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Counting the stone blocks, I narrowed my eyes as I got to the seventh from the right. That was it. If Entaris and Tilella were truly helping us—and this wasn’t a trap—I’d crawlthroughthe block, then drop down into the tunnel below.
Guards were positioned on this side of the castle, stationed every ten feet or so. One of them stood next to the unmarked entrance. His eyes were heavy-lidded—almost sleepy, but I wasn’t fooled. His gaze was just as sharp as his colleagues’.
How had Kyla gotten past him?
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I strapped my backpack tighter around my shoulders and raised my ward—impenetrable and noise-canceling. My vision narrowed until all I could see were the guard and the tunnel behind him. He was standing in front of the stone block and a little to the right. I was going to have to crawl past him.
Without my silence ward, there was no way I would have been able to do it. But I rolled my shoulders and dropped to my knees.
I crawled forward. The guard shifted to the right, and I froze. His knee was inches away from my shoulder. If he stepped any closer, his leg would brush my body and it would all be over.
Did I dare move?
I was stuck, barely breathing, inches from the entrance. If I didn’t get out of here, I was worse than dead.
Time slowed. I lowered until I was almost on my stomach, inching my way forward. The guard sighed, scratched his butt, and then straightened, moving a few inches back to the left.
I took my chance and shot forward. I felt the moment my boot brushed his, and then I was rolling, getting to my feet as he glanced down, clearly puzzled.
But I was already running. I glanced back to see him leaning back against the wall.
I pumped my legs faster and hurtled down the tunnel and into the seelie king’s castle.
* * *
Nathaniel
“When my guardsaid you were demanding an audience, I assumed he was mistaken.”
Finvarra watched me with his eerie gold eyes, amusement flickering through them. As much as I might want to trade barbs with the unseelie king, I had more important things to worry about.
“I need to borrow your book.”
He raised one eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. I’d helped myself to a seat in his library, my wolf howling mournfully inside me as we caught the scent of our mate. Evie had been the last to sit here.
It was taking every ounce of my hard-won restraint to keep my expression neutral when I wanted nothing more than to launch myself at the king. He was powerful enough to kill me, but I could make him hurt before I died.
His eyes gleamed as if he were reading my mind. Impossible, thanks to my built-in defenses against magic.
“Which book would you be referring to?” Finvarra waved his hand, gesturing to the shelves surrounding us. “I have so many, you see.”
“You know which book I mean. The silver one. The one that turns the user invisible.”
“The oneyourteenage pack member was using to frolic across Durham?”
“Yes.”
“And why would you imagine I’d loan you something so important?”
Kyla had told me where the unseelie king’s cousin had found the book before she’d stolen it. If it were that important, surely Finvarra would have kept it in his own castle, not buried among the rest of his junk at one of his other estates.
“Kyla went after the sword. Alone.”
Finvarra went still. Something alien sparked in his eyes, and he tilted his head in a way that reminded me of my wolves when they were on the hunt.
“I thought your mate was planning to join her on that little excursion?”
Little excursion. He’d bargained withmywolf when she was desperate, ensuring she would need to risk her life to find that sword.
