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“But did they fight and lose?” Noah mused, his voice dripping with arrogant disdain. “Or did they run?”
“Grab them!” a voice screeched, setting the furious guards into motion.
The guys were right though, if this was the entire guard, and I assumed it was, then it had more than halved in number since we last faced them. Still, the odds were stacked heavily against us, and I doubted we could overcome them right now.
Mikael held my gaze where he stood, remaining still as the others attacked. My guys leapt into action, not having time to shift as power sizzled through the air at us, but I mirrored Mikael’s inaction as he mouthed a single word at me.
Run.
I gave him a weak smile, shrugging lightly as the sounds of fighting echoed through the chamber. Lifting my palm, I used the last dregs of my power to throw a light shield of protection around each of my mates.
“I’m out of magic,” I called, not caring if the others heard. It would soon be common knowledge anyway.
Dropping his head defeatedly for a moment, he looked back up at me with stark apology in his eyes. I nodded, showing him that I understood, and did nothing as he raised his hand. Thick vines shot towards me, wrapping around my legs and arms and sending me falling heavily to my knees with a grunt of pain.
I heard Zeke curse as he saw me drop, but Mikael’s ringing shout made them all fall still as a vine looped around my throat.
“Stop! Or she dies.”
My chest heaved as the noose tightened, not enough to hurt me but enough to make his point clear. The dull smack of fists on flesh was punctuated by soft growls of annoyance as the guys submitted and were subdued, Noah catching my gaze with a grimace of concern as he eyed my bindings. When we were all on our knees, hands bound tightly behind us up to the elbows, Mikael destroyed the straps around my neck and legs with a flick of his fingers and walked closer to haul me to my feet.
“Walk them up carefully,” he ordered his men, avoiding my eyes now. “No more damage unless they fight. The Queen wants them in one piece.”
I scoffed. “Yeh, so she can rip the pieces off herself.”
Mikael’s grip tightened painfully on my arm in warning as the other guards glared at me, a glob of spit landing at my feet as one of them showed his displeasure at my words. I stumbled as he tugged me forward, guiding me towards the stone stairwell. My eyes fell on Thea as we passed, grief hitting me like a punch in the gut as I quickly wrenched my gaze away. Mikael’s face paled as he took in the throne and the blackened altar, but his pace didn’t falter as he steeled his spine and led me on.
The steps were steep and narrow, our footfalls echoing on the stone as I squinted to see through the shadows. An open doorway stood at the top of the stairwell, allowing lamplight to spill down to us as we neared it. Mikael manoeuvred me through the narrow gap and into a simple servants’ corridor, plain and uncarpeted, before turning to push through into the plush throne room.
An unamused laugh blew out of me as I realised that her power chamber sat directly beneath the castle; that one throne sat directly above the other. Easily accessed by my mother, and easily guarded as she stayed so close, it had all sat below us the entire time. Through the huge windows I could see the giant oak tree looming outside in the courtyard as it always had, my eyes blinking to adjust to the glare of the sun as the beautiful summer’s day shone in a mocking contrast to the threat hanging over us.
The doorway we emerged through brought us out into the room through a section of wall that was hidden by the platform on which the throne stood. In the narrow space as we circled around to access the main body of the room, Liam pushed close behind me to murmur in my ear.
“What do you need us to do?”
My heart warmed at his faith in me. Even with my clear insinuation that this wasn’t going to end well for us, he trusted me to do what was necessary.
Mikael let me slow a little as I looked up at Liam. “Just don’t react to her. Don’t attract her attention. Donottempt her to kill you. Please, Liam.”
His frown was deep as he slowly nodded his understanding. All I could do was pray that he listened to me, because she would snap their necks without a second thought if the idea amused her. Or if she thought it would hurt me.
“Move it, animal scum!” snapped the guard behind Liam, shoving him forward.
He stumbled into me, sending me flying back into Mikael who caught me in his solid arms and set me back on my feet with a scowl of warning at his guards.
“And who, exactly, do we have here?”
A sinister chill crept down my spine at the sound of my mother’s voice.
Dragging us around to the centre of the hall, the guards faced us towards the royal throne, kicking the guys down to their knees. Mikael held firm on my arm as we faced the Queen, planting himself beside me in a gesture that I knew was supportive, even as it seemed like he was simply waiting for orders.
My eyes flicked around the familiar room. Nothing had changed in the year or so I had been away. Heavy, deep-purple curtains framed each of the long windows while large tapestries decorated the ornately papered walls, the herbal aroma of incense hanging thick in the air.
The Queen sat on her throne, the picture of nobility. Graceful, immaculate, and serene, her blood-red gown draped delicately around her ankles as her fingernails tapped a light pattern on the intricately carved arms of the chair.
“Your intrusion was detected the moment you opened that door, Daughter,” she sneered, her ugly expression quickly ruining the mask of perfection.
I grinned unrepentantly. “Which door? We’ve been down in those tunnels for days.”
