Stepping closer to the door, I brought my lightning back to examine the frame. It was solid metal and probably spelled too, but I’d bring this whole place down to get free of here.
Placing my hands against the door, I peered through the small, barred window in the center. Even if I shattered the glass, the space was only large enough to stretch my arm through; none of us could squeeze past it.
The window revealed only a small portion of the stone wall across the way. The rest of the hall remained blocked from view.
I placed my palm against the glass, then lowered it to examine the door more carefully. Unless a witch or warlock magicked it, I should be able to break through with relative ease.
If they had bespelled it, it would take a lot of force to open it, if I even could, and it might bring all the guards in the palace down here. However, once I was free of my cell and chains, I’d regained my powers, which meant the hallway was free of magic. There was a good possibility this door was too.
I rested my hand over the plate where the lock was on the other side. I was about to fire some lightning into the plate when a click sounded from the other side.
My entire being froze, but I broke free of my paralysis when the door swung toward me. When I stepped out of the way, the others all fell back.
I hadn’t seen anyone on the other side, but they were out there… waiting.
CHAPTER TEN
Ellery
Perched on the foot-wide ledge running beneath the earl’s windows, Indon used his claws to bust out a pane of glass in one of the windows far from the his bedroom. He did so with far more stealth than I’d anticipated as he knocked out the small section. The glass barely made a sound as it fell to the carpet.
Leaning forward, Luna stretched her hand and arm inside. Her fingers tapped the glass as she fumbled for the lock.
This high up, the wind was an icy blast against my skin. I didn’t look down at the broken bodies of the guards and the blood coating the rocks beneath us.
I was pretty sure the gargoyles could catch me if I accidentally plummeted toward my death, but I’d prefer not to test it. Instead, I remained huddled against the rough, cold stone of the castle as I tried not to shiver—I was afraid the movement might cause me to plunge over the edge.
Luna found the lock, undid it, and pulled her hand free. Placing her palms against the glass, she slid open the window and crept inside.
Scarlet and I followed. Unable to fit through the window, the gargoyles remained outside.
It was our turn to do the dirty work. While I didn’t relish the idea of killing a man in his sleep, I’d do whatever was necessary to save this realm.
“We’ll fly down to his bedroom windows,” Indon said. “Come back out through them.”
“We will.”
“Stay safe, child.”
I didn’t like being called a child, but given that Indon was hundreds of thousands of years older than me, it was applicable here. “We will.”
I left the window open; there was no point in closing it. Scarlet and Luna waited a few feet away from me; they turned and edged further into the sitting room when I crept toward them.
Small sparks flared to life at the ends of my fingers as we crept past the settee, armchairs, and other assorted furniture organized around a gleaming, gold table. My light glinted off the gold; that table was worth more than all the residents of Nottingshire made in a decade.
Burying my anger, I focused on my surroundings. I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me while I was in this place; it would get us all killed.
Luna jerked her head toward the right, where the hallway was obscured by shadows. She’d told us that, while the earl often had women in his room and his bed, he never allowed anyone to sleep with him.
Not only that, but he also never allowed his footmen or any other servants to stay in his rooms at night. That included his guards.
Things could have changed since the rebellion, but no one lurked in the shadows or stood watch near the doors we passed. I’d expected the earl to either keep his rooms empty of others to protect himself or to have them full of guards.
Apparently, he believed those under his employ might turn on him while he slept and didn’t trust them anywhere near him.
How does he sleep at night?
I’d never close my eyes. But I was assuming the earl did sleep.
