“No, it’s my truth.”
“Fucking prick.”
His eyes held mine before he finally looked away. With the connection broken, the tension eased from me as I rested my hand on Ryker’s chiseled abs. Drawing strength from him, I tried to breathe through my anger, but it wasn’t working.
“You can kill me, but it still won’t solve your problem,” Samael said. “The duke will punish Tempest for this.”
“That’s why we can’t leave here with him still alive,” Ryker said.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Ellery
Part of me wanted to argue Ryker’s statement; we could climb onto the gargoyles and fly away from this place. We’d killed the aristocrats and freed him and the children; no one could fault us for taking our wins and fleeing.
But the duke didn’t know the aristocrats were dead, the children were free, and Ryker was here. We’d never have this big of an element of surprise again, and we couldn’t give the duke a chance to regroup from his losses.
We were so close to the duke. So close to ending all of this. No matter how badly I yearned to rest and be with Ryker, we couldn’t walk away now. If we did, we might never get another chance to kill him.
I just didn’t know how we were going to pull that off. Closing my eyes, I leaned into Ryker.
We’d made it this far without being detected, but our luck couldn’t hold out forever. In fact, I was sure it was about to run out… if it hadn’t already.
“How did you get from the dungeons to here?” I inquired.
“The servants’ tunnels,” Ryker replied.
Around us, the line of children dwindled far faster than I’d anticipated as the gargoyles carried them away. None of the gargoyles had returned yet, but they should be back soon.
“How are we going to get to the duke?” I asked as Tucker strolled over to join us.
“I’ve been considering that,” Ryker said. “Trying to get to him while he’s asleep could prove impossible. The servants don’t have access to his rooms, and he’s heavily guarded. Not to mention, if they haven’t woken him yet, they will soon.”
“There’s a battalion of soldiers on his floor,” Samael said.
“Of course there is,” Ryker said with a shake of his head. “There’s no way we’ll get to him… even with the gargoyles.”
“They don’t move easily through enclosed spaces, and their claws tend to give them away, but they’ll help us,” I said.
“I’m sure they will, but right now, what we have going for us is our element of surprise.”
“I don’t think I’m going to like what you’re thinking,” Tucker said.
“What are you thinking?” Samael asked.
“When Veni came to those dungeons, he had soldiers with him, but not a whole lot. If we return to the cells, or that lower level, he won’t expect us to be free. We could ambush him.”
“I don’t want to go back there,” Lawrence said.
“None of us do.”
“There’s no way the gargoyles are making it through the servants’ tunnels,” Tucker said.
“No, but if they attack the palace from above, they’ll draw a lot of the soldiers away from the interior and onto the parapets and fields.”
“But that will push the duke into hiding,” I said.
As we spoke, Ianto, Luna, Scarlet, Mr. Fletcher, and some of the others came closer to listen. Another gargoyle left with the last of the children. Indon’s claws clicked against the rock as he and the three other remaining gargoyles joined us.
