"Thanks for the soft landing," I muttered into the gloom.
Varna grunted. "Anytime."
Quickly, I scooted myself off of her and lifted my arms, my fingers scraping earth…and a metal handle in the ceiling. We’d fallen into our unintended sanctuary through a trapdoor built with springs, it seemed, since it had closed behind us.
The sound of boots reached us from above, growing louder. We held perfectly still and quiet until the sound faded as the guards passed unknowingly by us.
I couldn’t tell for sure, but was this one of the Montrose secret tunnels Legacy and Ehuna had told me about? Something to explore another day.
For now, I tilted my head and pressed my ear to the trapdoor. Nothing but silence, so I slowly pushed it open and peered out.Once I was satisfied, I scrambled out and held the door for Varna.
We dashed across the training yard without unintentionally finding more secret tunnels. As we burst through another door, a voice drifted from around the corner. It cut through the stone walls, sharp as a blade and twice as commanding.
"Let me into the meeting. I demand to see Commander Tannin. This is madness, and you know it!"
I stopped as though I’d hit a wall. My breaths snagged in my lungs. My mind reeled, unable to comprehend what was happening. The fortress around me blurred as a rush of conflicting emotions threatened to overwhelm me.
"Varna, wait," I choked out, tugging at her sleeve as she kept skulking along the corridor.
I was caught in a dream, a surreal moment where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blurred into indiscernible lines. Every fiber of my being yearned to believe, to confirm that this was not some cruel trick of fate playing with my heart. My ears burned, begging to hear that voice once more, the owner a mirage in the desert of my sorrow.
"Collie?" Varna's whisper snapped me back, just as I realized I had started to cry.
I wiped my wet cheeks with the back of my hand. "That's Legacy’s voice."
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Steeling myself, I edged around the corner, just enough to catch sight of her—a vision of determination, facing down two burly guards who looked about as movable as the fortress walls themselves. The fiery cascade of red hair glimmered in the torchlight.
I collapsed against the cold wall, out of sight, relief washing over me with crushing power.
Legacy was here, a foot or so away. She was alive. And mostly okay, save for the ropes bound around her wrists behind her back.
With shaky hands, I took her bracelet from my wrist and pressed it into her grasp. She froze, a tremble rippling up her blue and gold Montrose armor, but she gripped the bracelet so tightly that her knuckles turned white. I reached out with my dagger next and cut her ropes.
She left her arms behind her back, didn’t turn, didn’t draw attention to her newfound freedom in any way.
“For the last time,” one of the guards said, “you don’t get to dictate what does and does not happen here.”
“I… I…” Legacy stammered. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
That seemed to shock the guards, so I decided to shock them further.
I summoned my magic and unleashed it toward the training yard with another explosion of sound. The guards abandoned their posts with urgency.
“What about the Montrose prisoner?” one shouted.
“She’s tied up,” the other yelled. “She’ll be here when we get back!”
As soon as they were gone, Legacy whirled, tears sparkling in her vibrant blue eyes.
"Collie!" Her shock lasted only a second before she crushed me in a fierce embrace. “You were dead. I saw you die. Everyone confirmed it.”
"Youwere dead," I choked out through my sobs. “You killed yourself.”
"Never," she breathed. “I would never do that, not if there was even the tiniest chance you were alive.”
