I bang my palm against my forehead, trying to tell the insanity and mania to be quiet. My thoughts are fighting, turning against each other at a time when I need them united.
It takes me an hour in total to get through all ten doors, my progress slowed by my own sickness. As I open the flowery door, enchanted by Lynna’s magic, the Vault Guards fucking applaud me, all of them desperate to see their families safe.
But I don’t feel like celebration. Not when I have seen the floodwaters and the houses and people that float there. Not when my brother and best friend are currently two-hundred-against-two in the forest.
I burst through the door, collapsing to my hands and knees on the carpet and desperately dragging air through my burning lungs. Blood seeps onto the green carpet and I don’t even know which of my injuries it’s from anymore.
"Stay awake, Rennalya," I whisper, crawling to the water's edge. Now that I'm here, I'm not sure what to do. Do I just…drop it in?
I move on shaking limbs to the corner that is missing a stone, placing it into the water. I don't know what I was expecting, but it just bobs there. No magic noise, no glowing light. For the agony and turmoil of the last ten days, it feels cruelly anticlimactic. I hope I've done it right.
The door jostles and my eyes widen.
They couldn't have got this far, could they?
They won't know how to open Lynna's door.
They won't know.
I keep telling myself that, scrambling to back up against the wall, too scared to open the door in case I'm faced with an army of wolves and men alike. In a sickening moment of dread, it swings open and I hurl a knife towards the gap.
It's him.
He's here. I'm hit with a tidal wave of gratitude, and then an even larger wave of fear as my knife flies towards his chest. His huge hand snaps out with lightning reflexes and he catches it an inch from his rib cage. A dark strand of his hair tumbles in front of auburn eyes, the rest up in a messy bun. He’s here. He’s real. He leans his sword against the wall and tosses the knife to the floor, closing the gap between us in no time.
"Rennalya," he whispers, dark orange eyes gazing down at me with so much concern as he wraps his arms around me, holding me close to his chest. The scorching heat of his burns warms my face, and I know from that alone that he has had a horrific week.
"Rexxan," I reply, barely holding myself together as his arms tighten around me. "I did it."
He pulls away and brushes loose hairs from my face, his touch so gentle. I’m shivering as he leans down, kissing my bloody lips gently before hugging me to his chest. "You did, love. You never let me down." A single tear runs down my cheek. He's my fucking home. I'm in love with this man. "You're sick," he says, pulling away. "Rennalya, you're shaking."
"We have to go. We have to help Onyx and Stell. They’re in the forest.”
“I have the army out there. Are you badly hurt?” His fingers feel my forehead.
“It's been a stressful week," I say wiping my tears with my torn, muddy sleeve. “We have to find them, Rexxan. We have to help them.”
His beautiful face creases with concern, his hands quickly checking me over for injuries. He takes in my broken fingers, the cut across my thigh, the bruising on my ribs and shakes his head with a grimace. "I'll make sure Lynna or Talyn see you."
"Later. Onyx now," is all I can make out, my throat dry.
"Whereabouts are they? My army is tackling the South out on the field."
That explains the fact that he's covered in blood, a tiny puddle of it collecting beneath his sword. "They’re somewhere in the trees. They started running southwest. They distracted hundreds of soldiers just so I could get here," my hands shake, all my worst fears running through my mind. "What if they've been captured?"
"Let's find them, shall we?" He suggests, calm and collected as he pulls me to shaky legs and plants a kiss to the top of my head. "I have a horse outside."
"Siddie?" I ask the question that's been on my mind all week as he opens the heavy door.
He shakes his head, effortlessly lifting me into his arms when my knees buckle. "I don't want to talk about it. He's not anywhere. I can’t talk about it. Not now. I can’t fall apart now. I missed you so fucking much. I'm so proud of you."
"Kelen is dead," I whisper, my fist holding a black strap on his leather top.
He nods, his thumb stroking my upper arm as he jogs. He's calming to me, his presence settling the thoughts in my mind. He gestures something at the guards, opening the door with his foot. "Good."
He carries me the rest of the way out, embarrassment flushing my cheeks as the guards all thank me for what I've done. I'm not sure why I'm embarrassed but I am. More than anything else, I want to be reunited with Stellan and Onyx.
Walking out the hall, out of the hidden stone door, I realise the chaos that surrounds the night around us. What was a mostly empty field when I crossed it a little over an hour ago is now a battlefield, Rexxan's army sweeping the land like a flow of molten gold. Strong arms lift me onto a horse, the heat of his body encompassing me when he jumps on behind me. One huge arm snakes around my midriff. "In the trees?"
