“If you’re so powerful, find a way out.”
Pearce jerked on the bars and screamed. “You will regret this!”
I laughed. “I don’t think I will.”
In response, he hocked a gooey ball of spit on my boot. It rolled down the toe, refusing to drip off. With a growl, I held out my hand and the pixie orb hanging next to his cell drifted into my palm. He watched with wide eyes as the portal opened next to me.
“You don’t know the meaning of suffer. But you will.”
He screamed at me as I left with his only light source.
Mergle raised a brow when I finally rejoined them. I had walked the halls of the catacombs until I calmed enough to face Calista without frightening her. By the expression on Mergle’s face, it didn’t work.
I kept my voice low so Calista couldn’t hear. “He has been dealt with.”
Mergle’s brow furrowed, then he nodded. “Jessandra locked down the castle. No one is leaving until they’ve been questioned.”
The tension in my shoulders eased hearing of her return. “Good.”
“Calista has offered to identify the others involved.”
I moved toward the doorway and glanced inside my room. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Her head turned my way as if she felt the pull of my gaze. Dazed, red eyes looked back at me.
“That would lower his ranks some.”
“I feared that.” His chin dipped in thought. “Maybe seeing the outcome will dissuade any others.”
I clasped his shoulder. “We shall see.”
Mergle left to assist Jessandra with the roundup. I scooped the knob off the floor, pieced it together, and willed it to repair itself. The wood knitted together seamlessly. Calista’s blood on the knob caught my eye. No one should have been able to enter my room without my say. Even her. The ward hadn’t been reconfigured to accept her, yet she was in here without the pendant.
In a few strides, I was next to her, lowering myself onto the edge of the bed. Calista wiped her raw cheeks with the heels of her hands before scooting up and leaning against the headboard. This week was more than we both bargained for.
“Where is your necklace?”
“That’s all you care about.” Her voice wavered as she rubbed her chest. “That stupid fucking necklace.”
“That stupid fucking necklace keeps you alive.” I barely kept my voice below a roar. Shaking, she pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face against them. Her ignorance was due to me, and she didn’t deserve wrath meant for others. I lowered my tone. “Where is it, Calista?”
Her soft response came out muffled. “I-I hid it. In my room.”
I stood up and extended my hand. “Show me.”
She ignored it and climbed out of the bed. We walked down the hall in silence, but she remained vigilant, checking around us until we reached her room. When we went inside, I saw the devastation left in the wake of the traitors.
“Were you in here when they entered?”
Calista shook her head and dropped to her knees. She conveyed the story to me as she lifted a stone from the floor and reached inside to retrieve the music box. It played the tune of the realm as she pulled the necklace out and put it on. Calista returned the brick, now noticeable with the grout missing around its edges, and sat back on her heels to survey the mess.
“This won’t take long to clean up,” she said.
The one place I was certain she would be safe was destroyed. Even the wooden furniture was broken and fractured. I gripped the edge of the mattress and laid it down. Stuffing protruded from rips that ran the length of it. They left no stone unturned in their hunt, except the ones in the floor and walls. I focused on the brick, thankful she thought enough of the pendant to hide it so well.
“What possessed you to take it off and stow it in the floor?”
“The truth?”
I raised my brows. “Always.”
