Ashley cleared her throat loudly. “Okay,” she said. “Now that the emotional melodrama is out of the way, maybe we can stop whispering sweet praises and figure out how tonot diein here?”
Nate grinned faintly. “She means, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Jaden stretched his shoulders, glancing at the door. “I say we blow the place and sort the details later.”
“Subtle as ever,” Eve muttered, double checking her rifle.
Lionel’s expression tightened, but his voice stayed calm. “We move quietly until we can’t. We can’t take the same way out, becausesomeoneblew up the bridge we used to get here. We’re lucky they haven’t caught up to us yet.”
“You mean I saved your ass,” Ashley shrugged.
“Let’s try getting to the north side of the building, the cliff wasn’t as steep there,” Lionel suggested.
Malakai straightened slowly beside me, the glow fading from his eyes but not entirely gone. When he spoke, his voice was steady again. “Let’s move. Before he decides to come back and end the game.” His arm tightened around me as he pressed his lips against my head. A silent ‘thank you’ that sent warmth throughout my body.
The team exchanged quick glances of fear, determination and trust, and fell into motion, weapons drawn, magic stirring like the faint promise of dawn.
For the first time since the castle’s gates closed behind me, I finally had all my friends by my side again.
CHAPTER
34
We moved through the corridors like ghosts.
The castle was quiet again. Too quiet. Every sound felt magnified, the brush of boots on stone, the faint creak of leather, the soft exhale of breath. Magic lingered in the air, old and restless, clinging to the walls like a heartbeat just under the skin.
Lionel led, weapon at the ready, eyes sharp as ever. Ashley and Nate whispered back and forth under their breath, tension hiding behind jokes. Eve kept pace beside them, her rifle steady, while Jaden trailed the rear, humming something joyful that made Ashley smack his arm every few steps.
I stayed close to Malakai.
He walked a half-step behind me, silent. The crimson in his eyes had dulled, but it wasn’t gone, it glowed faintly in the dark like embers waiting for air. The chains had left red marks on his wrists, the skin raw. I wanted to take his hand, to ground him, but I wasn’t sure if I was steady enough myself.
“You’re too quiet,” I whispered without looking at him.
His voice came low. “Trying not to breathe too close to you.”
“That bad?” I glanced over at him.
He gave a faint, humorless smile. “Worse.”
We turned down another hallway, the air growing colder. The scent of iron was stronger here, and I felt the pulse in my thigh throb again, the wound seething beneath the bandage. I pressed my palm to it, wincing.
Malakai noticed. “Still hurts?”
“Only when I think about it,” I said. “Or when I walk. Or breathe.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “So, all the time?”
“Pretty much.”
For a second, the edge between us softened, just a flicker of what we used to be before this place.
Lionel raised a hand, signaling a stop.
“Stairs ahead,” he murmured. “Downward. If we can reach the windows towards the front of the castle, the cliff is less steep there.”
“Translation,” Ashley whispered teasingly. “We might not die instantly if we jump.”
