August cursed under his breath, running his hand through his dark curls.
A thought occurred to Wren.
“How the hell did you even get in here, anyway? Edith relocates me here every night, but I know for a fact she keeps a guard on duty outside while I’m sleeping,” Wren muttered. “I can hear them pacing back and forth all night.”
August rubbed at his jaw. “Best if you don’t know.”
Wren chest tightened. “Are they…did you…”
Sensing the terror etched upon her face, August shook his head.
“I didn’t rip his soul out of existence, if that’s what you’re asking.” He let out a bitter chuckle, craning his neck from side to side. At the subtle movement, Wren noticed a slithering shadow trailing up and down the veins of his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his white shirt. “But…I did have to use a bit of shadow magic to sedate him. More than I wanted to, if I’m honest.”
Wren shivered. “How much?”
August opened and closed his mouth. For a second, she thought he might actually answer her honestly, but then he simply shook his head and said, “It doesn’t matter. Look. We have to hurry. I don’t have much time. And if someone notices I’m gone…” He glanced over his shoulder before turning his attention back to Wren. “Whether or not you choose to believe my intentions doesn’t matter. I came here foryou. I came here to get you out of the mess that I caused.”
“But how can I trust you?” Wren asked. And though the question had been rhetorical, a part of her prayed he had an answer.Help me trust you, she begged silently.Help me believe you’re still the boy I knew back at Blackwood.“The more shadow magic you use, the more it’ll consume you. What if you end up likethembefore the two of us can make it out of here? What if you succumb to the shadows and then turn on me?”
“I won’t,” August shot back. But then he sighed and added a whispered, “…at least, not yet.”
Terror coursed through Wren. “Notyet?”
“Edith put me in Onyx Unit,” August told her. “They’re the most ruthless and corrupt of all the Demiens. She knows they’llpush me to my limits. Force me to use more shadow magic than I want to. But…I won’tfullysuccumb to the shadows. Not until Equinox.”
Wren scrunched her brows in confusion. “Equinox?”
“It a quarterly gathering that’s happening in three days,” August explained in a hurried whisper. “All new recruits are forced to cast the Reaper’s Kiss. It’s an offering of sorts. A way of fully tethering yourself to the Soulless One. But once performed—that’s it. You succumb to the shadows. If we don’t get out of here by the night of Equinox…if we don’t find a way out—”
“You’ll lose yourself,” Wren whispered, the realization sinking its claws into her chest.
“I won’t have a choice.”
Wren stretched her arm out, flexing her wrist. The silver cuff secured around her wrist glinted in the darkness.
“Even if we find a way to sneak out of the encampment…there’s no way I’m making it past the outer perimeter with this thing still on.” Wren gestured to the silver band. “It keeps me bound to the encampment. I’m trapped.”
“Those security cuffs are made by Demiens.” August stared down at the silver band with narrowed eyes. “Which means that if someone in this encampment made it…they can also destroy it.” He reached out, fingers brushing the metal band. “We just need to figure out who it was by Equinox.”
Three days.Could they really come up with a way out inthree days?
A terrifying thought occurred to Wren.
“I might not make it until then.”
At this, August’s expression hardened. He inched closer, the intensity in his gaze sending a surge of warmth into Wren’s stomach. “What do you mean?”
“Edith…” Wren flinched as she whispered the High General’s name. “She’s been torturing me. Forcing me to relive my death. I have no idea why, or for what purpose…” Wren had tried to make sense of it the first few days, though she’d quickly given up once she realized her theorizing was pointless. “I assume it has something to do with that damned prophecy. It’s all she talks about.”
August had gone silent, as though he was calculating something in his head, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. Wren was moments away from asking if he was okay when August glanced up, a sudden determination in his gaze.
“Tomorrow,” he whispered. “I’ll have a talk with Edith. I can find a way to convince her to stop. Or at least pause the sessions until Equinox.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Wren asked.
August stepped closer. He reached out, gently cupping Wren’s face in his hands.
“I will find a way.” A burning resolve echoed in his words. “I promise.”
