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“Are you well?” I whispered, knowing that all of this had to be a lot for her. Who knew if maybe her own mother had entered Isila through this very mine? If Roar had sold her to the Blood Court. I was no mind reader, but I felt certain Anna had considered these things too.

“Well?” Anna turned to look at me. “Neve, I’m so proud of you.”

“Oh?”

“You’re about to change so many fates.”

Did she miss the part where the journey would be long? Brutal even. Or that when we got there, the humans, with their fragile bodies, might die anyway?

“It’s dangerous,” Anna said and kicked at a stray rock in the tunnel. “But giving them a choice—that’s what matters.”

“Yes,” I agreed, understanding her words deep in my bones. “It does.”

She reached out, took my hand, and we walked the rest of the way down the tunnel in silence.

The moment I heard voices, I steeled myself. And yet, seeing so many humans caged, still managed to suck all the breath from my lungs.

How could Roar have done such a thing? Had hisfather been a slaver too? Was selling bodies and souls to the vampires really how House Lisika had amassed so much wealth?

The answers lie at the bottom of a mine shaft. Splattered against the rocks. It had taken no time at all for me to end a family line and, though I wished for answers, I did not regret it.

The humans closest to the opening of the tunnel noticed us and fell silent. One by one, others quieted too. Odd, that. Before they’d cried for help, sobbed at their plight.

Then I remembered we were covered in blood. Ah, yes, that might bring up some questions.

The miner turned to me, eyes still wary, and stepped aside, as if to say‘well, are you going to get on with it?’

A kernel of doubt seeped in, and I couldn’t help myself as I glanced back at Vale.

He nodded. “You can do this.”

He was the reassurance I needed. I exhaled, turned back to the humans, and released Anna’s hand to raise both of my own.

“We’re not here to harm you. Rather, the opposite.” I cleared my throat. “The fae who would have sold you to vampires is dead, and I’m going to release you and present you with options.” I paused. “I assume you have been told that since you’ve eaten the food in Isila, you cannot return home?”

A single sob cut through the quiet, but no one looked surprised. Roar, or one of his soldiers, had told them. Probably mocked their pathetic fates.

“I’m truly sorry for that,” I said, my voice a touch softer. “But you will not be sold to anyone. And we have a place for you to live, if you wish to go with us.”

“Let us out!” a male voice bellowed. “Let us out and then talk!”

I nodded, already knowing what I’d do to free them. “Stand back from the doors of your cages.”

In each cage, the humans backed away from the doors, and as I walked by every cage, I froze the locks. Vale and Caelo passed behind me, shattering the metal with vicious swipes of their swords.

In our wake, humans spilled out from behind the bars. Though I’d worried that some would try to flee and likely get lost in the mines, no one did. They huddled together, whispering.

When we were done and the last humans bolted for the safety of their own kind, I exhaled. I’d put all that I had into freezing those locks so that they could be shattered, and exhaustion settled into my bones.

But we were so far from done. I turned to find Caelo and Vale waiting for me, their swords now sheathed. Where was Anna?

I craned my neck around the warriors and a lump rose in my throat. My friend was standing with the other humans, talking to them. Was she telling them of our plan? Reassuring them?

Whatever she said, it had a visible effect on the humans. Though some wore sorrow, defeat, and a million other emotions on their faces, many looked looser. Not so terrified.

Vale shifted, so that there was a little space between him and Caelo. “We’re with you Neve. Moral support and, if you’ll have us, a queensguard.”

All my breath left me at that word.Queensguard.