His thick brows furrowed as he assessed me, probably trying to gauge if I would listen to his warning. I leaned forward on the table, waiting for his reply. My fingers grazed over something thick that was definitely not a map. I leaned further into the wood, meeting his gaze so he didn’t look down to see what my hands were doing.
My father didn’t reply. He knew there was nothing he could say to get me to change my mind. If I wanted to leave, I could easily slip past the defenses without anyone knowing. I’d been doing it ever since I was sixteen, and now, seven years later, no one could stop me.
“Right. Well, this has been fun,” I said as I rose from the table.
I didn’t stop walking until I made it to my own tent. My hands were surprisingly steady as I looked down at the file I just stole from him.
It had one word on it. A name seemed more likely:MaryLynn. The woman whose picture marked the thick file was absolutely breathtaking. Her brown spiral curls curtained her oval face. She was abnormally pale, to the point where it would have looked sickly on anyone else, but it somehow added to her appeal. Her eyes kept drawing my attention. They were the lightest shade of blue, so translucent they were almost devoid of color, and despite her cool undertones, she seemed warm, and I knew she was important.
Letting out a breath, I opened the file and was not prepared forwhoI just discovered.
ONE
TEZYA
This was a suicide mission.I was all too aware it was downright stupid to let Scotlind talk me into rescuing Sie, not that it took much convincing. I didn’t give a shit what her annoying blonde friend wanted, but the momentshewanted it… I knew I’d do anything she asked.
I was terrified of what would happen next—terrified if we would even make it out alive. I knew our chances of getting caught were just as likely as getting killed.
My brain kept playing out different scenarios. I wasn’t sure what would be worse—having them throw us into the prison or hand us over to the Lux King. I’d heard horror stories of the prison, but there was no way the King was getting his hands on Rumor ever again…
She hadn’t spoken to me since the first day on the balcony when we arrived in Florida, and even then, her words were few and far between and every last one laced with anger. It was torment. I was terrified she wouldn’t forgive all my lies. Not that she should. I didn’t deserve it.
I rubbed the scab over my palm, which I found myself doing more times than I could count. I knew we had to rescue Sie. Myfeelings aside, it was what Scottie wanted, what sheneeded. She felt guilty about his imprisonment. I could see it in her eyes. She was determined to get him back, and she’d do it with or without my help.
But what ate at me the most was if by some miracle we did succeed… What would happen then? What if she wanted him? If she chose him over me—
I gritted my teeth as I closed my palm over my scar. I’d accept it if she wanted Sie back in more ways than one.
“What’s your plan?” I asked Peter. “You said you can scope out the prison without getting caught, so how do you plan on doing it?” The male had fully recovered, and I found I liked him unconscious better. He never stopped talking and was enjoying the tension between Scotlind and me too much.
“Go in the trench as a fish, turn into a fly or a spider or whatever small creature I fancy once I get down there, scope it out, then come back up. Easy-peasy.”
He made a motion of a spider crawling with his fingers, and I had to stifle a laugh to even take him seriously.
“You are talking about breaking into the most heavily guarded place of our kind. I wouldn’t call iteasy-peasy,” Dovelyn snapped.
Dove and Kallon came to the Florida condo yesterday. I was thankful they were willing to help, no questions asked, even if neither of them agreed with it. Dove told us the King hadn’t noticed our disappearances yet. Thanks to her cover story and her threats to Arcane, we had a week, maybe two, before he would figure it out.
Peter turned to my sister and smiled, two dimples indenting his silken cheeks. “I’m just having a look. People only notice things when they suspect something. Besides, I’ve snuck into council meetings you had with your father-king, andyounever noticed.”
Dovelyn glared at Peter. She’d been lying on the sofa, theperfect image of cool indifference, but I knew she was anything but. “If you ever spy on me again,” her gaze narrowed, “I will remove your eyes from your skull and your tongue from your throat so you can never—”
“Enough bickering,” Kallon interrupted. “If Peter wants to scope out the prison and put his life at risk, then let him. Rescuing Sie is already near impossible, so if he can gather any intel, it will only help us.”
Peter just nodded, having complete dumb faith in himself.
“How long can you stay shifted?” I asked, not sharing any confidence in his skills.
“About twenty to twenty-four hours. It depends on what I shift into and how many shifts I make.”
“Shift as little as possible then. The prison is located at the bottom of what the mortals call the Mariana Trench. It leads to the deepest part of the ocean. The passage is shielded from portal and teleport users, so the only way in or out is to swim. Kallon can portal you to the surface where the opening of the trench is, but from there, you’ll have to go down on your own.”
I could tell he wasn’t taking this seriously. He wasn’t even looking at me as I talked. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I warned. I didn’t particularly care what happened to him, but I knew Scottie did, and it would break her if he didn’t come back. “I don’t care what you see down there,” I added. “You scope out the prison, learn the guard rotation for as long as you can, and then you get out. Don’t rescue Sie on your own, even if you find him.”
Peter glared at me, and I knew it was something that crossed his mind. It would kill him to see Sie and not be able to save him right away. Not that Peter was even capable of rescuing him. He didn’t possess air or water elemental abilities. An Advenian without those powers wouldn’t survive the swim without an air shield over their face. But I didn’t put it past him to convince Sie to compel an air guard and still attempt therescue himself. “I mean it, Peter. You’ll only get yourself killed if you try to do this on your own.”
“Alright,” he finally agreed before turning toward Scottie. She had been surprisingly silent throughout the whole conversation, taking everything in.
