Kade got right to it. “We go out in three groups. Arianna is with me. Blaine and Monica. Then Victor and Nikoli, who will travel with Finn.”
I didn’t like that Finn and I were separated, but I knew there would be a reason, so I waited for the rest. Nikoli took center stage then, the torches lighting up his face in a dance of macabre shadows. “Once I’m inside,” he said, “I’ll be able to send out a spell that searches for other magic born. This will hopefully lead me to Violet, and also let me know if any other magic users stand in our way. Once I get Violet’s general location, I can relay it to Finn and he can pass it on to Ari and King Kade. You guys will be the extraction crew while Victor, Finn, and I take care of any nearby threats.”
Blaine shifted forward a little. “What should Monica and I be doing?”
Kade spoke up again, and I was so grateful and relieved that he seemed to have planned this entire thing out. I was far too emotional to do any of it myself, I just wanted to bust in guns blazing and get Violet out.
“The plan is to use this slave tunnel to escape, but I have a feeling that once they know there are intruders and a breakout, they will guard the entrance. So I need you two to find us a backup escape plan. Steal a carriage, some horses, dig a tunnel, make a distraction … whatever you have to do.”
Monica had a fierce look in her eye. Her strategic mind was already at work, trying to figure out how to get us out of here. “You got it, Your Majesty. We will not let you down.”
I was so proud of my friends, my pack. “Stay safe, everyone. Let’s bring Violet home,” I said, holding my hand out. One by one, they laid their hands on top of mine, like a football team right before heading out onto the field. If only this were a game and not a fight for our lives.
Our tender moment broke up too quickly, then Nikoli was stepping forward and taking the lead. It was time to get my best friend back.
The slave tunnel exited into a stone alleyway. Kade and I were waiting at the entrance, giving Nikoli and his group time to make it out into the open court of the winter palace. The magic born was using a basic disguise again. Conserving all of his energy was important. He had admitted just before disappearing that he felt weak, that opening that lock had taxed him, which was what I had suspected from his concerned look earlier. It was odd though. I was feeling stronger than ever.
The mecca feels more intense here, I said to Kade as we waited.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him. I rested against him briefly and felt his lips brush my hair. Yes, they must build their royal villages over the stones. Like we do with our boroughs.
That made sense. Even with the energy low in the Otherworld, there was still a decent source somewhere here. I could feel it thrumming through my body, energizing me in a way I hadn’t felt since coming here.
Let’s go, Kade said, and I pulled away from him, brushing down my furred cloak. We would have to blend in and act calm until we received word from Nikoli. It was time to get Violet back.
Chapter Six
Familiar faces in the crowd.
Acting casual, we both strolled from the alley and found ourselves skirting the outer areas of a marketplace. We moved straight into the fray; the best way to blend in was to be in plain sight and act like a local. Thankfully a lot of the highborn fae I could see were tall, and plenty wore thick cloaks and furs with hoods to guard against the cold, so Kade and I did not stand out. We strolled casually into the crowds, stopping periodically to examine some of the crafts and wares on display. We could do nothing else until we received word from Finn.
“This is beautiful,” I said to a merchant, running my hand over a clay comb and mirror set.
The woman bowed slightly and muttered her thanks to me. Kade and I moved on to another stall, and I was getting anxious for word of where Violet was. Had Nikoli been caught? Was he having trouble with the spell? Even if they had been caught, Finn should be able to let me know … unless strong magic was involved.
Just when I was about to lose my mind, I felt my familiar’s energy. Okay, he’s got her location pinpointed.
Thank the shifter gods!
Show me, I said. I knew he would understand my meaning. Instead of using words, he opened his mind wider to me. This way I would get images, and his thoughts that went with each one.
A huge stone structure came into view and I knew without him saying that this was the castle. It looked like a dark version of a stereotypical fairytale palace: moats, turrets, dark stone, and wandering ivy all along the sides.
Finn didn’t linger on any one image for too long. He rushed past the entrance and showed me that just inside the inner palace gates, over the moat that surrounded the entire building, there were two paths. The one to the left was the worker and slave entrance. If we took that, it would lead us right inside, like a ramp that traversed the many floors of the castle. Violet was being kept on the lowest level in the dungeon.
Finn let me know that Nikoli didn’t think she was heavily guarded, because she was gravely injured; her light was dim. They wouldn’t bother with many guards. I took a steadying breath, relaying everything to Kade through our bond. He nodded, and without another word we took off briskly through the village toward the open gates of the main palace.
I was barely paying attention to my surroundings, focused on the path I needed to take to Violet. As we turned a corner, about to cross over the raised bridge across the moat, my eyes alighted on a familiar looking fae.
It was just a brief second of eye contact with a mountain of a man who had been bent down on one knee helping a young boy with his shoe. He had been staring at me as hard as I was staring at him, as if also trying to place me … or was he staring at Kade?
Before I could say anything, maybe ask Kade if he recognized him, we were already out of sight, moving over the iced dirty water and through the gates of the royal estate. The fork in the path was right at the entrance, and we took the left as instructed. Walking along the cobblestones, I noticed a man wheeling a cartful of scones, biscuits, and even what looked like bagels.
“Kade,” I whispered, giving a quick head nod toward the pastry guy.
Kade immediately got my intentions, moving straight across to him. “Sir?”
The man stopped and took in Kade, his eyes lingering on the shiny sword, before he looked fearfully between us both.
“Yes?” he inquired in a shaky voice.