Callan scowled at him, but Samael had already turned away. No, we wouldn’t make that same mistake.
I kept my gaze on Samael as I tried to figure out what our next step should be. Leaving could be the end of my only chance at killing the duke. Staying could be suicide.
I was willing to die to keep Ellery safe and save Tempest, but I wouldn’t throw my life away on a useless endeavor. We were halfway through the library when what we needed to do occurred to me.
No matter what we did, the duke controlled one thing that would hinder our every move.
“The children,” I said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ryker
“What?” Samael asked.
“Where are the children?”
When Samael glanced at me, the uneasiness in his eyes told me that he knew why I’d asked. “That’s a bad idea, Ryker.”
“Where are they?”
Samael sighed. “He has so many guards here that all the barracks are full. Some are sleeping in the stable.”
My skin crawled. “Did he put the children in with the soldiers?”
Not only would it be almost impossible to separate them from the guards if that were the case, but children should never be in the barracks, amidst the endless debauchery in there. Many nights were spent by women and men fucking with abandon, exchanging partners, and screwing whatever hole they could find.
Throw in all the drinking and gambling that occurred, as well as the prostitutes who often visited, and the place was barely suitable for an adult, never mind a child.
“No, he didn’t put them with the guards,” Samael said.
“Then where are they?” Tucker asked.
“In the dungeons.”
My eyes widened at this revelation as horror curdled in my belly. That bastard had placed children, who’d done nothing wrong, into hell. I always thought Veni couldn’t astound me more, and then, somehow, he managed to do so.
“There weren’t any children down there with us,” Callan said. “We would have noticed that, even if we were locked in cells most of the time.”
“Not those dungeons,” I told him. “Those are the palace dungeons. They reserve those for amsirah with more royal blood. They don’t imprison the common folk inside the palace walls.”
“Oh, of course. Heaven for-fucking-bid the common folk enter a dungeon in this palace,” Lawrence retorted.
“The conditions in the other dungeons are worse than what we experienced,” I explained. “They’re built into the hillside behind the palace, and the size of the rats and insects infesting them are notorious.”
“You’re kidding me?” Callan snarled.
“I wish I were.”
“I know you’re aware of this, Ryker, but your father… I mean, the duke… is a real piece of shit,” Tucker said. “I know you want to be the one to kill him, but if I get my hands on him, I’ll gladly tear him to pieces.”
“Me too,” Callan muttered.
Lawrence nodded enthusiastically.
Now that I knew where Veni had placed the children, I was more determined to set them free. No one should endure those conditions, especially not innocents. The only problem was getting to them.
Those dungeons were on the other side of the palace, carved into a hill, and no service tunnels led to them.
