THE MORE I struggled, the more the vines and rocks dug into my skin, holding me down. Keeping me prisoner. The body of the teen boy Talon killed lay a few feet away, the corpse drawing flies as his blood stained the mountain.
How many had Talon killed? What was his game? Why eat them? I had so many questions. So many fears. I had to get out of here.
I screamed until my throat grew hoarse, but no one could hear me. I'd made sure of that in my sulky need to escape everyone. Idiot.
When footsteps landed behind me, I tried to turn, but I couldn't.
I could feel the wind shift as wings drew closed and a figure in gray stepped in front of me. An Emzara. His face was masked, body covered in gray armor.
"Help me," I said.
Without a word he cut away the vines, even as they kept growing. But he was fast. Too fast for the vines to keep up. I helped, shifting into a wolf and biting my way out as he created a path.
Without me as their focus, the vines died and withered into the ground.
"The Druid did this to you," the Emzara said through his mask.
"Yes. You saw?"
He nodded.
"My friends are in danger. We have to stop Talon and warn everyone."
"I will help as I can, but I am bound by certain laws. I cannot fight the Nephilim. I am forbidden."
I nodded and we ran into the Forbidden City to find Rose and warn them.
TWENTY NINE
No Contrived Murder
SAM
Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscience
To do no contrived murder: I lack iniquity
— William Shakespeare, Othello
WE HAD NO choice. To free Drake, we had to defeat the Twilight Queen. We couldn't break him out of prison. We couldn't reason with her.
I didn't even feel bad. I wasn't out for blood, just justice.
Just Drake.
We had been through too much, had endured too much, to lose each other now. We had a daughter to raise. A family to keep safe. A life to live.
I refused to let him rot in prison for saving my life.
The night had grown darker, but dawn was still a few hours off. The Twilight Queen was of Nightfall and she would be awake, Beleth said.
We traveled to Venice, Italy, to the Court of Sunrise and Nightfall. We flew there, carrying those who couldn't fly, and landed near a huge, beautiful church.
"The Court is beneath this church, through a secret door that leads under the basilica," Beleth said as we walked through the city, old houses dotting the cobblestone paths and canals flowing throughout. "This city still smells like shit," he said, surprising me.
We approached the side of the church, to where an angel decked out in armor and a sword was carved into the wall like a statue. Beleth pulled on the sword and a passage opened beneath it, a staircase leading down.
We followed him deep underground and reached a large empty chamber with half gold, half black floors—the colors of Sunrise and Nightfall. On the opposite end of the room stood tall doors of the same color.
"Court is in session beyond these walls," he said. "I will enter it and challenge the Queen to battle, demanding justice for my son. I will attack her, but she is strong, so after a moment I will appear to flee, exiting through this door. She will follow and then Rose will trap her in the prison she will create with her symbols. Once she is trapped, the others will not try to free her if it could injure her, and that is when we will demand she free Drake."
My nerves felt frayed, but I nodded. As Beleth disappeared through the doors, Rose went to work on her spell to entrap the Queen.
Rose drew symbols into the air, calling on her powers, powers she hadn't used as much lately. She drew on the ground and created the prison where we would trap Queen Seraphina when she came out.
The symbols shimmered a bright gold and fell like gold dust to the ground, sinking into the lines Rose had drawn.
"It's ready," she said. "But I can't promise it will hold. I've never tried this with a powerful Nephilim before."
"It has to work," I told her. Otherwise, we'd all die.
We heard the fighting, the screams, then the door busted open and Beleth flew out with the Queen following.
When the Queen ran out as anticipated, she walked right into our trap. Gold bars shot around her, glowing light trapping her in a magical prison.
She screamed and threw her own power at the bars, but they held.
I smiled at Rose who looked tired, but pleased. This would drain her fast. We had to hurry. The Queen couldn't know this prison was temporary.
"We don't want to hurt you or your people," I said. "But I can't let you take my husband from me. I need him back. Give us Drake and you will be free. We have nothing against you or your Court."
"I have to maintain order," she said. "I can't allow anyone to break the laws or chaos will ensue."