Later that night—or maybe it was early morning—I sat against the back wall and contemplated all I’d learned.
I’d read the note Leala pressed into my hand.
It had been written in all caps, the letters slightly slanted, which made it easy to read. Weston had been collecting information like a hoarder collected trinkets. He had boat schedules (there were none), guard rotation schedules (quite the clusterfuck in organization, that), information about where the officers slept and how many of them there were at any given time, plus knowledge of the magic that protected them. He’d drawn a map of the castle, and while there were several blank spaces, he had good intel on exit routes. He even knew where Dolion slept. He also knew there was no way to get to Dolion. Not for us. We’d never reach him through all the corridors and guards and staff.
Fine. We didn’t need to reach him. We just needed to get out. Revenge could come later.
I pored over the information, connecting the dots, fueled by my sudden panic to get the fuck out of here. I was devising two plans—one that hinged on Calia picking the magical lock, and one that would have to work without her. I just wished I could somehow reach Hadriel and talk them over. He was very good at plan making, at looking at all the pieces and fitting them together.
“You okay?” Hannon asked, sitting up like I was.
“Yeah. You?”
“Shut up, I’m trying to sleep,” Jedrek groused before turning over and curling up a little tighter.
He’d screamed at me just before everyone got back a few hours ago, too sore to do much more than turn over and yell, but doing that with all the gusto he could manage. It was the same old song and dance. He blamed me for everything, including the strange “weeds” now growing in the cell.
I hadn’t meant to lose my cool and punch him, but…well, you could talk shit to me, but you didn’t do it about the everlass. That was crossing the line.
He did mention something of note—he’d been told by Dolion that he’d get to marry me and sleep with me (if he could work his dick) before I was taken back to his kingdom to be killed. In other words, Dolion really intended to drive that last nail into Nyfain’s coffin.
Or so he thought. I would be long fucking gone before any nuptials took place, one way or another.
“That…concoction helped,” Hannon said quietly. “A lot.”
A scuffing of feet sounded from the steps.
“Shh,” I heard, followed by a murmur.
Hannon scrunched up his brow. He’d heard it too.
A moment later, I saw two bare legs descend the stairs, followed by a miniscule pair of briefs and Hadriel’s bent body. He paused when he was in full view, looking my way, before giving a little wave and continuing down the stairs.
I pushed forward, not believing what I was seeing.
Behind him, wearing a long slip, crept Calia, her fingers trailing on the stone and her other hand on Hadriel’s shoulder. What must be her sister followed, in the same sort of drape. Unlike Hadriel, they couldn’t see in the dark. The alpha wolf descended behind them, not using the faerie’s shoulder for guidance but definitely feeling with his feet before stepping.
“Micah,” I said, standing. “Micah, are you awake?”
“I am awake, Strange Lady.” Vemar came forward to the bars. “What is that I hear?”
Hadriel reached the bottom of the steps and helped the faeries the rest of the way before waiting for the alpha wolf. Hadriel murmured something to them before leading the way down the center of the cells to me.
“Who is there? Who is sneaking?” A note of alarm had crept into Vemar’s voice.
“Shh,” Hadriel said. “The officers might hear you.”
Vemar pushed a little closer to the bars, his hands coming through and resting on the horizontal support bars. “Did they lift the magical lock on this dungeon earlier than usual? Coming down here is quite a risk.”
“Are all dragons as dense as you? Shh!” Hadriel waved at him, though Vemar couldn’t see it, continuing to lead the others my way. “My love,” he whispered when he reached me. “We’ve had a helluva breakthrough.”
“Why are you down here?” I asked with a note of panic. “What if they catch you?”
Pulling on Calia’s hands, he led her right to the bars. She gripped the cold metal, staring sightlessly into my cell. Her doppelgänger followed suit, the two of them pressed tightly together.
“We should have a few hours,” Hadriel said, watching as the alpha wolf reached out and found the bars. He stepped a little closer but didn’t hang on. “Tell her, Calia.”
A metal click sounded within the dungeon. Vemar’s cell door swung open, and he stepped out slowly, feeling his way.
“Oh fuck,” Hadriel murmured. “Is he going to come kill me now? Fucking dragons.”
“It’s fine,” I told Hadriel before patting Calia’s hands. “What’s the breakthrough? Did you take down the demons’ obice?”
I couldn’t help the excitement and hope in my tone. A slow release of curiosity and similar hope dripped down from the bond, Nyfain obviously wondering if I’d gotten good news. So did I.
“Your power release earlier was more than strong enough to bring me out of suppression,” Calia said softly as Vemar carefully walked our way. “Then your…rather thorough distraction allowed me plenty of time to unpick myself from their suppression spell. It’s a very simple spell. Simple but strong and effective, as I’m sure you know.”
“So you picked the obice to this floor?” I asked in a gush.
A smile graced her lovely face. “Yes. That’s also a simple spell. Corrosive, and as dirty as those who set it, but easily manageable, not the least because it is an older spell. Demon magic decays rapidly. Newer spells will be harder to break, but what need would they have of newer spells with all of us suppressed?”
“Which means they can’t know, or suspect, anyone outside of your kingdom has been released,” the alpha wolf said. He stuck his hand through the bars for a handshake. “Weston, estranged from the Lake Forest Pack, Red Lupine kingdom.”
“Oh, that’s the same—”
“Nope,” Hadriel cut me off, giving me an expression that said, Shut the hell up.
Apparently he didn’t want an origin in common with the alpha. Although given the history of his parents, who’d been exiled or rejected or whatever from that kingdom, that made sense.
“Estranged?” I asked.
“You can’t be an alpha of a pack,” Weston replied with a growl, “when you are locked in a demon dungeon and loaned out as a sex slave.”
I puffed out my cheeks with a breath I didn’t expel. “Right,” I said, finally releasing it. “I guess not. Good point.”
“This is my sister, Felicia,” Calia said, pulling her sister a little closer. “She acts as a booster for my magic. She’s the one they took first, kidnapped right from the shores of our village. I saw it but was too far away to help. I knew who took her, though. I didn’t prepare enough, thinking it would be as easy to escape this dungeon as any. I didn’t account for the magical suppression.”
“Hindsight, as they say,” I murmured. “The dragons without suppression know they cannot shift or otherwise advertise that their animals have been freed. They might not have suppression, but I’m not sure Dolion realizes I am powerful enough to pull their animals free. I’ve tried to keep it that way.”