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In the time it had taken for me to find Bael, the rebellion had well and truly infiltrated the castle. The boots I’d heard upstairs must have been the last of them because as Bael and I appeared outside by the stables and stared out at the burning castle, all we could do was gape with horror.
No one was there to see us when we shimmered into existence in the shadows between the barn and forest tree line. Scion seemed to have made a good choice in putting me in the stables to begin with, as from here, Bael and I were mostly invisible, but we could seeeverything.
Cloaked figures poured over the grass of the sloping lawn like living shadows, looking almost like afflicted. The flames had risen higher, licking up the sides of the remaining towers, eating away at the ivy and bursting out of windows and doors. Some people were still visible on the walls, either looking for a way out or making some vain attempt at defense.
For the first time, I realized just how many rebels were in the castle. How many servants and courtiers must have fled already or were lying dead somewhere inside. How little the kitchen corridor was really affected by the disaster in the upper floors and what hell it must be in the two remaining towers—if anyone was still alive to see it.
“You’re alive!” Iola threw her arms around me the moment that Bael and I stepped into the stables, only to grimace and step back. “And bloody…are you quite alright?”
“Barely,” I muttered. “Has his lordship returned?”
Iola looked at Bael with wide eyes, which I supposed was reasonable, given that he was still covered in blood and looked a bit like some wild god risen from the depths of the woods. She shook herself slightly and turned back to me. “Who?”
I felt my chest squeeze slightly, even as I continued to wrestle with my anger. “Prince Scion. Is he back?”
She shook her head. “Should he be?”
My pulse sped up, and I turned to Bael, who was watching me with an odd combination of worry and interest. He reached out and ran a thumb over the bite mark on my neck. “Seems like I’ve missed all the fun, little monster.”
I shivered when his thumb grazed my skin. “I would not quite say that?”
“What would you say, then?”
I bit my lip. I didn’t know, but surely he couldn’t want an explanation. Not now? “Never mind that now. I expected to return to find your cousin irate that I’d managed to escape. He should have been back long before me.”
Unless he wasn’t planning on coming back. Unless he was held up. Unless…
“Escape?” Bael looked entirely too amused for the seriousness of the moment. “Oh, little monster. You’ve been withholding such entertaining secrets. I’m hurt, frankly, and possibly a bit proud.”
“Do not patronize me,” I snapped.
Bael frowned, dropping his tone to something a bit more serious. “Scion is nearly invincible. He’s hardly going to be brought down by a few rebels.”
“That’s more or less what he said about you, yet if I hadn’t arrived, where would you be now?”
Bael’s frown deepened.
I could not believe I had never seen it before now, but the Everlasts had an obvious weakness. One which Thalia had alluded to and, no doubt, Ambrose Dullahan, being one of them, would know about. “You all think you are all powerful, but you are not. You rely far too heavily on magic and the strongest among you. This attack was made possible because no one was able to defend the castle without you or Scion. If the rebellion knew about that, who is to say they don’t know more and don’t have other plans.”
I wanted to mention the dealings with Gancanagh’s Dust and the possible ties between the rebellion and Underneath, but as there was no clear connection, it was too long of a story to waste time on.
“You win, little monster,” Bael said, even as one of his eyes rolled up into his head, spinning as though he were searching for something out of reach. “I’ll go get him. Where—fuck!”
“What?” I gasped, fear pounding through me.
Bael’s expression had gone hard, and a sudden cold seemed to fall over him, all traces of a smile vanishing. Anger radiated off him in waves, and he practically shook as he replied, “You’re right. I need to go up to the tower.”
Which one?I wanted to ask. I hadn’t thought to look if any of the others had caught fire, though I assumed we’d see soon enough.
“Take me with you,” I demanded, tilting my chin up defiantly to meet his gaze. “I will not be dropped on the lawn to watch or some other absurd and insulting thing.”
“I can’t risk your safety, little monster.”
“Do you realize how absurd this is? I will only follow you.”
“Don’t.” He reached for me and gripped the back of my hair, pulling me in so our foreheads touched, our lips only a hair’s width apart. His eyes flashed with anger—possession. “You are still far too breakable.”
“So you are telling me I have to wait here,” my voice cracked. “No. I won’t.”
