This will be okay. It will work. Believe.”
His words had chills pebbling my skin…or perhaps that was the wind gusting around me full-force.
“Okay,” I conceded after a moment, nodding to myself. Glancing back at him one more time, I asked my final question. “Are you following right behind me?”
